ICC promptly diverts Champions Trophy tour away from PoK cities after BCCI’s objections
The original tour schedule included cities like Skardu, Hunza and Muzaffarabad, which fall in the PoK region, a disputed territory between India and Pakistan.
The International Cricket Council has announced the appointment of match officials, including umpires and match referee, for the two-Test series set to be played between Pakistan and Sri Lanka between December 11-23.
According to a media release by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), Michael Gough and Richard Kettleborough will be the on-field umpires for the opening Test in Rawalpindi from December 11-15. Richard Illingworth will serve as the third umpire and Shozab Raza as the fourth umpire while Andy Pycroft will be the match referee.
For the second Test in Karachi starting December 19, Jeff Crowe will be the match referee, while on-field umpiring responsibilities will be shared between Bruce Oxenford and Joel Wilson. Gregory Brathwaite will be in the third umpire’s box and Ahsan Raza will be the fourth umpire.
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Michael Gough and Joel Wilson will make a return visit to Pakistan after performing on-field umpires’ duties when Sri Lanka had played white-ball matches by umpiring in the Karachi ODIs.
Pakistan recently lost a two-match Test series in Australia. They lost the first Test by an innings and 5 runs in Brisbane while in Adelaide, they suffered a defeat by an innings and 48 runs.
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