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| Saturday, 13 March 2004 |
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ICC expands Emirates Elite Panel of Referees to eight The International Cricket Council has announced that the Emirates Elite Panel of Referees would be expanded to eight after adding four former international players to the Panel and the decision not to offer a new contract to former Pakistan player, Wasim Raja. Added to the Panel are former Australian fast bowler Alan Hurst; former England batsman, Chris Broad; former New Zealand captain, Jeff Crowe, and former Sri Lankan batsman, Roshan Mahanama. They join Chief Referee and former Sri Lankan captain, Ranjan Madugalle; former Indian captain Gundappa Vishwanath; former West Indian captain, Clive Lloyd and South African great Mike Proctor on the Panel. ICC Chief Executive, Malcolm Speed, said that the Match Referee is a critical element of the ICC's focus on ensuring that the game is played in the right spirit. "The ICC Match Referee plays a critical role in ensuring that international cricket is played both within the rules and within the spirit of the game," said Mr. Speed. "Expanding the Panel to eight gives us a deeper pool of former international players with a strong feel for the game who will be able to apply their knowledge when making judgements about on field-events. "Moving to eight referees also provides the ICC with the flexibility needed to meet the international schedule over the coming 12 months." New Panel member, Roshan Mahanama said that he was delighted to be appointed to the Panel. "Obviously I am delighted to be part of the Emirates Elite Panel of Referees. The ICC U/19 Cricket World Cup has been my first appointment as an ICC referee and I have really enjoyed the role," said Mr. Mahanama. "It will be good to continue to have an active role in international cricket and this is something that I am very much looking forward to." Mr. Speed also said that the quality of applicants for the roles provided the ICC with a strong field from which to pick the final panel. "It was very pleasing to speak to a number of very well qualified applicants for these positions from around the cricketing world. In the end we had many more applicants than positions available and for the ICC this is a strong position to be in," said Mr. Speed. "Unfortunately, for some people the strength of the field meant that they missed out on contracts on this occasion. Biographies of new panel members and playing statistics - courtesy of cricinfo Chris Broad A tall left-handed opener who batted with his bottom inelegantly stuck out towards square-leg. Chris Broad was an unusually single-minded and ambitious county cricketer. In 1983 he left his home-town club Gloucestershire for Nottinghamshire. England rewarded this theoretically frowned-on move by picking him at once. This paid off spectacularly against the weak Australian team of 1986-87 when Broad equalled Jack Hobbs and Wally Hammond by scoring centuries in three successive Tests on an Ashes series. He scored a further 139 in the Sydney bicentenary Test. Broad only ever played two more Tests. Later, he became more serene but less effective, returning in peace to Gloucestershire and then joining the BBC TV commentary team before it was disbanded. His commentary was as well-honed as his batting, though his flair for it was less obvious. Jeff Crowe Although the elder of the two Crowe brothers, Jeff first came to Test cricket in 1982-83, a year after his immensely gifted younger brother Martin. This was partly because he had launched his own career in South Australia, where he played with considerable success from 1977 to 1982. The Australian selectors were interested, but he decided to return to his own land, and formed part of New Zealand cricket's most successful era. Tall, fair-haired and solidly built, and a most reliable fielder who could also keep wicket, Jeff looked so much like his younger brother that the pair used to delight in swapping helmets to confuse commentators. Given the daunting task of going in at first wicket down against the West Indian fast bowlers in the Caribbean in 1984-85, he responded with some sound and courageous innings, notably 112 in the follow on at Sabina Park. He captained New Zealand in six Tests. Alan Hurst Alan Hurst was a big hearted fast bowler earned his place in the Australian Test team after some outstanding performances with his home state, Victoria. Capable of bowling with genuine pace he played in the era when the Australian game was rocked by the Packer years but more than held his own in the twelve Tests he played for his country with a best performance of 5-28 and an average of 27.9, slightly above his highest Test score of 26. Roshan Mahanama Roshan was one of the most elegant batsmen in world cricket. Starting as an opening batsman, he also moved down the order and performed well. His driving off the front foot had a magical quality about it, with his cover drive being his most scintillating shot. He brought the same level of natural talent to his fielding, and was on par with the best in the world. |
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