ICC announces umpire appointments for Sri Lanka v India series

Dubai, Jul 16 (UNI) The ICC today appointed Alan Hurst as the match referee for the Test series between India and Sri Lanka with Mark Benson, Billy Doctrove and Rudi Koertzen acting as the on-field umpires.

The opening Test, which gets underway on July 23 in Colombo, will be officiated by Mark Benson and Billy Doctrove.

Doctrove will be joined by South African umpire Rudi Koertzen for the second Test in Galle that begins on July 31.

Benson and Koertzen will stand in the third and final Test at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo which starts on August 8.

The series will see the umpire decision review system being trialled with Koertzen the television umpire in the first Test while Benson and Doctrove will fulfill the role in the second and third Tests respectively.

The system will see the fielding and batting sides allowed three unsuccessful appeals to the umpire per innings to change a decision if it is perceived to have been incorrect.

These appeals can be made only by the batsman in receipt of the umpire's original decision or the captain of the fielding side, in both cases by the player making a 'T' sign with both forearms at shoulder height.

The on-field umpire will consult with the TV umpire, who will review available television coverage of the incident before relaying fact-based information back to his colleague.

The on-field umpire will then deliver his decision either by raising his finger to indicate 'out' or by crossing his hands in a horizontal position side to side in front and above his waist three times - as per a ''safe'' decision by an official in baseball.

At the conclusion of the Test series, Hurst will hand over to Chris Board For the ODI series that runs from July 18-29 to be umpired by Doctrove and Sri Lanka Cricket local appointees.

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