Richard Illingworth back as PCB names umpires, officials

LAHORE: England’s Test umpire and former Test cricketer Richard Illingworth returned as Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Monday announced match officials for the HBL PSL 9 which will explode into action here at the Gaddafi Stadium on February 17.

The Board said that the match officials for the Qualifier, two eliminators and final, to be held in Karachi from March 14-18, will be announced in due course.

Four members of the ICC’s elite panel of umpires -- Richard Illingworth, Chris Gaffaney, Ahsan Raza and Michael Gough -- will be accompanied by Abdul Moqeet, Aleem Dar, Tariq Rasheed, Shozab Raza, Rashid Riaz, Faisal Afridi, Ruchira Palliyaguruge, Asif Yaqoob, Alex Wharf, Nasir Hussain, Imran Jawed and Muhammad Asif.

Among the foreign umpires, Illingworth, who has previously officiated in six editions of the league, has served as an umpire in 48 matches in HBL PSL. England’s Gough has officiated 34 matches in four editions, followed by Wharf (11 matches) and Sri Lanka’s Palliyaguruge (three matches).

New Zealand’s Gaffaney will make his league debut, officiating his first match between Multan Sultans and Karachi Kings at the Multan Cricket Stadium in Multan on 18 February. Roshan Mahanama, who has officiated 97 HBL PSL matches and is also a former member of the ICC’s elite panel of match referees, will be in his ninth successive year and will lead a team of three match referees with the other members being Ali Naqvi and Muhammad Javed.

The opening match between defending champions Lahore Qalandars and Islamabad United in Lahore will be officiated by veteran umpire Aleem Dar and Michael Gough on the field. Tariq Rasheed will be the TV Umpire while Shozab Raza will perform the duties of reserve umpire during the game. Muhammad Javed will perform duties of match referee in the match.