Former BLACKCAPS bowler Shayne O’Connor will trade in the cricket spikes for a full-time Match Referee’s blazer this summer.
The 19-Test seamer joins Marlborough Cricket stalwart Greg Stretch as the two new faces on the NZC Match Referees Panel for the 2024/25 season.
The appointment represents the beginning of an exciting new chapter for O’Connor, who began his journey as a Match Referee last season at Queens Park in Invercargill.
“It reminds me of when you first get selected to play, it’s a bit of a shock, but very exciting,” said O’Connor.
“Now the hard part is making sure I’m any good at it”.
O’Connor initially put his hand up to Match Referee in order to fill a gap in the Otago ranks.
“I love cricket and I owe the game a lot, so I thought I was helping cricket by putting my hand up,” said O’Connor.
“Now it seems, once again, that it’s cricket doing me the favour,”
“There appears to be a real culture of learning in the High-Performance environment now, from players and coaches, to ground staff and match officials, so it’s great to be involved, and I don’t get a sore body afterwards.”
Aspiring Female Umpire Programme graduate, Alyson Shipley (Canterbury), has earned her first appointment to the NZC Emerging Women’s Umpire Panel.
Shipley joins fellow AFUP graduates Christelle High (Northern Districts) and Tina Semmens (Auckland) on the panel – signalling a new wave of female umpires, supported through the umpire development programme.
Shipley credited the Aspiring Female Umpire Programme for her development.
“I am delighted to have been appointed to the NZC Emerging Women's Umpire Panel,” said Shipley.
“Thanks to everyone who has encouraged and supported me, my local umpires and, over the last three years, everyone I have met through the Aspiring Female Umpire Programme,
“The programme has given me the opportunity to meet so many umpires and other experts who have willingly passed on their knowledge and expertise and provided me with guidance to the next level.”
Northern Districts’ Greg Pennell and Otago’s Kannan Jagannathan have been appointed to the NZC G.J. Gardner Homes National Umpire Panel for the first time, after impressing in their respective regions over several years.
Wellington’s Keith Horsley has earnt a promotion to the NZC National Scorer Panel this season, following his valued contributions to Eastern Suburbs Cricket Club in the Capital.
An exciting advancement is the continuation of the NZCPA Scholarship Umpire Programme - a collaboration between the New Zealand Cricket Player’s Association and NZC, with the aim to encourage more former players to take up umpiring.
Craig Pryor and Brad Wilson were the inaugural recipients of the scholarship and will continue into year two of the program.
Of the umpires on the National Umpire Panel in the 2023/24 season, Tim Parlane will not continue for the 2024/25 season after announcing his retirement from umpiring in April.
Parlane retired having umpired the third most first-class matches by a New Zealander, his 130 matches bettered only by Billy Bowden (202) and Evan Watkin (135).
The NZC domestic season gets underway on Sunday 20 October with the opening round of the Ford Trophy.
NZC G.J. Gardner Homes National Umpire Panel 2024-25
Chris Brown (Auckland)*
Cory Black (Wellington)
Billy Bowden (Auckland)
Kim Cotton (Canterbury)*
John Dempsey (Central Districts)
Shaun Haig (Otago)*
Kannan Jagannathan (Otago)
Greg Pennell (Northern Districts)
Wayne Knights (Auckland)*
*ICC/International Panel Umpires
NZC Match Referee Panel 2024-25
Trudy Anderson (Canterbury)*
Richard Hayward (Central Districts)*
Sue Morris (Auckland)
Shayne O’Connor (Otago)
Kevin Pulley (Wellington)
Gary Troup (Auckland)
Greg Stretch (Central Districts)
*International Panel Match Referees
NZC Emerging Women’s Umpire Panel (2024-25)
Christelle High (Northern Districts)
Tina Semmens (Auckland)
Alyson Shipley (Canterbury)
NZCPA Scholarship Umpires 2024-25
Craig Pryor (Auckland)
Brad Wilson (Auckland)
NZC National Scorer Panel 2024-25
Michael Anderson (Auckland)
Annette Campbell (Auckland)
Steph Drake (Canterbury)
Karen Fleet (Canterbury)
Matt Frost (Wellington)
Chris High (Northern Districts)
Toni Hill (Auckland)
Keith Horsley (Wellington)
Chris James (Northern Districts)
Malcolm Jones (Otago)
Jared Larsen (Canterbury)
Gail McGowan (Canterbury)
Chris McQuaid (Auckland)
Duncan Mitchell (Central Districts)
Lindsay Neilson (Otago)
David Perry (Canterbury)
Dean Plummer (Northern Districts)
Jeffrey Stuart (Canterbury)
Sarah Tuapati (Otago)
Euan West (Central Districts)
Justin Williams (Northern Districts
NZC Reserve Scorer Panel 2024-25
Andrew Brookes (Otago)
Liam Du Burgess (Auckland)
Tony Feely (Canterbury)
Jack Holdem (Canterbury)
Raewyn Inder (Canterbury)
Erica Knights (Auckland)
Arun Kumar (Canterbury)
Kirsty Lees (Canterbury)
James Manhire (Wellington)
Ben McNeil (Auckland)
Shirish Nagar (Northern Districts)
Kieron Thwaites (Wellington)
Helen Simpson (Otago)
Major Association Regional Umpire Panels
Auckland
Yogi Bhogle
Jim Birchall
Vincent Calabro
Satish Ippa
Vinit Mahna
Bhavin Parshottham
Craig Pryor
Tina Semmens
Allen Stanley
Moth Sutherland-Topp
Northern Districts
Brendon Davis
John Keen
Stu Martin
Damian Morrow
Andre North
Sean Reynolds
Jass Singh
Texin Thangalil
Central Districts
Regan Combe
Jimmy Ellingham
Andrew Holdaway
Chris Judson
Jason Leahy
Ajmal Majeed
Scott Oliver
Glen Walklin
Wellington
Kiran Challa
Tyron Davies
Charaka Ranasinghe
Amber Shirodkar
Rengaprabhu Srinivasan
Canterbury
Altamash Askari
Regan Dalley
David Henderson
Matthew Hill
Alyson Shipley
Otago
James Blunt
Ruben Groot
Niel Louw
Peter Pasco
Michael Potter
Derek Walker
