Top 5 Active ICC Umpires with Most number of Test Matches Officiated.
The Umpires or Referees are the most important individuals in sports who hold all the powers to successfully conduct the game between the two parties/teams. Any sport without umpires would probably just be a game without any values and soul.
Cricket being a long duration sport, the umpires automatically become crucial in upholding the values and spirit of the game. The Umpires are responsible to take timely decisions to complete the match under the given certain time frame.
From giving the accurate decision on a player’s call to bring both captains on the same page for a specific decision, Umpires are indeed a valuable asset for the global body.
Since the start of cricket, many umpires have officiated matches and earned their names due to their on-field brilliance and apt decisions.
In this article, we will discuss the top 5 active ICC elite Umpires with the most number of Test matches officiated.
Top 5 Active ICC Umpires with Most number of Test Matches Officiated:
5. Richard Illingworth (England) – 55 Tests
I am sure most of the cricket viewers will remember this name, as he officiated the latest ICC World Test Championship final between India and New Zealand.
Richard Illingworth is a former left-arm spinner and current English Umpire who made his Umpiring debut back in 2006.
After experiencing a little bit of success in his cricketing career, Illingworth was named in England’s full list of umpires in 2006. In the span of just two years, Illingworth completed his 47 first-class games as an umpire.
Owing to his brilliant records as an umpire, Richard Illingworth was named in ICC elite Panel of Umpires in 2013.
Till now, he has officiated in 55 Test Cricket matches which includes his latest appearance in the latest 2021 WTC Final.
4. Marais Erasmus (South Africa) – 66
The former South African bowler and lower middle-order batsman, Marais Erasmus began his umpiring career in 2002 for South Africa in the first-class games.
In a very short period, Marais Erasmus made it to his maiden international match. He officiated the T20I fixture between South Africa and Australia in 2006.
Erasmus was brought to the International Panel of ICC umpires in 2008 before he made his test debut.
He officiated the test match between India and Bangladesh in 2010 which embarked his test journey.
He was named as one of the eighteen umpires to take the field for the 2015 World Cup and one of sixteen umpires for the 2019 World Cup.
The South African umpire also won the David Shepherd Trophy for the ICC Umpire of the Year. He was the first South African to get the honour and overall fifth umpire.
In his 11 years umpiring career, Erasmus has taken the field 66 times as the umpire in a test match.
Top 5 Active ICC Umpires with Most number of Test Matches Officiated.
3. Handunnettige Deepthi Priyantha Kumar Dharmasena (Sri Lanka) – 69 Test Matches
Handunnettige Deepthi Priyantha Kumar Dharmasena popularly known as Kumar Dharmasena is a Sri Lankan former international cricketer and an ICC elite panel umpire.
Dharmasena was the member of 1996 World Cup winning Sri Lankan team and also featured in a couple of ODIs for his country.
Post his retirement from international cricket in 2006, Dharmasena opted to become an umpire in his very own sport. His decision to become the Umpire came prior to his official retirement as he had officiated several first-class games for Sri Lanka.
He made his ODI debut as an umpire in the game between India and Sri Lanka in 2009.
He took charge in 2011 World Cup games and was inducted to the ICC elite panel of Umpires in the same year.
He also made appearances in the 2015 and 2019 World Cup games. He was one of the two on-field umpires in the 2019 World Cup final between England and New Zealand.
In his 11 years umpiring career, Kumar Dharmasena has officiated in 69 Test games and also won the David Shepherd Trophy in 2018.
2. Richard Kettleborough (England) – 70 Tests
Another England umpire and Richard Illingworth’s mate, Richard Kettleborough also made it to the list as he has umpired in 70 Test matches in his 11 years career.
Kettleborough is a current ICC umpire and former English cricketer who featured in 33 first-class matches for Yorkshire and Middlesex in his short cricketing career.
He made his international debut as an umpire in 2008 and was subsequently included in the full International Panel of ICC Umpires in November 2009.
Kettleborough was named in the ICC elite panel of Umpires in 2011 after his apt decisions.
His on-field accurate decisions earned him David Shepherd Trophy for ICC Umpire of the year in 2013, 2014 and 2015.
Richard Kettleborough was the TV Umpire/Third Umpire in the recent ICC World Test Championship final between India and New Zealand.
1. Aleem Sarwar Dar (Pakistan) – 136 Tests
The former Pakistan cricketer and current ICC elite panel of Umpire, Alim Dar is one of the finest Cricket umpires the world has ever seen. He has officiated in 136 Test matches in his career which started back in 2003.
Back in 2000, Alim Dar stood in his first international game as an umpire between Pakistan and Sri Lanka and since then he has a record attendance in 400 international matches including all test, ODI and T20Is.
He is also one of the five umpires (Aleem Dar, Marais Erasmus, Richard Kettleborough, Kumar Dharmasena and Simon Taufel) who have won the David Shepherd Trophy. He won the trophy for three years in a row from 2009 and 2011.
In 2019 he broke the record of Jamaican umpire Steve Bucknor as he stood in his 129 Test match as an umpire. Bucknor had 128 Test appearances under his belt.
He was also named as the umpire to officiate in 2007, 2015 and 2019 World Cup matches.
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Top 5 Active ICC Umpires with Most number of Test Matches Officiated.