RateTheRef

A couple of surprises (and something of a changing of the guard) with the Semi appointments announced:

Semi-Final 1: Kolkata, Wednesday 4 March 2026

South Africa v New Zealand
On-Field Umpires: Richard Illingworth & Alex Wharf
Third Umpire: Nitin Menon
Fourth Umpire: Rod Tucker
Match Referee: Javagal Srinath
Semi-Final 2: Mumbai, Thursday 5 March 2026

India v England
On-Field Umpires: Chris Gaffaney & Allahuddien Paleker
Third Umpire: Adrian Holdstock
Fourth Umpire: Paul Reiffel
Match Referee: Andy Pycroft

Interesting to see you keep Reifer in the group ahead of Yaqoob….

I wonder who the next batch of emerging umpires might be. From this tournament, I would assume Reifer, Black, Koch and perhaps Rusere back in the fold

I do feel as though irrespective of group stage performance it will be Elite and Emerging only as was done in 2024. Hard to pick a front runner amongst those 4 for the Emerging Panel (presuming at least one Elite retirement when the panel is announced presumably next month); I feel like Koch is at something of an advantage given the high level of professionalism around umpiring in Australia, though would be nice to see Rusere get another go, or for Black to become Irish Test umpire #1. I haven't seen much of Reifer this tournament but he definitely seems marked for higher honours in the next few years.

Anybody care to speculate as to Super 8 appointments? Think the umpiring has generally been fairly solid, irrespective my presumption would be the ICC will pick from the Elite and Emerging panels. Given teams involved and geographic split, I'm presuming we will see effectively 2 panels of 8 consisting of:

Group 1 (India)- India, Zimbabwe, WI, South Africa:
Tucker, Reiffel, Gaffaney, Dharmasena, Saikat, Wharf, Kettleborough, Illingworth 

Group 2 (Sri Lanka)- Sri Lanka, England, Pakistan, NZ
Menon, Holdstock, Paleker, Raza, Yaqoob, Nogajski, Madanagopal, Brown

Obviously less certain where Australian umpires will go with the side out, likewise perhaps Brown could be in India and one or more of the English umpires could be in SL doing non England games, Saikat also I've mainly put in India given he has been there to date

England v West Indies - Allahudien Palekar, Donovan Koch, TV Umpire - Chris Brown

Very good work from all three officials in this match, Mr. Palekar especially with three good lbw decisions (two correctly given and one correctly not given).

With this new Smart Replay DRS in use, not much time is being wasted in adjudicating lbws, low catches and run outs and stumpings. Chris Brown was very efficient and correct with his judgments and the game was kept flowing smoothly as a result.

Good teamwork from both on field umpires too and Mr. Palekar is a good addition to the Elite Panel of ICC Umpires.

Donovan Koch tried to get onto the professional list in England some years ago and when he failed in that task, he relocated to Australia where he has impressed in his umpiring to date. Both men looked relaxed and authoritative on field and as I said, worked well as a pair.

Top work all round from the officials.

Not a fan of technology per se but it does keep the game moving to have the system in place, as in rugby union, where the game goes on while the checks are done discreetly.

I happen to be of the opinion that umpires still have to make decisions on field such as catches and lbws and are judged on their correctness or otherwise. When those decisions get taken away from the on field officials then that will be a sad day I agree.

As we know in football, people get very impatient with the decision making process, sometimes justifiably, sometimes not. If speed is of the essence and more correct decisions emanate then I suppose people will
be happy.

I don't mind the way it's being used for decisions that would have been referred to the TV umpire anyway. The day we have the TV umpire stepping in absent a referral will be where things have gone too far. Also I think the reference to Smart DRS being used for LBWs is erroneous (or maybe I misread); certainly during the Zimbabwe v Oman match Zimbabwe did not review an LBW which was incorrect and that stood, and the playing conditions make no reference to a provision for it?

Does anyone know why Donovan Koch umpired part of the Afghanistan vs West Indies game yesterday? He initially replaced Jayaraman Madanagopal, then later stood in for Sam Nogajski for quite a few overs in the second innings, before both of them returned to finish the match. It just seemed a bit odd.

Given the fairly limited number of practice matches, some of which have local umpires standing, I would presume it would just be with a view to all tournament umpires getting some match time in local conditions prior to the tournament proper

So after the 24 umpires named for the T20 World Cup, these are probably the next best umpires. Keep an eye out for Haig and Bassarath to eventually make their way up to senior ICC tournaments as they both have age on their side.

Seems to be a reasonable indicator- 2024 semi final umpires: Koch, Riaz, Paleker, Rusere (latter two in final), 2022: Yaqoob, Williams, Riaz, Saggers (Yaqoob and Roland Black in final)

Sri Lanka v England 1st ODI- R Premadasa

On field: Wimalasiri and Tucker
3rd: Holdstock
4th: Kottahachchi
Referee: Madugalle