Koertzen removed from Test series

The International Cricket Council (ICC) yesterday removed South African umpire Rudi Koertzen from the forthcoming Test series between Sri Lanka and England and have named Aleem Dar as the replacement.

Media Manager of Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) confirmed that Pakistan's Aleem Dar will officiate in the first Test match along with his fellow countryman Asad Rauf from December 1 to 5 at the Asgiriya Stadium in Kandy with Jeff Crow as the Match Referee.

Koertzen, a veteran of 86 Test matches and 182 one-day internationals was involved in a controversial decision during the second Test match between Sri Lanka and Australia in Hobart recently.

The decision of course resulted in with Koertzen apologising to Kumar Sangakkara for the mistake that prevented the batsman from reaching a seventh double hundred and also destroying the slim chance that Sri Lanka had of levelling the series.

The 58-year-old was earlier suspended by the ICC for the inaugural Twenty20 World Championships in South Africa after his role in misinterpreting the rules regarding bad light during the 2007 World Cup final between Sri Lanka and Australia in Barbados.

Koertzen first stood in a Test match at the age of 43, at Port Elizabeth in 1992/93 which was also the first series in which TV replays were used to judge run out decisions. He was appointed as a full time ICC umpire in 1997 and in 2007 he broke David Shepherd's record of standing in 172 one-day internationals.

The home umpires who will be involved in the three Test series between Sri Lanka and England are Asoka de Silva, T. H. Wijewardena, Gamini Silva, Gamini Dissanayake, R. D. Kottachchi and D. Gunawardhana.

C.D