World cricket’s best umpires will not be available for the start of the Ashes – and it means an umpire with decision review numbers almost as bad as axed official Joel Wilson’s is set to preside over the first Test in Perth.
When the game’s oldest rivalry is renewed in less than a fortnight’s time, the world’s top officials will be thousands of kilometres away from Optus Stadium. In their place will be three lesser-performed umpires based on their records of having reviews successfully challenged by captains.
England captain Ben Stokes speaks to an umpire during an Ashes Test.Credit: Getty Images
Using information from scorecards on cricket website ESPNcricinfo, this masthead has crunched the numbers to reveal the umpires with the best Test record this year when it comes to the decision review system.
England’s Alex Wharf, who sits atop the rankings, Australian duo Rod Tucker (fourth) and Paul Reiffel (sixth) as well as reigning ICC umpire of the year Richard Illingworth and three-time winner Richard Kettleborough are all unavailable because of the ICC’s policy of not appointing umpires from the participating countries.
The pool is further hit by the ICC’s decision to assign experienced Sri Lankan umpire Kumar Dharmasena (fifth) and newcomer Allahudien Paleker (second) for white-ball internationals across the Tasman between New Zealand and the West Indies instead of the start of world cricket’s marquee series. New Zealand’s Chris Gaffaney (third) is in India for the Tests against South Africa.
It leaves India’s Nitin Menon (seventh), South African Adrian Holdstock (ninth) and Bangladesh’s Sharfuddoula (last) as the only available umpires from the ICC’s 12-person panel of elite umpires.
The ICC is yet to announce their appointments for the first Test, but it would be a major deviation from standard practice if the governing body was to look beyond its elite panel. The ICC was contacted for comment.
Sharfuddoula’s percentage of decisions overturned of 34.48 – more than one in three – is only marginally better than Wilson’s figure of 35.4 per cent in internationals in 2024.