Richard Illingworth and Richard Kettleborough, both from England, have been named as the on-field umpires for the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 final between India and Australia in Ahmedabad.
The English duo will take charge of the on-field duties during the all-important World Cup clash. This will be the second outing for Kettleborough, who also stood in the final of the 2015 Cricket World Cup. His partner on that occasion was Kumar Dharmasena.
More than 93,000 spectators watched that game. However, that number will probably be trumped as a three-figure crowd is expected on Sunday as the host nation will look to replicate their win from 2011 and lift the World Cup on home soil.
For Illingworth, too, this will be a second World Cup final appearance, albeit his first as a match official. He featured in the 1992 Cricket World Cup final as a player.
Illingworth and Kettleborough were both pro-moted to the ICC International List on the same day in November 2009. Both acted as on-field umpires during this week’s semi-finals.—AFP
