July 27, 2007	Friday	Rajab 11, 1428

KARACHI, July 26: The International Cricket Council on Thursday announced the umpires and match referees for the inaugural Twenty20 world championships, excluding five involved in April’s shambolic World Cup final.

“A total of three ICC match referees and nine umpires will officiate during the 27-match Twenty20 World Cup, which is scheduled to take place from Sept 11 to 24 in South Africa,” an ICC press release said.

The three referees, all from the ICC Elite Panel, are headed by former Sri Lanka captain Ranjan Madugalle and include Mike Procter, the former South Africa all-rounder and ex-England opening batsman Chris Broad.

The nine umpires include five officials from the ICC Elite Panel, namely Australians Daryl Harper and Simon Taufel, England's Mark Benson, Billy Doctrove of the West Indies, and Asad Rauf from Pakistan.

The four other umpires, who are from the ICC International Panel, are Steve Davis of Australia, South African Ian Howell, England's Nigel Llong and Tony Hill from New Zealand.

The match appointments for the opening stage of the tournament will be made and announced in due course, said the release.

The ICC however said that it had left out all five officials who were responsible for the bungled end to the World Cup final in the West Indies earlier this year.

It announced the decision to omit them last month.

Australia's victory against Sri Lanka in the showpiece match in Barbados on April 28 was overshadowed by a farcical climax brought about by a failure to apply a standard playing condition.

Referee Jeff Crowe, on-field umpires Steve Bucknor and Aleem Dar, third umpire Rudi Koertzen and reserve official Billy Bowden incorrectly ruled, after a stoppage for bad light, the game had to continue even though the required minimum of 20 overs in the second innings had by then already been bowled.

The officials insisted Sri Lanka bat out the final three overs of the game in near darkness.

All 10 Test playing countries, along with associate teams Kenya and Scotland, will compete in the Twenty20 event. Matches will be played at Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg.—AFP