Media Releases

ICC congratulates Mark Benson on Emirates Elite Panel Appointment

ICC General Manager - Cricket, David Richardson, today congratulated English official Mark Benson on his appointment to the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Umpires

Jon Long
07-Apr-2006
ICC General Manager - Cricket, David Richardson, today congratulated English official Mark Benson on his appointment to the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Umpires.
"Mark has been one of the top performing umpires in international cricket over the last 18 months and we are delighted to have him on the Emirates Elite Panel," said Mr Richardson.
"He has demonstrated the ability to officiate in testing circumstances in a wide range of environments and we look forward to working more closely with him to continue to develop his skills.
"Mark has officiated in eight Test matches in four different countries and his performances have been up there with the current members of the Emirates Elite Panel. He also performed exceptionally well in the recent VB Series and we have been impressed by his calm approach and the respect he has earned from the players."
A more extensive media release detailing the composition of the new 10-man Emirates Elite Panel is available at www.icc-cricket.com.
About Mark Benson
Test matches: 8 ODI matches: 24
After a successful first-class career as an opening batsman for Kent which included representative honours for England, Mark became a first-class umpire in 2000. A stint in Bangladesh at the ICC U/19 Cricket World Cup 2004 led to him standing in his first ODI match between England and West Indies at Trent Bridge in June 2004. Mark made his Test umpiring debut in October 2004, again in Bangladesh, and has subsequently officiated Test matches in Zimbabwe, India and New Zealand. He has now umpired matches involving all 10 Full Member countries, is well respected by the players and was highly rated in the recent VB Series in Australia.