Elite Panel of ICC Umpires

The panel was formed in 2002 with eight members.[2] Peter Willey was invited to be on the panel, but declined the opportunity because it would have required him to spend too much time away from his family.[3] The last members of the original panel retired in 2011. The original eight panel members were: Steve Bucknor, Daryl Harper, Ashoka de Silva, Srinivas Venkataraghavan, Rudi Koertzen, Dave Orchard, David Shepherd and Russell Tiffin.

Members of the International Panel of ICC Umpires stand in ODIs in their home countries, and may be appointed by the ICC to Tests and ODIs as an independent official at busy times in the cricket calendar to supplement the Elite Panel.[1] The best performing umpires may earn promotion to the Elite Panel. Emirates sponsors the panel, and the umpires are required to wear shirts and coats which have 'Fly Emirates' printed on them whenever they are officiating.[4] In July 2019, Michael Gough and Joel Wilson were added to the Elite panel following the retirement of Ian Gould and exclusion of Sundaram Ravi after the 2019 Cricket World Cup.[5]

As of 31 August 2021, Australia and England have jointly provided the most members of the panel with seven. South Africa, New Zealand and West Indies have provided three each; Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka have provided two each; and Zimbabwe have provided just one member.

As of 31 January 2021 cricket season the Elite Panel consists of:[6][7][8]

List of Elite Panel of ICC Umpires

Umpire	Date of Birth	Age as of 24 April 2022	Year Appointed	Tests[9]	ODIs[10]	T20Is[11]	Country
Aleem Dar	6 June 1968	53 years, 322 days	2004	132	210	46	Pakistan
Marais Erasmus	27 February 1964	58 years, 56 days	2010	62	92	26	South Africa
Rod Tucker	28 August 1964	57 years, 239 days	2010	71	84	35	Australia
Kumar Dharmasena	24 April 1971	51 years, 0 days	2011	58	89	22	Sri Lanka
Richard Kettleborough	15 March 1973	49 years, 40 days	2011	64	89	22	England
Richard Illingworth	23 August 1963	58 years, 202 days	2013	47	68	16	England
Paul Reiffel	19 April 1966	56 years, 5 days	2013	48	70	16	Australia
Chris Gaffaney	30 November 1975	46 years, 176 days	2015	33	68	22	New Zealand
Michael Gough	18 December 1979	42 years, 127 days	2019	14	62	14	England
Joel Wilson	30 December 1966	55 years, 115 days	2019	19	66	26	West Indies
Nitin Menon	2 November 1983	38 years, 173 days	2020	7	24	16	India

The first departures from the panel came in 2004 when Srinivas Venkataraghavan (known as Venkat) retired,[12] and Asoka de Silva, Dave Orchard and Russell Tiffin did not have their contracts renewed.[13] David Shepherd retired in 2005 following 22 years as an international umpire.[14] Darrell Hair, who joined the panel in 2003, was banned from officiating in matches involving full ICC members following the Ball tampering controversy in August 2006.[15] In March 2008, following a spell officiating associate members, Hair was once again permitted to umpire full members,[16] but in August he handed in his resignation after he was only allowed to officiate in two tests.[17]

Steve Bucknor retired in 2009, having stood in a record 128 Tests since March 1989.[18] Rudi Koertzen retired in 2010,[19] while Mark Benson, who had joined the panel in 2006, stood down to return to domestic cricket.[20] Asoka de Silva, who rejoined the panel in 2008, was stood down again in 2011 along with Daryl Harper,[21] Simon Taufel and Billy Doctrove retired in 2012[22] and Steve Davis retired in 2015. Sundaram Ravi was dropped from the panel after 2019 Cricket World Cup.[23] Ian Gould retired from the panel after the 2019 World Cup.[24] Bruce Oxenford retired from the panel in 2021.[25]

Former elite panel members can still umpire in ODIs and international T20s. Statistics correct as of 31 January 2021.

• Original panel member

List of Former members of Elite Panel of ICC Umpires

Umpire	Date of Birth	Joined Panel	Left Panel	Tests	ODIs	T20Is	Country
Steve Bucknor	31 May 1946	2002	2009	128	181	–	West Indies
Asoka de Silva^	28 March 1956	2002	2011	49	121	11	Sri Lanka
Daryl Harper	23 October 1951	2002	2011	94	174	10	Australia
Rudi Koertzen	26 March 1949	2002	2010	108	206	14	South Africa
Dave Orchard	24 June 1948	2002	2004	44	107	–	South Africa
David Shepherd	27 December 1940	2002	2005	92	172	–	England
Russell Tiffin	4 June 1959	2002	2004	44	126	4	Zimbabwe
Srinivas Venkataraghavan	21 April 1945	2002	2004	73	52	–	India
Darrell Hair	30 September 1952	2003	2008	78	135	6	Australia
Billy Doctrove	3 July 1955	2006	2012	38	112	17	West Indies
Mark Benson	6 July 1958	2006	2010	27	72	19	England
Simon Taufel	21 January 1971	2003	2012	74	174	34	Australia
Tony Hill	26 June 1951	2009	2014	40	96	17	New Zealand
Asad Rauf	12 May 1956	2006	2013	47	98	23	Pakistan
Billy Bowden	11 April 1967	2003	2015	84	200	21	New Zealand
Steve Davis	9 April 1952	2008	2015	57	137	26	Australia
Ian Gould	19 August 1957	2009	2019	73	135	37	England
Sundaram Ravi	22 April 1966	2010	2019	33	48	18	India
Nigel Llong	11 February 1969	2012	2020	62	130	32	England
Bruce Oxenford	5 March 1960	2012	2021	62	97	20	Australia

^de Silva was absent from the panel between 2004 and 2008.

• Panel of ICC Referees
• ICC International umpire panel
• List of Test umpires
• ICC Associates and Affiliates Umpire Panel

• ICC match officials