Saggers promoted to full umpires list

Martin Saggers, the former England bowler, has been added to the full list of first-class umpires for 2012, replacing John Steele who retired at the end of last season.

Saggers, 39, was capped three times by England in 2003 and 2004 and has been on the reserve umpires list since 2010. He took 415 wickets in a first-class career for Durham and Kent between 1996 and 2009. He made his Test debut against Bangladesh, at Chittagong, and also claimed a wicket - Mark Richardson of New Zealand - with his first ball in Test cricket in England.

"We would like to congratulate Martin on his promotion to the full list," said the ECB umpires' manager Chris Kelly. "This has been the result of some outstanding performances in matches over the last couple of seasons. His commitment and attitude on the reserve list has been exemplary and his promotion is thoroughly deserved."

Three other umpires have been added to the reserve list: Paul Pollard, who scored almost 10,000 first-class runs for Nottinghamshire and Worcestershire; Mike Burns, the former Warwickshire and Somerset all-rounder; and Ben Debenham

ECB full list 2012
Rob Bailey, Neil Bainton, Mark Benson, Martin Bodenham, Nick Cook, Nigel Cowley, Jeff Evans, Steve Gale, Steve Garratt, Michael Gough, Ian Gould, Peter Hartley, Richard Illingworth, Trevor Jesty, Richard Kettleborough, Nigel Llong, Jeremy Lloyds, Neil Mallender, David Millns, Steve O'Shaughnessy, Tim Robinson, Martin Saggers, George Sharp, Peter Willey.

ECB reserve list 2012
Paul Baldwin, Mike Burns, Ismail Dawood, Ben Debenham, Mark Eggleston, Russell Evans, Graham Lloyd, Paul Pollard, Billy Taylor, Alex Wharf.