English umpire Ian Gould retires after World Cup

LONDON: English umpire Ian Gould will retire after the World Cup to finish a 13-year career in the international game.

Gould, who played 18 ODIs for England and participated in the World Cup -1983, joined the ECB's first-class umpires’ list in 2002 and made his debut as an international umpire in a Twenty20 International between England and Sri Lanka in 2006.

He made his One-day International debut in the same year and his Test debut after two years - between South Africa and Bangladesh in Bloemfontein.

Now he will stand in the upcoming World Cup, which will be his fourth World Cup as he is one of the 16 ICC umpires, confirmed for the mega event.

Commenting on the announcement of Ian Gould’s retirement after the World Cup, Geoff Allardice, the ICC general manager of cricket, said: "Ian has made an outstanding contribution to the game over a long period, particularly in the last decade as an international umpire for the ICC.

"He has always put the interests of the game first, and in doing so has earned enormous respect from his colleagues and players across all countries. His presence on the field will be missed, but I am sure his lifelong association with the game will continue", Allardice added.

Gould has so far officiated in 74 Test matches, 135 ODIs and 37 T20Is.

ICC umpires for 2019 World Cup: Aleem Dar, Kumar Dharmasena, Marais Erasmus, Chris Gaffaney, Ian Gould, Richard Illingworth, Richard Kettleborough, Nigel Llong, Bruce Oxenford, Sundaram Ravi, Paul Reiffel, Rod Tucker, Joel Wilson, Michael Gough, Ruchira Palliyaguruge, Paul Wilson

ICC match referees for 2019 World Cup: Chris Broad, David Boon, Andy Pycroft, Jeff Crowe, Ranjan Madugalle, Richie Richardson