Aleem Dar among 16 umpires officiating upcoming World Cup

DUBAI (Monitoring Desk): Among the 16 umpires and six match referees who will officiate the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 is Pakistan’s Aleem Dar.

Beginning in late May in England and Wales, the 48-match event will be held from May 30 to July 14, with the top 10 one-day international sides competing.

The International Cricket Council said on Friday the opening match between England and South Africa at The Oval will see David Boon as match referee, Kumar Dharmasena one of the two on-field umpires and Paul Reiffel as the third umpire.

Boon was a member of the Allan Border-led Australia side that won its first World Cup title in 1987. Dharmasena was part of Arjuna Ranatunga’s champion team of 1996 and Reiffel was a World Cup winner for Australia under Steve Waugh in 1999.

England’s Ian Gould, also named to the officiating squad, was England’s wicketkeeper in the 1983 World Cup. He said Friday he would retire after the tournament. Gould has officiated in 74 tests, 135 ODIs and 37 Twenty20 internationals.

“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,” ICC general manager for cricket Geoff Allardice said.

“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.”

Australia is the defending champion at the World Cup, having won its fifth title in 2015.

Cricket World Cup officials

Match Referees: Chris Broad, David Boon, Andy Pycroft, Jeff Crowe, Ranjan Madugalle, Richie Richardson.

Umpires: Aleem Dar, Kumar Dharmasena, Marais Erasmus, Chris Gaffaney, Ian Gould, Richard Illingworth, Richard Kettleborough, Nigel Llong, Bruce Oxenford, Sundaram Ravi, Paul Reiffel, Rod Tucker, Joel Wilson, Michael Gough, Ruchira Palliyaguruge, Paul Wilson.