Elite Panel of Match Officials named for ICC World Test Championship Final 2025

The Elite Panel of Match Officials for the ICC World Test Championship Final 2025 at Lord’s have been revealed. The showpiece between South Africa and Australia begins on 11 June and will see Chris Gaffaney and Richard Illingworth as the on-field umpires.

The TV umpire will be Richard Kettleborough of England, with India’s Nitin Menon serving as the fourth umpire. The match will be overseen by Match Referee, Javagal Srinath of India.

Gaffaney and Illingworth, of New Zealand and England respectively, stood in the previous Final in 2023 between India and Australia. The Englishman, Illingworth, has been named as an on-field umpire in all three ICC World Test Championship Finals, having also done so in the inaugural edition in 2021. He is the current ICC Umpire of the Year, having claimed the David Shepherd trophy for a fourth time in 2024.

Gaffaney made his Test umpiring debut in 2014 and served as one of the on-field umpires for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Final alongside Illingworth last year.

Kettleborough previously served as the TV Umpire for the 2021 Final between New Zealand and India. Notably, Kettleborough made his Test umpiring debut in 2010 when he oversaw Sri Lanka’s meeting with the West Indies in Galle. He has stood in the finals of multiple ICC events, including the Men’s Cricket World Cup and the ICC Champions Trophy.

Menon makes his debut in the World Test Championship Final, having umpired at Test level since 2019. He officiated at the ICC Men’s T20 Cricket World Cup 2021, serving as the TV umpire in the Final, before becoming the youngest umpire to officiate at an ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup when he stood in the 2023 edition.

“We are pleased to announce an experienced team of match officials for the ICC World Test Championship Final at Lord’s, marking the culmination of a highly competitive two-year cycle of Test matches played around the world. We strive to select the most qualified and deserving officials for all matches, and we are confident they will perform admirably. On behalf of the ICC, I wish them all the best and hope they enjoy this assignment,” Jay Shah, the ICC chairman said on the announcement.