ICC announces umpire and match referee appointments up to May 2006

The International Cricket Council (ICC) today announced the Emirates Elite Panel and Emirates International Panel match referee and umpire appointments for Tests and ODIs to early May 2006.

From the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC match referees, Jeff Crowe will officiate in the Test and ODI series between Bangladesh and Australia that starts with the first Test in Fatullah on 9 April.

Aleem Dar from the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC umpires will stand in both scheduled Bangladesh - Australia Tests (the second starts in Chittagong on 16 April) and he will be joined by Nadeem Ghauri for the first match and Ian Howell for the second.

Howell will be the ICC-appointed official for all three ODIs that follow, on 23 April in Chittagong and 26 & 28 April in Fatullah and will stand alongside Bangladesh Cricket Board-appointed umpires.

South Africa and New Zealand start their three-Test series at Centurion on 15 April and, from the Emirates Elite Panel, the ICC match referee for the series will be Ranjan Madugalle. The umpires, drawn from the Emirates Panels, will be Daryl Harper and Mark Benson (first Test), Benson and Asoka de Silva (second Test in Cape Town from 27 April) and de Silva and Darrell Hair (third Test in Johannesburg from 5 May).

The two India - Pakistan ODIs in Abu Dhabi, on 18 and 19 April, will be overseen by Roshan Mahanama from the Emirates Elite Panel of match referees while the umpires, from the Emirates Panels, will be Rudi Koertzen and Brian Jerling with Tyron Wijewardena acting as TV umpire.

Appointments for other forthcoming series will be made and announced in due course and full details of the umpires and refereeing appointments can be viewed at the umpires and referees section of the ICC website.