ICC announces umpire and referee appointments for upcoming Test series in England
Andy Pycroft looks forward to his first Test matches as an elite panel match referee
The ICC today announced details of umpire and match referee appointments for the upcoming Test series between England and the West Indies.
Andy Pycroft of the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Match Referees will lead the playing control team in the two-match series that gets underway at Lord?s, London on 6 May. This will be Pycroft's first Test as a match referee.
The ICC-appointed on-field umpires for both Tests will be Steve Davis and Asoka de Silva of the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Umpires. The England and Wales Cricket Board will appoint the third and fourth umpires for the series.
Reacting to these appointments, Pycroft said: "I am looking forward to these two matches immensely and it's a real thrill to be entering this new phase in my cricketing life. I have been around cricket my whole life and so to be able to serve the game in this way means a lot to me.
"I can't wait to get back into cricket at the highest level again and to be making my debut as a Test match referee at Lord's is particularly exciting."
England
Series match referee - Andy Pycroft
6-10 May - England v West Indies, Lord's (Test) - Steve Davis and Asoka de Silva
14-18 May - England v West Indies, Durham (Test) - Steve Davis and Asoka de Silva
Appointments for other upcoming series will be announced in due course.
Note: Andy Pycroft (52) was named on the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Match Referees in March and these will be his first Test matches in that capacity. As a player, he played three Tests and 20 ODIs for his native Zimbabwe and appeared as a player in three ICC Cricket World Cup tournaments. Apart from captaining his country he has also completed stints as national coach, national team manager, national selector and television commentator. He has sat on several ICC committees including the ICC Technical and Rules Committee and the ICC Cricket Committee. Having attended Cape Town University he worked as an attorney-at-law for 22 years, including 17 years as a partner of the law firm, Winterton, Holmes and Hill.
More information can be found at: http://www.icc-cricket.com/about-icc/match-officials.html