ICC Officials & Test Championship Update: Bangladesh v Zimbabwe

The ICC has announced details of match referee and umpire appointments for the forthcoming Test and One Day International series between Bangladesh and Zimbabwe.

Referee
Hanumant Singh, who played in 14 Test matches for India will be referee for both the Test and ODI series. This will be his third Test series as a match referee and his eighth ODI series. His last appointment was in Sri Lanka in February and March overseeing the series against England.

Umpires
Mian Aslam of Pakistan will stand as the ICC panel umpire in the first Test match in Dhaka with Asoka De Silva the official for the inaugural Test in Chittagong that follows.

ICC Test Championship Standings
This is the first Bangladesh - Zimbabwe series in Bangladesh. The home side will be aiming to reverse the two-nil defeat it suffered on Zimbabwean soil earlier this year. Despite having no official placing in the ICC Test Championship table the points on offer are crucial to Bangladesh securing a good standing when it has played the required number of series.

A series win would not move Zimbabwe from the foot of the table but would boost its points average up to 0.5 (8 points from 16 series) from 0.40. A drawn series would increase its points average to 0.44 (7 points from 16 series)

A Bangladesh win would leave Zimbabwe further adrift in ninth place on the table, as its points average would decrease to 0.38 (6 points from 16 series) from the current 0.40 (6 points from 15 series).

ICC TEST CHAMPIONSHIP TABLE, NOVEMBER 2001

Team          Played   Won     Lost   Drawn   Points   Average
Australia       13      10      2       1       21      1.62
South Africa    16      11      3       2       24      1.50
England         14       7      5       2       16      1.14
Sri Lanka       13       6      5       2       14      1.08
West Indies     13       6      6       1       13      1.00
New Zealand     15       6      7       2       14      0.93
Pakistan        15       3      7       5       11      0.73
India           13       3      7       3        9      0.69
Zimbabwe        15       2     11       2        6      0.40
Bangladesh       1       0      1       0        0       -

ICC BIOGRAPHIES

Hanumant Singh (29/03/39)
Appointed to ICC Match Referees Panel: 1996
Test Match Series as ICC Referee: 3
1st Test: Zimbabwe v England 1996/97

Mian Aslam (04/01/49)
Appointed to ICC Umpires Panel: 2000
Test Matches as ICC Panel Umpire: 1
1st Test: Sri Lanka v Bangladesh 2001

Asoka De Silva (28/03/56)
Appointed to ICC Umpires Panel: 2001
Test Matches as ICC Panel Umpire: 2
1st Test as Panel Umpire: Zimbabwe v India 2001

Media contact:
Mark Harrison
ICC Communications Manager
Tel: + 44 20 7266 7913/1818
Email: mark.harrison@icc-cricket.com