Leading umpires withdraw from Cricket Ireland panel

Michael Foster and Gary Blair, considered two of the best officials in the whole of Ireland, have stood down from the ‘first-class panel’ for the coming season and will concentrate on club fixtures instead.

Dessie Milne, who is part of the representative panel, is also understood to have withdrawn.

All senior interprovincial matches this summer will now be umpired by the four officials on full-time season contracts, Alan Neil, Mark Hawthorne, Roland Black and Paul Reynolds.

The remainder of the representative matches, including two NCU-based women’s matches and possible under-17 fixtures, are to be divided up between members of the ‘first class panel’ and the ‘representative panel’. Members of the first-class and representative panels will only be able to umpire on matches held within their own region and between them, the first-class and representative panel umpires could end up officiating on as few as one representative match each all summer.

There is a feeling amongst umpires that the changes for this summer are a backward step and will hold back the development of officials.

It is believed the revised structure will save money for Cricket Ireland.

Foster and Blair, who both enjoyed senior cricket careers as players with Lisburn, have made significant strides in umpiring over recent seasons.

Foster has stood in several first-class interprovincial games, along with other 50-over and T20 interprovincials, women’s ODIs, several Ireland A matches and took charge of last year’s Irish Senior Cup final when Pembroke beat Waringstown at The Hills.

Blair has also stood in IP 50-over and T20 fixtures and took charge of the 2018 Irish Senior Cup final when Waringstown beat Merrion and the NCU Challenge Cup final between Waringstown and CSNI in the same summer.

Cricket Ireland restructured its umpires panel in 2019, creating a first-class panel and representative panel of five umpires.