Richard Illingworth, Paul Reiffel join ICC umpires elite panel

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced that former Test cricketers Richard Illingworth and Paul Reiffel have been selected on the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Umpires following the annual review and selection process.

Illingworth and Reiffel have joined Aleem Dar, Kumar Dharmasena, Steve Davis, Marais Erasmus, Ian Gould, Tony Hill, Richard Kettleborough, Nigel Llong, Bruce Oxenford and Rod Tucker in the panel for the 2013-2014 season, commencing 1 July 2013.

The two former internationals have replaced Asad Rauf and Billy Bowden.

Illingworth has been umpiring international cricket since July 2010 and has so far umpired in four Tests, 16 One-Day Internationals and seven Twenty20 Internationals, while Reiffel, who made his international umpiring debut in January 2009, has stood in four Tests, 30 One-Day Internationals and nine Twenty20 Internationals.

The Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Umpires was selected by the ICC Umpires Selection Panel consisting of Chairman, Geoff Allardice, ICC's General Manager - Cricket, ICC Chief Match Referee Ranjan Madugalle, ex-England player and coach and umpire, David Lloyd, and Srinivas Venkataraghavan, the former India captain and international umpire.

Chairman of the ICC Umpires Selection Panel, Mr Allardice, said: "It is exciting to see Richard and Paul promoted to the elite panel, but it is also important to acknowledge and appreciate the outstanding contributions of Asad and Billy over a long period of time.

"The selection panel considered the overall performances of the umpires over the past 12 months when deciding which umpires would be offered contracts for 2013-14. In Asad's case, it is important to emphasize that the recent speculation linking his name to the IPL spot-fixing investigation was not considered during the selectors' deliberations."

Bowden was included in the elite panel in 2003 and umpired in 75 Tests, 181 One-Day Internationals and 19 Twenty20 Internationals, while Asad umpired in 47 Tests, 98 One-Day Internationals and 23 Twenty20 Internationals and was a member of the elite panel since 2006.