ICC Europe announces new elite umpire panel
The ICC Development Program in Europe has announced a new panel of umpires who will be eligible to officiate in future ICC European tournaments and matches.
The panel comes after ten years of umpire education in 27 Associate and Affiliate member countries, which has resulted in a 126% growth in the number of qualified umpires since 2002 to just under 1,200 qualified umpires.
The Europe region delivers up to twelve European tournaments each season involving over 60 teams from Under 13 to senior level which also includes the World Cup qualifiers for the under 19 and senior men's and women's games. In 2007 the region will stage an inaugural European Twenty20 Challenge involving Europe's three World Cup teams, Ireland, The Netherlands and Scotland, the latter of whom have qualified for the ICC World Twenty20 Championship in South Africa later this year.
Within the panel is a smaller elite umpire panel made up of ten of Europe's most experienced umpires. Theses umpires are eligible to officiate at the top ECC/ICC events such as the ICC World Cricket League (WCL) Divisions 1-5, the ICC Intercontinental Cup and the European Division 1 Championship (WCL Qualifier).
The panel was selected by the European Umpire & Referee Selection Committee (EURSC) from an extensive list of nominees submitted by the country boards. The two panels will be reviewed at the end of each season giving each country board the opportunity to add new names to their nomination list. This review process also allows the EURSC to review the performance of existing members and to promote (and demote) where applicable.
The announcement of the new umpire panels comes almost two years after ICC announced its International Associate and Affiliate panel which officiates ICC One Day Internationals, World Cricket League events and the Intercontinental Cup.
Speaking about the new initiative ICC Regional Development Manager Richard Holdsworth said, "This is a culmination of a group of dedicated umpires who have educated themselves through training courses and experience within their countries, and have a desire to officiate at the highest level."
"It is pleasing that the number of umpires in Europe has grown so significantly over the last 10 years and in particular over the last five. These men and women are volunteers who give up much of their leisure time to officiate our great game and ensure standards are increased and the laws and spirit of the game are upheld. They are integral to the games future and this is just a reward to those in Europe who have excelled."
Elite Umpire, Paul Baldwin, who has officiated at the U19 World Cup and umpired his first ODI in Scotland last year, added: "The panels are a great step forward for the development of European umpiring. It now gives a clearly defined structure for umpires who want to achieve the very highest level of competition.
"I hope that the umpires on the two panels will realise the chance they have been given and take it with both hands. The Panels can lead to First class cricket and ODI's and which umpire wouldn't want to do that?
"It will hopefully encourage more people to take up umpiring as they see their friends and colleagues progressing and as the standards of umpiring get even higher then consequently the standard of the game will rise."
The new panel consists of 62 umpires of whom 52 will officiate in Europe's twelve tournaments this year.
The panels are listed below
ICC European Elite Umpire Panel
Niels Bagh - Denmark
Sanjeev Kad - Finland
Paul Baldwin - Germany
Richard Smith - Germany
Mark Hawthorne - Ireland
Trevor Magee - Ireland
Charlie McElwee - Ireland
Steve Tovey - Netherlands
Brian Papworth - Scotland
Ian Ramage - Scotland
ICC European Umpire Panel
Peter De Boeck - Belgium
Richard Eames - Belgium
Ravi Kandiah - Denmark
Thomas Kentorp - Denmark
Tim Krarup Jensen - Denmark
Bent Nielsen - Denmark
Lars Bo Nielsen - Denmark
Claus Tranholm Olesen Denmark
Torsten Orhoj - Denmark
Tiina Hetemaa - Finland
Jari Schabel - Finland
Tony Best - France
Stephen Harrison - France
Graham Kelsey - France
Mike Lomax - France
David Rhodes - France
Lee Goldsmith - Germany
Sunil Chandiramani - Gibraltar
Bob Lomax - Gibraltar
Andy Bisson - Guernsey
Dave Bray - Guernsey
Martin Gray - Guernsey
John Mountford - Guernsey
Gordon Black - Ireland
Louis Fourie - Ireland
Connie McAllister - Ireland
Colin McClelland - Ireland
Rodney Molins - Ireland
Lawrence Moore -Ireland
Alan Neill - Ireland
Ivan Reid - Ireland
Keith Smith - Ireland
Naor Gudke -Israel
Benzy Kehmker - Israel
Giulio Casanova - Italy
Franco Esposito - Italy
Michael Carpenter - Jersey
Jane Carpenter - Jersey
Guarin Clayton - Jersey
Robin Stockton - Jersey
Ben Lougheed - Luxembourg
Ingeborg Bevers - Netherlands
Bart Hartong - Netherlands
Willem Molenaar - Netherlands
George Reman - Netherlands
Erno Ruchtie - Netherlands
Lindsay Horne - Scotland
Jim McClymont - Scotland
Bill McPate - Scotland
Sandy Scotland - Scotland
Ron Graham - Spain
Alex Mackay - Switzerland
