As many as 46 aspirants participated in the Pakistan Cricket Board’s four-day Match Referees Induction Course, which concluded at Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
The course began on Wednesday, January 14, with ICC Elite Panel Umpire Ahsan Raza and ICC International Panel Match Referee Ali Naqvi working as course instructors.
Lectures were delivered on the topics related to the role of a match referee across the three formats of the game. The participants took part in various activities related to the course in the first three days before appearing in the examination on the last day.
The range of topics in the course included study of the playing conditions, understanding and application of the various clauses of the code of conduct, drafting of the on-field and television umpire reports, venue assessment, pre-series/tournament meeting with players and fellow match officials, pitch report, study of bowling actions and the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method.
Apart from the written exam on the last day, the participants also appeared in the viva voce, which the course instructors conducted. Successful candidates will be called up for more training later and will be considered for leading the playing control teams in domestic cricket.
