The International Cricket Council (ICC) has confirmed the comeback of the neutral umpires for Test cricket for the first time after March 2020. Countries all around the world have started relaxing the COVID-19 restrictions. Hence, the latest cricket news state that umpires can travel and reach the destination anywhere without any restrictions.
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Neutral umpires are returning to Test Cricket
ICC approved the decision on Sunday. Whereas they have decided to have local umpires in both ODIs and T20Is. ICC is working on a hybrid model for the encouragement of the local umpires. According to the latest cricket news, ICC took the decision of keeping 3 of the 5 match officials neutral in a test match. The 3 officials are the on-field umpire, the match referee, and the third umpire. The remaining 2 match officials are going to be non-neutral; the second on-field umpire and the fourth umpire.
The placing of the umpires was pretty different prior to the pandemic. The on-field umpires, the match referee, and the third umpire were neutral officials. Due to the travel and logistical challenges, ICC then decided to have non-neutral umpires in the bilateral series.
ICC said, "The CEC was updated on the use of home umpires from July 2020 to February 2022 due to Covid-19. The committee acknowledged that the performance of home umpires was strong and had not affected games. The use of home umpires had also led to 12 members of the international panel of umpires making their Test match debut."
The CEC agreed with the ICC that neutral umpires should be used as travel restrictions are lifted. Meanwhile, they should also focus on the growth of the local umpires and their utilization. These home umpires took the responsibility in the last 2 years and this gave ICC the confidence to conduct limited-overs cricket with no neutral umpires.