Illingworth to lead match officials in PSL 9, Gaffaney to debut
By our correspondent
The Pakistan Cricket Board has revealed the match officials for the upcoming HBL Pakistan Super League 9, scheduled from 17 February to 18 March. Lahore and Multan will host 14 matches from 17 to 27 February, while Karachi and Rawalpindi will stage 16 matches from 28 February to 12 March.
The officials for the Qualifier, two eliminators, and the final in Karachi from 14 to 18 March will be announced later.
Four members of the ICC’s elite panel of umpires – Richard Illingworth, Chris Gaffaney, Ahsan Raza and Michael Gough – will be accompanied by Abdul Moqeet, Aleem Dar, Tariq Rasheed, Shozab Raza, Rashid Riaz, Faisal Afridi, Ruchira Palliyaguruge, Asif Yaqoob, Alex Wharf, Nasir Hussain, Imran Jawed and Muhammad Asif.
Among the foreign umpires, Illingworth, who has previously officiated in six editions of the league, has served as an umpire in 48 matches in HBL PSL. England’s Gough, who has appeared in four editions previously, has officiated 34 matches, followed by Wharf (11 matches) and Sri Lanka’s Palliyaguruge (three matches). New Zealand’s Gaffaney will make his league debut, officiating his first match between Multan Sultans and Karachi Kings at the Multan Cricket Stadium in Multan on 18 February.
Roshan Mahanama, who has officiated 97 HBL PSL matches and is also a former member of the ICC’s elite panel of match referees, will be in his ninth successive year and will lead a team of three match referees with other members being Ali Naqvi and Muhammad Javed.
The opening match between Lahore Qalandars and Islamabad United will feature Aleem Dar and Michael Gough as on-field umpires, with Tariq Rasheed as the TV umpire and Shozab Raza as the reserve umpire. Muhammad Javed will serve as the match referee.
