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One of Ireland’s leading cricket umpires, Roly Black, has today stood in his first match in the Lanka Premier League (LPL), a Twenty20 franchise cricket tournament in Sri Lanka.

Black, 52, was recently appointed to the LPL’s umpiring panel. He has been umpiring since 2006 and stood in his first international match in 2016. Black was one of four umpires to be awarded a full-time season contract by Cricket Ireland in 2019, and is currently a member of Cricket Ireland’s International Umpire Panel. He stood as an umpire at the ICC T20 World Cup Qualifier in 2019, at the ICC Men’s Under-19s World Cup in South Africa in 2020, and at the ICC Men’s Under-19s World Cup in the Caribbean – eventually being appointed to be an on-field umpire in the Final.

The tournament is on from 1-21 July 2024 (see website) and Black’s first match on-field was between Colomo Strikers and Kandy Falcons.

Speaking before today’s match, Black said about his selection:

“To be honest it’s a great privilege, I would like to thank Cricket Ireland for the opportunity – and Sri Lanka Cricket as well. I’m really looking forward to it.”

On the challenges of officiating in the such different conditions:

“The humidity is definitely going to be one challenge, so I’m definitely going to have to stay hydrated. The pitches I’m not sure what to expect, but I expect plenty of spin. And with the franchise players, there’ll be players from all over the world, so from a learning experience it’s massive opportunity really.”

On looking at further opportunities in the future:

“That’s really outside my control. At the end of the day, it’s all about promoting officiating in Ireland, promoting Irish Cricket and doing the best that we can do. It’s for the greater good really. So, if anything happens, or anything comes along then that’s great – but if it doesn’t happen then I’m equally relaxed with that.”