ICC announces umpires for various series

Rudi Koertzen will stand in the first two Tests in the Pakistan-India series © Getty Images

Umpires Rudi Koertzen and Darrell Hair from the ICC Elite Panel have been appointed to officiate the first Test between India and Pakistan at Lahore starting January 13. Koertzen will be joined by Simon Taufel for the second Test at Faisalabad starting January 21 while Taufel will be joined by Daryl Harper for the third and final Test, at Karachi starting January 29. Ranjan Madugalle will be the match referee for the Tests and will be replaced by Chris Broad for the five-match ODI series.

Taufel will stay on for the first three matches of the ODI series (at Peshawar, Rawalpindi and Lahore) before Steve Bucknor takes over for the last two games, at Multan and Karachi.

Apart from the India-Pakistan series, the ICC has also announced the Elite Panel and International Panel match referee and umpire appointments for all Tests and ODIs up to late March 2006.

Jeff Crowe will be the match referee for the VB Series between Australia, South Africa and Sri Lanka. If the finals go to a third and deciding match (which would be played at Brisbane) that encounter would be Crowe's 50th as a referee. The umpires for the VB Series are Aleem Dar and Mark Benson. Dar will stand in eight matches (if the third final is required) and Benson will officiate in seven matches.

For the West Indies tour of New Zealand starting February, match referee Mike Procter will officiate in all matches. Rudi Koertzen and Daryl Harper will officiate the ODI series. Harper will then stand in the first two matches of the Test series alongside Koertzen at Auckland and Mark Benson at Wellington. Benson will stand alongside Ian Howell, in the final match at Napier.

For Sri Lanka's tour of Bangladesh, the match referee for the tour will be Clive Lloyd. Umpire K Hariharan will officiate in the ODIs. Asad Rauf will be joined by Steve Bucknor in the first Test at Chittagong and Hariharan in the second Test at Dhaka.

Chris Broad will be the match referee for Australia's five-ODI and three-Test tour of South Africa. Jeremy Lloyds will stand in the first four ODIs before Aleem Dar takes charge of the final match. Lloyds will stand in the first two Tests of the series, at Cape Town and Port Elizabeth respectively, alongside Dar and Steve Bucknor. Bucknor will stay on for the final match at Centurion where he will be joined by Tony Hill.

Ranjan Madugalle will be the match referee for the Test series between India and England.The umpires for the first Test will be Aleem Dar and Ian Howell. Simon Taufel and Darrell Hair will then stand in the second and third Tests of the series at Mohali and Mumbai respectively. The appointments for the ODI series between India and England, together with other future series, will be made in due course.

Full details of the umpires and refereeing appointments can be viewed at the umpires and referees section of the ICC website.