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CAPE TOWN, Wednesday (Reuters) - Cricket's newly appointed elite panel of international match referees and umpires will begin an intensive four-day training course on Thursday as part of the sport's attempt to improve standards.

The International Cricket Council's five match referees and eight umpires have gathered at a conference centre at the Arabella Country Estate near Cape Town for sessions on media training, discussions on playing conditions and the reporting of suspect bowling actions, as well as a medical and fitness check.

The officials are all to be trained to use laptop computers, which will become their main tool of communication.

Legal considerations -- particularly in light of the new code of conduct procedures and the sanctions now available to match referees -- will play a large part of the course.

Under the new code, drafted at a meeting of the ICC executive board in Cape Town last week, charges will be laid by on-field umpires leading to a hearing held by the match referee.

The referee now has recourse to a four-tier disciplinary system, with level one offences punishable by a minimum of a reprimand, with a life ban the ultimate sanction for level four breaches. The most serious sanctions are now open to appeal for the first time.

"It can't be stressed how vital these four days are," ICC communications manager Mark Harrison told Reuters. "What we are looking for is consistency and this is the start of a more consistent process of giving umpires and referees the kind of professional training they have never had before.

"All the officials on the elite panel have worked in cricket for a long time. The ICC has never before told them how to approach the job in a professional and well thought-out fashion.

"This is the start of an ongoing process."

The five-man referees panel comprises Ranjan Madugalle (Sri Lanka) as chief referee, supported by Clive Lloyd (West Indies), Mike Procter (South Africa), Wasim Raja (Pakistan) and Gundappa Viswanath (India).

The umpires panel consists of Steve Bucknor (West Indies), Asoka De Silva (Sri Lanka), Daryl Harper (Australia), Rudi Koertzen (South Africa), Dave Orchard (South Africa), David Shepherd (England), Russell Tiffin (Zimbabwe) and Srinivas Venkataraghavan (India). 

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