Match Officials for ICC U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup 2026 announced

Media release

Seventeen umpires and four match referees from the Emirates ICC International Panels of Umpires and Referees will officiate at the ICC U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup 2026 in Zimbabwe and Namibia.

Thirteen different nationalities will be represented, including two umpires from one of the host nations, Zimbabwe.

Forster Mutizwa, who represented Zimbabwe 21 times across all three formats, will be joined by compatriot Iknow Chabi as two of the 18 umpires.

Among the others who will officiate in the tournament are former West Indies international Deighton Butler, and Englishman Graham Lloyd, whose father David was an accomplished umpire in his own right before going onto become an acclaimed broadcaster.

The four match referees are Dean Cosker, of England, India’s Prakash Bhatt, as well as Graeme La Brooy and Neeyamur Rahul, who represented Sri Lanka and Bangladesh internationally respectively.

ICC CEO, Sanjog Gupta said: “This ICC U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup is a tremendous opportunity for rising stars in the game to shine, but it is also an invaluable reward system for up-and-coming match officials.

“We hope that this will be the perfect springboard for their careers as we see them progress in their officiating journeys.”

Match officials for the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup 2026:

Umpires: Ahmad Shah Durrani (Afg), Aidan Seaver (Ire), Cory Black (NZ), Deighton Butler (WI), Faisal Afridi (Pak), Forster Mutizwa (Zim), Graham Lloyd (Eng), Iknow Chabi (Zim), Lubabalo Gcuma (SA), Masudur Mukul (Ban), Nitin Bathi (Neth), Prageeth Rambukwella (SL), Russell Warren (Eng), Shaun Haig (NZ), Shawn Craig (Aus), Virender Sharma (Ind), Zahid Bassarath (WI).

Referees: Dean Cosker (Eng), Graeme La Brooy (SL), Neeyamur Rahul (Ban), Prakash Bhatt (Ind).

ENDS