1. Ashoka De Silva
One of the most successful umpires globally, Ashoka de Silva, was better as an umpire than a cricketer. He was Born on the 28th of March 1956 at Kalutara, Srilanka. He completed his education at Isipathana College. His debut in international cricket was in a test match against India on 30th August 1985. He was a part of 10 Tests and 28 ODIs between 1985 and 1992 as a legspinner and a lower-order batsman in the mighty Sri Lankan squad. His numbers being 323 runs and 25 wickets in international cricket. He announced his retirement in the year 1997. Not so long after his retirement, Ashoka de silva started umpiring in the year 1999. His first match as an umpire was in 1999 in a game between Sri Lanka and Pakistan. He officiated in 49 Tests,122 ODIs, and was the main umpire in 2003, and 2007 World cups. He also umpired 11 T20s, and he retired from umpiring in the year 2012.
2. Richard Illingworth
Holding the record of "first ball wicket" in test cricket Richard Illingh has never been able to become a regular player in the England squad because of the presence of Pil Tufnell in the 1990s. He played domestic cricket for 19 years as a left-arm spinner, where he played 376 matches. His international Test and ODI debuts were against West Indies in the year 1991. He played 9 Tests,25 ODIs, where he picked 49 international wickets. Richard Illingworth retired from international cricket in the year 2002, and after eight years of his retirement, he officiated for the first time in the year 2010. He officiated in 32 Tests,57 ODIs,16 t20s.
3. Kumar Dharmasena
The winner of the "Umpire of the David shepherd" trophy for his outstanding umpiring abilities, and was a regular player in the Srilankan Squad in the mid-1990s, Dharmasena was an off-spin bowler and along with his leg-spin partner, Muttiah Muralidharan Srilankan spin department was the best at its peaks. Kumar Dharmasena, as a player was a part of 31 tests and 141 ODIs between 1993 and 2004. He was also a lower-order batsman who finished few matches and his numbers being 868 test runs and 1222 ODI runs, and 69 test wickets, and 138 ODI wickets. His first match as an umpire was in the year 2006. Kumar Dharmasena officiated in 53 tests,84 ODIs, and 22 t20s. He was a part of the 20the 11, and 2015 world cup finals as an umpire. He was awarded the "Umpire of the year" in 2012.
4. Srinivasa Venkataraghavan
Captain of the Indian cricket team between 1965 and 1979, Venkataraghavan was an off-spinner who picked 156 wickets in 57 tests and was one of the best fielders the Indian team has ever witnessed. He debuted into international cricket in a test match against New Zealand in the year 1965. His great innings were against the West Indies, where he picked 35 wickets in 8 test matches. His last game was against Pakistan in the year 1983. He retired from international cricket in the year 1985, and the match where he officiated was in the year 1993. He officiated in 73 tests and 52 ODIs. Srinivasa Venkataraghavan was one of the most respected umpires in international cricket. He retired from umpiring in the year 2004.
5. James Lillywhite Jnr
James Lillywhite Jnr, seated second from the right in the above picture, is a very familiar person in cricket history. Many of his relatives, father, brother were cricketers, and it took James Lillywhite Jnr 35 years to play his first international match. He debuted in a test match at the age of 35, which was the first-ever test match played in the history of cricket which was against Australia, and in that maiden test match, he scored 16 runs and picked up eight wickets as a left-arm spinner. He was the first-ever player to captain England team in a test match. His figures being 5523 runs and 1210 wickets throughout his career. He officiated for the first time in the year 1883, and he officiated 6 test matches.
6. Ian Gould
Ian Gould, a wicket-keeper batsman in the former England team, played only 18 ODIs throughout his ccareer, including the 1983 world cup. He also had to put on his gloves in the 1982-83 ashes series. He has 603 dismissals as a wicket-keeper in first-class cricket, and his batting figures being 8756 runs in first-class cricket. After retirement from international cricket, Ion Gould started officiating matches, and he officiated 65 tests,125 ODIs, and 37 t20s. He was also the chairman of Burnham football club. Ian Gould elected for the ICC elite panel of umpires in the year 2009. He announced his umpiring retirement in 2019 in the world cup match played between India and Srilanka. Still, he took back his retirement and had umpired in the 2020 under-19 world cup.
7. Peter Willey
Peter Willey, who is prominently called the "Windies nightmare,” is a right-hand top-order batsman and an off-spinner. He played for England between 1976 and 1986. He only played 26 ODIs for England though he has an excellent domestic figure as 24,361 runs and 756 wickets in just 559 matches. He is generally a rugged and fearless man who is from the northeastern part of England. He played 15 out of his 26 ODIs against the West Indies squad and eventually being called the nightmare for the mighty West Indies team at that time. He was first time officiated in a test in 1996, and he officiated in 25 tests and 34 ODIs.
8. John Hampshire
The first player in the world to hit a century at the Lords against the powerful West Indies in 1969 was John Hampshire. Holding some of the best records in domestic cricket for Yorkshire, Tasmania, Leicestershire, his numbers in domestic cricket are 28,059 runs in 557 matches with an average of 34.4. Currently, John Hampshire is the president of the Yorkshire cricket club. He retired from international cricket as a player in 1984, and after five years of his retirement, John Hampshire started umpiring from 1989. He officiated in 21 tests and 20 ODIs.
9. Mark Benson
Mark Benson was a left-hand opener and a fast bowler who represented England from 1986. In his test match debut against India, Benson scored 30 and 21 runs in the 1st and 2nd innings. He scored 18,387 runs in his domestic career in 292 matches with an average of 40.23. He was able to play only one ODI match for England throughout his career. Benson retired from international cricket in 1995, and after his retirement, he started umpiring cricket matches. He officiated 27 Tests,72 ODIs, and 20 T20s.
10. Charles Bannerman
Charles Bannerman is an English-speaking Australian player who played international cricket for Australia and domestic cricket for South Wales. He debuted into international cricket on 15th March 1877 through a test match played between Australia and England, which was the first test match played in cricket. He scored an unbeaten 126 runs in the first innings and four runs in the second innings, which led to the victory of Australia by 45 runs. He played only 2 test matches for Australia, and after ten years of his international debut, Bannerman debuted into umpiring in 1887. He officiated 12 games and expired in the year 1930.
