An elite panel of full-time professional umpires is to be appointed by the ICC it has been announced following a two-day ICC Executive Board meeting at Lord's.

The elite panel is expected to number about eight, and will be supported by a further international panel of about 25 umpires. All these umpires will be graded continuously and contracted to the ICC from April 2002.

Two neutral umpires will stand in Test, while one neutral and one home umpire will stand in One-Day Internationals.

"We intend the elite number to be eight or something close to it and they will be fully contracted to the ICC on two-year contracts," Malcolm Gray, the ICC President explained. "They will be doing the vast majority of the work and will be supplemented from the international panel."

Mal Speed, the new ICC chief executive, and chairman of cricket playing Sunil Gavaskar will select the members of the elite panel, basing their decisions on the reports of captains and international match referees over the last four years.

"We will look at the most recent performances but you do need to judge umpires over the longer term rather than a match-by-match basis," Gray added. "That's the most relevant way we have of assessing umpires' performances."

Movement between the two panels will be possible, and the ICC hope to see the average age of umpires reduce from the 60s into the 50s as it is perceived as an attractive career.

Umpires will be paid a retainer depending on the cost of living in their own country, so an English umpire would earn more than a Pakistani umpire; but their match fees will be identical. They will all be subject to regular medicals and eye-sight and hearing tests.

There will be an umpire and referees manager, to be named after Speed takes up his position in July, who will decide upon the training strategy for umpires. Long term plans include an exchange programme, where umpires will be able to learn about conditions in different countries.

An elite panel of match referees will also be appointed in February 2002, probably numbering about five.

The ICC confirmed that there were no plans to increase the use of technology by officials at this stage.

They also added their condemnation of the poor crowd behaviour of recent days in the UK, reiterating their stance that: "no spectator has a right to enter the field during play and until the players and umpires have left the field after play. No spectator has a right to throw any object at anyone. "

They reminded each home Board of their responsibility to protect players and officials and asked for details of each countries security policy.

"Ground security is primarily the concern of each home Board but the ICC has requested that all members supply a detailed report covering legal regulations in force at each of its international venues, by the end of July… It is the responsibility of all countries – as a matter of priority – to take whatever corrective measures are necessary."

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