The International Cricket Council appoints a match referee in cricket to keep an eye on the proceedings of a professional cricket match off the field. These referees are present only in international matches and not in fixtures of lower tiers.
The basic requirement for a match referee is that they have to be well-versed with the Code of Conduct of the International Cricket Council, and the Marylebone Cricket Club’s Laws of Cricket. A major role of the match referee includes being the final say in any controversy or unlawful scenario taking place during the match. They always communicate directly with the on-field umpires in these cases.
When a match concludes, the details of the match, highlighting any unlawful event (by players or the team) if any is submitted by the match referee to the International Cricket Council. This details also includes the rating of the pitch. Based on this rating, the curators become aware of the pitch condition and how it needs to be modified. They also give a rating to the pitch on which the match was played. Furthermore, they give a rating to the on-field umpires. These ratings play an important role in deciding the promotion, continuation, and relegation of umpires.
The 2025 Elite Panel of Referees of International Cricket Council has five members. These members are mostly former professional cricketers. Sri Lanka’s Ranjan Madugalle is the most experienced in Test Cricket and One Day Internationals. In T20 Internationals, this record is held by Jeff Crowe.
