PCB announces PSL 8 match officials

A 19-people list of officials who have been brought on board for the upcoming Pakistan Super League (PSL) season eight, starting February 13, was announced by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Tuesday.

In its official statement earlier today, the PCB shared a list of 14 people who have been selected as umpires for the matches, along with a five-member team of referees.

“Three members of the ICC's elite panel of umpires — Aleem Dar, Richard Illingworth and Michael Gough — will be accompanied by Ahsan Raza, Asif Yaqoob, Rashid Riaz, Faisal Khan Afridi, Martin Saggers, Ruchira Palliyaguruge, Alex Wharf and Shozab Raza,” said the statement.

"They will be supported by Muhammad Asif, Roshan Mahanama and Tariq Rasheed, who will be involved in the fourth umpire's role."

The statement further touched briefly upon the experiences of some of the named officials.

"Wharf, who played 13 ODIs for England, and Saggers, who featured in three Tests for England," it said, "will make their PSL debuts along with Sri Lanka’s Palliyaguruge."

All three of these are members of the ICC's international panel of umpires.

The statement also added that PSL 8 would be Gough's fourth appearance in PSL, while Illingworth will participate in the event for the sixth time.

It further said that Roshan Mahanama, a former member of the ICC's elite panel of match referees, would return to PSL for the eighth successive year and would be leading a team of match referees, which includes Ali Naqvi, Iftikhar Ahmed, Javed Malik and Muhammad Anees.

Detailing the roles of the officials, the announcement added that: "the opening match between defending champions Lahore Qalandars and Multan Sultans in Multan will be umpired by Asif Yaqoob and Martin Saggers.

"While Faisal Afridi will be the third umpire and Shozab Raza as the fourth umpire. Mohammad Anees will be the match referee."

The statement also added that Ali Naqvi would lead the Playing Control Team for the match between Karachi Kings and Peshawar Zalmi on 14 February. Ahsan Raza and England's Alex Wharf would be the on-field umpires, while Ruchira Palliyaguruge and Tariq Rasheed would be the third and fourth umpires respectively for the match.