Umpire Ian Gould to retire after World Cup

English umpire Ian Gould will retire after the forthcoming International Cricket Council (ICC) Men's Cricket World Cup 2019, announced ICC.

This year's World Cup will be Gould's fourth appearance in the premier tournament. He is one of 16 ICC umpires confirmed for the tournament.

"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," ESPN Cricinfo quoted Geoff Allardice, the ICC general manager of cricket, as saying.

"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," he added.

The 61-year old joined the ECB's first-class umpires list in 2002 and made his debut as an international umpire in a T20 between England and Sri Lanka in 2006.

Just a few days after that, Gould stepped out as an umpire in the ODI cricket and then two-years later he did umpiring in his first Test match, which was played between South Africa and Bangladesh.

Since then Gould has stood in 74 Tests, 135 ODIs and 37 T20Is.