If he does, it will be the first time in almost a quarter-century that a Barbadian umpire will stand in a Test match.
The 51-year-old made his debut in the One-Day International format in the 2011-2013 International Cricket Council (ICC) World Cricket League Championship. He has since gone on to umpire in 44 ODIs and 28 Twenty20s.
A member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) International Panel of Umpires and Referees representing the West Indies, Brathwaite was, in January 2018, named as one of the 17 on-field umpires for the 2018 Under-19 Cricket World Cup. In October that year, he was named as one of the 12 on-field umpires for the 2018 ICC Women's World Twenty20.
In February 2020, the ICC named him as one of the umpires to officiate in matches during the 2020 ICC Women's T20 World Cup.
The significant reduction in regional cricket in the last contracting period, due to the impact of COVID-19, has resulted in no changes being made to the list of umpires to be offered contracts.
CWI invests annually in the panel of umpires due to their fundamental role in ensuring that the spirit and integrity of cricket is preserved and that the highest possible quality fair play is upheld on the field. Investing in a broader pool of umpires who can be rewarded for their hard work and application in developing their skills is vital for the health of cricket at all levels.
CWI’s Director of Cricket Jimmy Adams said, “I am pleased that even in the midst of our financial constraints, CWI will be re-engaging our senior panel of umpires as we recognize and appreciate their important role within the game. We all hope that there will be increasing amounts of cricket within the region in the months ahead to allow our best umpires to continue their ongoing development.”
The Senior Panel of Umpires being offered retainer contracts is as follows:
CWI’s Senior Panel of Umpires 2021/22: Zahid Bassarath, Johnathan Blades, Gregory Brathwaite, Deighton Butler, Nigel Duguid, Patrick Gustard, Danesh Ramdhanie, Leslie Reifer, Verdayne Smith, Christopher Taylor, Carl Tuckett, Jacqueline Williams and Christopher Wright.
During the recent International Home Series between West Indies and Sri Lanka, for the first time, all match officials were of Caribbean origin, due to the ICC temporarily permitting the appointment of locally-based match officials from the Emirates Elite Panel of Match Officials and the Emirates ICC International Panel of Match Officials. This was due to the logistics challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. One very positive outcome was for Barbadian and West Indies Umpire, Gregory Brathwaite, to officiate in his first Test Match.
India was fined five per cent of their match fee for falling one over short of the minimum over rate, while West Indies have been fined 10 per cent of their match fee for falling two overs short of the minimum over rate.
Richie Richardson of the Emirates ICC Elite Panel of Match Referees imposed the sanction after Hardik Pandya and Rovman Powell’s sides were ruled to be one and two overs short respectively of the target after time allowances were taken into consideration.
In accordance with Article 2.22 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, which relates to minimum over-rate offences, players are fined five per cent of their match fees for every over their side fails to bowl in the allotted time, subject to a cap of 50 per cent of the match fee.
Pandya and Powell pleaded guilty to the offences and accepted the proposed sanctions, so there was no need for a formal hearing.
On-field umpires Gregory Brathwaite and Patrick Gustard, third umpire Nigel Duguid and fourth umpire Leslie Reifer leveled the charges.
