The Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Referees is composed of former international cricket players who are appointed by the ICC to oversee all Test match, One Day International and Twenty20 International cricket matches in the capacity of Match referee. The referees are ultimately in charge of all international cricket matches, and act as the ICC's representative at the grounds. In addition they are responsible for imposing penalties for infringements of the ICC Code of Conduct, and so being ex-international cricketers they can ensure that the punishments dealt out are just. The referees also form part of the ICC's umpire performance review, submitting reports about the umpires after each match.
Current members As of 29 September 2026 the ICC Elite Panel consists of:
Referee Date of birth Age Tests ODIs T20Is Country Ranjan Madugalle 22 April 1959 235 421 193 Sri Lanka Jeff Crowe 14 September 1958 137 350 215 New Zealand Javagal Srinath 31 August 1969 88 288 155 India Andy Pycroft 6 June 1956 113 254 214 Zimbabwe Richie Richardson 12 January 1962 63 116 144 West Indies
Past members The following people were included in the inaugural panel of elite referees but have since retired: Referee Date of birth JoinedPanel LeftPanel Tests ODIs T20Is Country Gundappa Viswanath 12 February 1949 2002 2004 15 80 0 India Wasim Raja 3 July 1952 2002 2004 15 35 0 Pakistan Clive Lloyd 31 August 1944 2002 2007 53 133 2 West Indies Mike Procter 15 September 1946 2002 2008 47 162 15 South Africa Alan Hurst 15 July 1950 2004 2011 45 102 26 Australia Roshan Mahanama 31 May 1966 2004 2015 61 222 36 Sri Lanka Chris Broad 29 September 1957 2003 2024 123 361 138 England David Boon 29 December 1960 2011 2025 87 183 119 Australia
Controversies 2006 ball-tampering controversy
Mike Procter was criticised for failing to persuade umpires Darrell Hair and Billy Doctrove to continue with the match, which was awarded to England when Pakistan refused to take the field in protest at being accused of ball tampering.See 4th from bottom paragraph
2007 Cricket World Cup Final
Jeff Crowe was seen as ultimately responsible for the failure of the five match officials (himself and umpires Bucknor, Dar, Koertzen and Bowden) to adhere to the ICC's playing conditions regarding to the number of overs required before Duckworth-Lewis can determine the outcome of a match.
This resulted in Australia and Sri Lanka having to play out three overs in near darkness, since they had been told they would otherwise have to return and play out the overs the following day. In the aftermath of this fiasco, Crowe apologised on behalf of the playing control team for the error.Crowe admits error
Records
Tests
Most Test matches as a referee as of 25 September 2026: RefereePeriodMatches Ranjan Madugalle 1993–present 235 Jeff Crowe 2004–present 137 Chris Broad 2003–2024 123 Andy Pycroft 2009–present 113 Javagal Srinath 2006–present 88
ODIs
Most ODI matches as a referee as of 29 September 2026: RefereePeriodMatches Ranjan Madugalle 1993–present 421 Chris Broad 2004–2024 361 Jeff Crowe 2004–present 350 Javagal Srinath 2006–present 288 Andy Pycroft 2009–present 254
T20Is
Most T20I matches as a referee as of 25 September 2026: RefereePeriodMatches Jeff Crowe 2005–present 215 Andy Pycroft 2009–present 214 Ranjan Madugalle 2006–present 193 Javagal Srinath 2006–present 155 Richie Richardson 2015–present 144
References
See also Umpire (cricket) Elite Panel of ICC Umpires International Panel of ICC Umpires