2007 Cricket World Cup officials

The umpiring panel for the 2007 Cricket World Cup comprised nine umpires from the Elite Panel of ICC Umpires (the only member not included was Darrell Hair), and nine umpires from the international panel. The refereeing panel comprises seven members from the Elite Panel of ICC Referees, with Clive Lloyd not being included due to his role as West Indies' team manager. Aleem Dar went on to stand as an umpire in his first World Cup final, alongside Steve Bucknor who was appearing in his fifth final in a row - extending his record of four from the 2003 World Cup.

Umpires
Panel Umpire Country Matches[1]
Elite
Mark Benson  England 8
Billy Bowden  New Zealand 9
Steve Bucknor  West Indies 10
Aleem Dar  Pakistan 10
Billy Doctrove  West Indies 8
Daryl Harper  Australia 8
Rudi Koertzen  South Africa 10
Asad Rauf  Pakistan 8
Simon Taufel  Australia 10
International
Steve Davis  Australia 3
Ian Gould  England 3
Goland Greaves  West Indies 0*
Tony Hill  New Zealand 3
Ian Howell  South Africa 3
Brian Jerling  South Africa 3
Norman Malcolm  West Indies 0*
Peter Parker  Australia 3
Asoka de Silva  Sri Lanka 3

From the International Panel, Russell Tiffin of Zimbabwe, Nigel Llong of England and Suresh Shastri of India were identified as the reserve umpires, should a member of the above panel have become unavailable.[2] None were eventually called on by the end of the tournament.

* Norman Malcolm and Goland Greaves only officiated in one match each, both acting as Fourth umpire.

Referees
Referee Country
Chris Broad  England
Jeff Crowe  New Zealand
Alan Hurst  Australia
Ranjan Madugalle  Sri Lanka
Roshan Mahanama  Sri Lanka
Mike Procter  South Africa
Javagal Srinath  India

Seven of the eight members of the Panel of ICC Referees were included in the roster to perform match refereeing duties throughout the tournament. The only member to be left out was Clive Lloyd due to his commitment as coach of the West Indies cricket team; however he announced his retirement from match refereeing towards the end of the Super 8 stage of the competition.[3]

Match appointments

Group stage appointments
Date Team 1 Team 2 Umpire Umpire 3rd umpire 4th umpire Referee
13 March  West Indies  Pakistan Billy Bowden Simon Taufel Brian Jerling Ian Gould Chris Broad
14 March  Australia  Scotland Steve Bucknor Asoka de Silva Tony Hill Mark Benson Javagal Srinath
14 March  Canada  Kenya Asad Rauf Peter Parker Billy Doctrove Rudi Koertzen Mike Procter
15 March  Bermuda  Sri Lanka Daryl Harper Ian Howell Aleem Dar Steve Davis Jeff Crowe
15 March  Ireland  Zimbabwe Ian Gould Brian Jerling Billy Bowden Simon Taufel Roshan Mahanama
16 March  South Africa  Netherlands Mark Benson Tony Hill Steve Bucknor Asoka de Silva Ranjan Madugalle
16 March  England  New Zealand Rudi Koertzen Asad Rauf Peter Parker Billy Doctrove Mike Procter
17 March  India  Bangladesh Aleem Dar Steve Davis Ian Howell Daryl Harper Alan Hurst
17 March  Ireland  Pakistan Billy Bowden Brian Jerling Simon Taufel Ian Gould Chris Broad
18 March  Australia  Netherlands Steve Bucknor Tony Hill Asoka de Silva Mark Benson Javagal Srinath
18 March  England  Canada Billy Doctrove Peter Parker Asad Rauf Rudi Koertzen Jeff Crowe
19 March  India  Bermuda Aleem Dar Ian Howell Daryl Harper Steve Davis Alan Hurst
19 March  West Indies  Zimbabwe Ian Gould Simon Taufel Billy Bowden Brian Jerling Roshan Mahanama
20 March  South Africa  Scotland Mark Benson Asoka de Silva Steve Bucknor Tony Hill Ranjan Madugalle
20 March  New Zealand  Kenya Billy Doctrove Rudi Koertzen Peter Parker Asad Rauf Mike Procter
21 March  Sri Lanka  Bangladesh Daryl Harper Steve Davis Ian Howell Aleem Dar Jeff Crowe
21 March  Zimbabwe  Pakistan Simon Taufel Brian Jerling Ian Gould Billy Bowden Chris Broad
22 March  Scotland  Netherlands Asoka de Silva Tony Hill Mark Benson Steve Bucknor Javagal Srinath
22 March  New Zealand  Canada Billy Doctrove Asad Rauf Rudi Koertzen Peter Parker Mike Procter
23 March  India  Sri Lanka Aleem Dar Daryl Harper Steve Davis Ian Howell Jeff Crowe
23 March  West Indies  Ireland Billy Bowden Ian Gould Brian Jerling Simon Taufel Roshan Mahanama
24 March  South Africa  Australia Steve Bucknor Mark Benson Tony Hill Asoka de Silva Ranjan Madugalle
24 March  England  Kenya Rudi Koertzen Peter Parker Billy Doctrove Asad Rauf Mike Procter
25 March  Bermuda  Bangladesh Steve Davis Ian Howell Aleem Dar Daryl Harper Alan Hurst

Super 8 stage appointments

Umpires:
Only umpires from the Elite Panel of ICC Umpires officiated from the Super Eight stage of the competition until its conclusion.

Referees:
Chris Broad, Mike Procter, Jeff Crowe, Ranjan Madugalle were chosen to officiate the matches from the Super Eight stage onwards.

Date Team 1 Team 2 Umpire Umpire 3rd umpire 4th umpire Referee
27 March  West Indies  Australia Asad Rauf Aleem Dar Billy Bowden Rudi Koertzen Chris Broad
28 March  South Africa  Sri Lanka Steve Bucknor Daryl Harper Mark Benson Simon Taufel Jeff Crowe
29 March  West Indies  New Zealand Asad Rauf Rudi Koertzen Aleem Dar Billy Bowden Mike Procter
30 March  England  Ireland Simon Taufel Billy Doctrove Daryl Harper Steve Bucknor Ranjan Madugalle
31 March  Australia  Bangladesh Aleem Dar Billy Bowden Rudi Koertzen Asad Rauf Chris Broad
1 April  West Indies  Sri Lanka Mark Benson Daryl Harper Simon Taufel Steve Bucknor Jeff Crowe
2 April  New Zealand  Bangladesh Aleem Dar Rudi Koertzen Asad Rauf Billy Bowden Mike Procter
3 April  South Africa  Ireland Simon Taufel Daryl Harper Mark Benson Billy Doctrove Ranjan Madugalle
4 April  England  Sri Lanka Asad Rauf Billy Bowden Rudi Koertzen Aleem Dar Jeff Crowe
7 April  South Africa  Bangladesh Mark Benson Billy Doctrove Steve Bucknor Daryl Harper Chris Broad
8 April  Australia  England Billy Bowden Rudi Koertzen Asad Rauf Norman Malcolm Mike Procter
9 April  New Zealand  Ireland Steve Bucknor Simon Taufel Billy Doctrove Goland Greaves Ranjan Madugalle
10 April  West Indies  South Africa Mark Benson Daryl Harper Aleem Dar Asad Rauf Chris Broad
11 April  England  Bangladesh Steve Bucknor Simon Taufel Rudi Koertzen Billy Bowden Jeff Crowe
12 April  Sri Lanka  New Zealand Asad Rauf Billy Doctrove Aleem Dar Mark Benson Mike Procter
13 April  Australia  Ireland Billy Bowden Rudi Koertzen Steve Bucknor Simon Taufel Ranjan Madugalle
14 April  South Africa  New Zealand Mark Benson Daryl Harper Billy Doctrove Asad Rauf Chris Broad
15 April  Bangladesh  Ireland Steve Bucknor Billy Bowden Simon Taufel Rudi Koertzen Jeff Crowe
16 April  Australia  Sri Lanka Billy Doctrove Aleem Dar Mark Benson Daryl Harper Mike Procter
17 April  England  South Africa Steve Bucknor Simon Taufel Billy Bowden Rudi Koertzen Ranjan Madugalle
18 April  Ireland  Sri Lanka Mark Benson Billy Doctrove Daryl Harper Aleem Dar Chris Broad
19 April  West Indies  Bangladesh Billy Bowden Rudi Koertzen Simon Taufel Steve Bucknor Jeff Crowe
20 April  Australia  New Zealand Asad Rauf Aleem Dar Billy Doctrove Daryl Harper Mike Procter
21 April  West Indies  England Simon Taufel Rudi Koertzen Billy Bowden Steve Bucknor Ranjan Madugalle

Semi-finals
Steve Bucknor, who stood in his fifth consecutive World Cup final in the 2007 competition.

After a review of the performance of the umpires throughout the tournament the best four umpires were appointed to officiate on-field in the semi-finals. The role of third umpire will be filled by the two next best umpires, and likewise for the fourth umpire appointments.

Date Team 1 Team 2 Umpire Umpire 3rd umpire 4th umpire Referee
24 April  New Zealand  Sri Lanka Simon Taufel Rudi Koertzen Daryl Harper Asad Rauf Mike Procter
25 April  Australia  South Africa Steve Bucknor Aleem Dar Billy Bowden Mark Benson Jeff Crowe

Of the appointed umpires, Bucknor and Koertzen have stood on-field before in World Cup semi-finals. Taufel and Dar served as third and fourth umpires respectively in the semi-finals of the previous tournament in 2003.

Final

The two on-field umpires for the final were chosen after a performance review, such that they are the two best umpires from the tournament (independent of the competing nations). The third and fourth umpire roles were filled by the same process.

Since the officials had to be independent of the two nations participating in the final, Simon Taufel and Daryl Harper were ineligible to umpire, whilst Ranjan Madugalle could not serve as the match referee.

Date Team 1 Team 2 Umpire Umpire 3rd umpire 4th umpire Referee
28 April  Australia  Sri Lanka Steve Bucknor Aleem Dar Rudi Koertzen Billy Bowden Jeff Crowe

This was Aleem Dar's first appointment in a World Cup final, and prior to the match had said that it was to be the most important game of his career to date. Steve Bucknor, on the other hand, stood in his fifth consecutive World Cup final, extending his previous record of four in a row, though this competition held a special note, having been held in his native West Indies. He said that this appointment was a dream come true.[4]

Criticism of umpires

Whilst the majority of the tournament passed without any major criticism of the umpires or errors on their part, the Final was wrought with confusion and was described as a "farcical finish" to the competition.[5]

Rain affected the start of the match, reducing the contest to 38 overs a side, and further rain reduced the Sri Lankan innings to 36 overs. With Australia almost certain victors with just 3 overs to go, bad light began to affect play and the umpires seemed to offer the Sri Lankans the opportunity to leave the field for bad light. Both teams assumed this would have granted Australia victory that evening, but they were soon informed that if the light improved the match would have to continue; and if not then the final 3 overs would be played the next day. Sri Lanka's batsmen eventually came out and played out the final 3 overs regardless, and Australia were eventually crowned champions.

Match referee Jeff Crowe revealed a "communication breakdown" between himself, on-field umpires Aleem Dar and Steve Bucknor and third umpire Rudi Koertzen was to blame for the mix-up,[6] which overlooked Law 21 of the laws of cricket. The law states that, in a One Day International, providing a minimum of 20 overs have been played then a result can be reached using the Duckworth-Lewis system.

The ICC issued a statement apologising for occurrence of the incident, but said that none of those involved would be sacked.[7] Two months later it was announced that all five officials involved - the two on field umpires, the third and fourth umpires and the match referee - were to be reprimanded by suspension to prevent them officiating in the 2007 Twenty20 World Championship.[8]

Notes and references
  1. Number of matches the official officiated in, including all stages of the competition (except warm-up games), only including full umpiring duties (ie, not third or fourth umpire, nor match referee).
  2. "ICC announces umpires and referees for World Cup". Cricinfo. 2007-03-02. Retrieved 2007-06-05.
  3. "ICC makes presentation to retiring referee Clive Lloyd". Official ICC World Cup 2007 website. 2007-04-22. Archived from the original on 19 May 2007. Retrieved 2007-05-24.
  4. Brian Murgatroyd (2007-04-27). "ICC announces umpire and referee appointments for ICC Cricket World Cup final". ICC. Archived from the original on 2007-09-29. Retrieved 2007-05-25.
  5. Oliver Brett (2007-04-28). "Gilchrist starts in Aussie cup win". BBC. Archived from the original on 27 May 2007. Retrieved 2007-05-25.
  6. "Crowe takes blame". Cricinfo. 2007-04-28. Archived from the original on 18 May 2007. Retrieved 2007-05-25.
  7. Andrew Miller (2007-04-29). "Speed apologises for light chaos". Cricinfo. Archived from the original on 29 May 2007. Retrieved 2007-05-25.
  8. "World Cup officials slammed by ICC". Cricinfo. 2007-06-22. Archived from the original on 26 June 2007. Retrieved 2007-06-22.
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