Former New Zealand test cricket captain Jeff Crowe has been included on an expanded panel of elite international match referees.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) today announced the panel would be expanded from five to eight from April 1 after adding four former international players to the panel. It had notoffered a new contract to former Pakistan player, Wasim Raja.
Added to the panel are former batsman Crowe, former Australian fast bowler Alan Hurst; former England batsmen Chris Broad and former Sri Lanka batsman Roshan Mahanama.
They join chief referee and former Sri Lankan captain Ranjan Madugalle, former Indian captain Gundappa Vishwanath, former West Indian captain Clive Lloyd and South African great Mike Procter on the panel.
Crowe played 26 tests for New Zealand in the mid-1980s, scoring 1601 runs at an average of 26.24.
ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed said the match referee had become a critical element of the ICC's focus on ensuring that the game is played in the right spirit.
"Expanding the panel to eight gives us a deeper pool of former international players with a strong feel for the game who will be able to apply their knowledge when making judgments about on-field events," Speed said.
"Moving to eight referees also provides the ICC with the flexibility needed to meet the international schedule over the coming 12 months."
Speed also said that the quality of applicants for the roles provided the ICC with a strong field from which to pick the final panel.
"It was very pleasing to speak to a number of very well qualified applicants for these positions from around the cricketing world. In the end we had many more applicants than positions available and for the ICC this is a strong position to be in."
