The Pakistan Cricket Board on Friday announced that the ICC's international panel umpire Michael Gough would travel to Lahore for HBL Pakistan Super League 2019. Gough, 39, would umpire in the 9 and 10 March matches between Lahore Qalandars and Islamabad United, and Lahore Qalandars and Multan Sultans, respectively. Appointments for the play-off and knock-out matches would be made closer to the event, but the 12 March Eliminator 1 between Team 3 and Team 4 would be the last match Lahore would stage in the 2019 edition.
Gough, a former first-class cricketer for Durham, is one of the most respected umpires on the ICC panel. He has to date officiated in eight Tests, 49 ODIs and 13 T20Is since making his international debut in August 2013. This would be Gough's debut HBL PSL event, in which he would also be involved in the UAE leg, which would commence from 14 February in Dubai and culminate with the final in Karachi on 17 March. Out of 32 matches in 34 days, Lahore would host three matches, while five matches would be played in Karachi.
Also umpiring in the HBL PSL 2019 from the ICC's international panel would be Sri Lanka's Ranmore Martinesz. The 51-year-old would complete a hat-trick of appearances in the HBL PSL and would be based in Karachi after completing his UAE assignments. Martinesz, who played four first-class matches in the 1994-95 seasons, has umpired in eight Tests, 46 ODIs and 29 T20Is.
Apart from Gough and Martinesz, world's 35 top performers, including AB de Villiers, have confirmed their participation in the Pakistan-leg matches. Gough's commitment to visit Lahore is another step in the right direction as the PCB continues to show and prove to the world that Pakistan is a safe and secure country to play international cricket.
Joining Gough and Martinesz in the UAE-leg of HBL PSL 2019 matches would be England's World Cupper and member of the ICC's elite umpiring panel Richard Illingworth. This would be Illingworth's second appearance in the HBL PSL 2019. Illingworth, 55, played in nine Tests and 25 ODIs for England, while he has umpired in 39 Tests, 59 ODIs and 16 T20Is to date.
Other umpires on the HBL PSL 2019 panel are: Ahsan Raza, Asif Yaqoob, Rashid Riaz and Shozab Raza. All the four are members of the PCB Elite Panel of Umpires, while Rashid was adjudged as the Umpire of PSL 2018. Aleem Dar, however, would not be making a presence in the 2019 edition due to his family engagements, which would be followed by his international appointments.
The PCB, as part of its strategy to develop and provide more experience and exposure to their up and coming umpires, have included Faisal Afridi and Tariq Rasheed. The two would perform the fourth umpires' responsibilities during the event, but more importantly, by sharing the same umpires' room, they would learn from the best how to prepare for a match or a series, and the effort that goes into becoming a reputable and respectable match official.
Roshan Mahanama, one of the most popular match officials and a regular visitor to Pakistan in Sri Lanka's early days, would lead the match officials' list, which also includes Prof Anees Sheikh and Prof Javed Malik. The two professors are members of the PCB's International Panel of Match Referees.
This would be Mahanama's fourth successive HBL PSL. He had retired from the ICC's elite panel in 2015 after refereeing in 61 Tests, 222 ODIs and 35 T20Is. In a fine cricketing career, the 52-year-old played 52 Tests and 213 ODIs.
Mahanama would lead the Playing Control Team for the tournament opener between Islamabad United and Lahore Qalandars on 14 February. The on-field umpires would be Rashid Riaz and Richard Illingworth, Shozab Raza would the third umpire while Tariq Rasheed would be the fourth umpire. Meanwhile, the PCB has also confirmed the three-person Event Technical Committee, which would be headed by Mudassar Nazar and would also include Dr Sohail Saleem and Usman Wahla.
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