KARACHI, Jan 31: Zameer Haider, who is on the ICC panel of international umpires, is the only Pakistani official named for the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup, which is being played in Malaysia from Feb 17 to March 2.
The 45-year-old Zameer has stood in three One-day Internationals as field umpire while overseeing four Tests and 16 one-dayers as the TV umpire since making his international debut in March 2004.
Zameer is one of 10 officials selected by the International Cricket Council (ICC) from its panel of international umpires. In addition, the ICC has included six more umpires from the Associate and Affiliate world for the quadrennial event.
Chris Broad of England, India’s Javagal Srinath and South African Mike Procter, the match referees from the ICC elite panel, have been nominated to supervise the tournament, the matches of which will be played in Kuala Lumpur, Johor and Penang.Pakistan, winners of the past tournaments in Bangladesh (2004) and Sri Lanka (2006), will be bidding for a hat-trick of titles at the forthcoming event. They are placed in Group ‘A’ with Zimbabwe, New Zealand and hosts Malaysia.
India, the runners-up in 2006, are in Group ‘B’ along with West Indies and South Africa. Australia, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Namibia form Group ‘C’, while Group ‘D’ includes England, Bangladesh, Bermuda and Ireland.
Darrell Hair, the controversial umpire from Australia who stood in the infamous Oval Test between England and Pakistan in August 2006, will also be present in Malaysia primarily to work with junior umpires.
Following are the ICC officials nominated for the U-19 World Cup:
Match referees: Mike Procter (South Africa), Javagal Srinath (India) and Chris Broad (England).
Umpires: Zameer Haider (Pakistan), Steve Davis (Australia), Peter Hartley (England), Marais Erasmus (South Africa), G.A. Pratapkumar (India), Tyronne Wijewardene (Sri Lanka), Clyde Duncan (West Indies), Ian Robinson (Zimbabwe), Gary Baxter (New Zealand), Enamul Hoque Moni (Bangladesh), Sarika Prasad (Singapore), Paul Baldwin (Germany), Roger Dill (Bermuda), Buddhi Pradhan (Nepal), Lakani Oala (Papua New Guinea), Jeff Luck (Namibia).