Reiffel to make umpiring Test debut

Former international cricketer Paul Reiffel will stand in his first Tests as an umpire in the upcoming series between the West Indies and New Zealand in the Caribbean.

Reiffel, who played 35 Tests for Australia from 1992 to 1998, has been pursuing a career as an umpire since his retirement as a player at the end of the 2001-02 season.

A right-arm seam bowler of nagging accuracy as well as an accomplished lower-order batsman, Reiffel also played 92 one-dayers for his country, retiring from international cricket after helping Australia win the 1999 World Cup.

The 46-year-old has umpired 24 one-day international matches since debuting in 2009 and has also been an umpire for seven Twenty20 internationals.

Reiffel will stand in both Tests between the Windies and Black Caps, with the first Test being held in Antigua from 25 July while the second Test in Jamaica begins on 2 August.

He will be part of a three-man umpiring crew for the series that includes England’s Richard Kettleborough and South Africa’s Marais Erasmus.

Several people in cricket’s history have umpired and played Test cricket although Sri Lanka’s Kumar Dharmasena is the only member of the current elite panel to have achieved the feat.