New Delhi: Although India didn’t make it to the World Test Championship (WTC) 2025 final, country’s former pacer Javagal Srinath and match umpire Nitin Menon will ensure the nation’s presence in the upcoming monumental clash by serving as its match referee and fourth umpire respectively, as announced by the International Cricket Council (ICC) on Friday.
Meanwhile, England’s Richard Illingworth and Chris Gaffaney of New Zealand have been appointed as the on-field umpires in the WTC final scheduled at the prestigious Lord’s in London. Defending champions Australia will take on first-time finalists South Africa in a high-stakes match for the mace from June 11 to 15. This will bring curtains down on the fiercely contested 2023-25 WTC cycle.
The third (TV) umpire for the marquee clash will be England’s Richard Kettleborough, who has officiated several finals of the ICC events, including the Men’s World Cup and the Champions Trophy. He played the same role of a TV Umpire in the inaugural WTC 2021 final between India and New Zealand. Menon, on the other hand, will make his WTC final debut as a fourth umpire after having served as the TV umpire for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup final in 2021.
With the stage set for the #WTC25 Final between South Africa and Australia, the match officials have now been announced 🙌https://t.co/3BG91mHTD9
— ICC (@ICC) May 23, 2025
Illingworth and Gaffaney’s resume
Illingworth will be scripting history in the ultimate Test match, having stood as an on-field umpire for all three WTC finals. He was a part of the officiating team in the 2021 and the 2023 finals and will continue his consistent presence in the summit Test matches. He is also the ICC Umpire of the Year currently, having won the David Shepherd Trophy for the fourth time in 2024.
Meanwhile, it won’t be for the first time for Gaffaney to stand with Illingworth as he did it before during last year’s ICC Men’s T20 World Cup final, and also officiated the WTC 2023 final between India and Australia. The duo is basically returning with the same role after two years.
More to follow…
The team of match officials for the highly-anticipated World Test Championship (WTC) 2025 final has been announced by the ICC and includes two Indians who will be at the Lord’s next month to officiate the proceedings. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
