World Cup 2023 Final: Richard Kettleborough and Richard Illingworth appointed as on-field umpires

Richard Illingworth and Richard Kettleborough, both from England, will be the on-field umpires for the Cricket World Cup 2023 final between India and Australia in Ahmedabad. Kettleborough will be standing in his second ODI World Cup final after 2015 when Australia defeated New Zealand for their record-extending fifth title.

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Illingworth was part of India’s match in the semi-final where they defeated New Zealand, while Kettleborough oversaw Australia’s victory over South Africa in the last four stage.

Both Illingworth and Kettleborough were promoted to the ICC International List on the same day in November 2009 and are previous winners of the David Shepherd Trophy, awarded to the ICC’s Umpire of the Year.

Kettleborough, who reached a century of ODIs as an umpire earlier in the tournament when Netherlands took on Sri Lanka, took home the prize in three consecutive years between 2013 and 2015 and Illingworth added his name to the illustrious list in 2019 and 2022.

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On Sunday, the pair will be joined by Joel Wilson as third umpire, fourth umpire Chris Gaffaney and match referee Andy Pycroft, all of whom were part of the officiating teams across the semi-finals.

Indian fans, however, may get a bit jittery seeing Kettleborough’s name. A highly reputed coach Kettleborough has appeared in India’s knockout matches of ICC events quite often in last 10 years during which the Men in Blue have failed to win a world title. There are no questions on Kettleborough’s umpiring, it’s largely to do with the feeling that he doesn’t bring a lot of luck for Team India.

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Kettleborough was the on-field umpire for India’s 2014 T20 World Cup final against Sri Lanka, the 2015 World Cup semi-final against Australia, the 2017 Champions Trophy final in which they played Pakistan, and the 2019 World Cup semi-final against New Zealand.