Indonesia represented at ICC Youth World Cup

The ICC East Asia - Pacific (EAP) region will be represented by Indonesian umpire Shahul Hameed at the upcoming ICC Youth World Cup in Sri Lanka commencing 5 February.

Hameed, EAP's current number 1 ranked umpire, will officiate in his first World Cup after a meteoric rise through the development program umpiring ranks after the past twelve months.

Hameed's first big opportunity came when he was selected to represent the EAP region at the New Zealand U17 National Championships in Napier in January 2005 under an umpire development and mentoring program managed by NZ Umpire Manager Brian Aldridge. The experience and training at that tournament has held him in good stead as he was subsequently selected for the World Cup Qualifying Series Tournament in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in February 2005 which lead to selection in the newly established ICC Associate & Affiliate Umpires Panel. This Panel was formed to provide umpires from the 86 members below Test level with a pathway towards officiating at the higher echelons of the game.

As a member of the Panel, Hameed officiated in the ICC Trophy in Ireland in July 2005 where his performances earnt him a place in the final between Ireland and Scotland. Since the ICC Trophy, Hameed has officiated in the Africa/EAP U19 World Cup Qualifier in South Africa (August 2005) where he once again umpired the final before heading to Vanuatu in September for the EAP Cricket Cup and inclusion onto the EAP Umpires Panel which was established from that tournament.

"I am very thrilled to be officiating at the Youth World Cup" commented Hameed from Sri Lanka "This is a great opportunity for me to continue my umpiring development at such a major event and to experience the challenges of umpiring on the sub continent. I am also excited at the prospect of working with and learning from experienced International Panel Umpires like Steve Davis, Gary Baxter and Peter Manuel."

Following the Youth World Cup in Sri Lanka, Hameed will attend the ICC Umpires Training Seminar in Dubai from 24-26 March with further international umpiring opportunities sure to be on the horizon for this talented umpire.

The ICC Youth World Cup runs from 5-20 February with daily match results and scorecards available from the Official Site

2006 Youth World Cup, Sri Lanka Umpires Panel:

Emirates International Panel
Gary Baxter (New Zealand)
Steve Davis (Australia)
Asoka de Silva (Sri Lanka)
Billy Doctrove (West Indies)
Nadeem Ghauri (Pakistan)
Krishna Hariharan (India)
Peter Manuel (Sri Lanka)
Tyron Wijewardena (Sri Lanka)

Associate & Affiliate Panel
Paul Baldwin (Germany)
Roger Dill (Bermuda)
Shahul Hameed (Indonesia)
Buddhi Pradhan (Nepal)