Umpires in cricket are a vital cog in the game, probably it cannot be described in words how important the role of umpiring is in cricket.

The cricket umpires are involved in each and every moment of the game, and their decisions influence the result of the match to a huge extent.

4 Types of Cricket Umpires – Explained

1 Straight Umpire (standing at bowler’s end)

2 Square Leg Umpire

3 Third Umpire

4 Fourth Umpire

Both the straight umpire and the square leg umpire are called ‘on-field umpires’ because they are seen right on the ground.

1 Straight Umpire

It is the umpire at the bowler’s end and the one who makes 90% of the signals like signaling out, not out, six, four, wide, no ball, leg byes, review, etc.

2 Square Leg Umpire

It is the umpire who is seen parallelly straight behind the batsman on strike. The primary role of the square leg umpire is to check the waist-high full-toss ball, above shoulder or above head high wide ball, and touch and go catches around him.

The straight umpire and the square leg umpire interchange their positions between them depending on the end in which they have decided to umpire mutually.

3 Third Umpire

The third umpire is the video assistant umpire who is not seen on the field. The task of the third umpire includes checking runouts and catch-outs when referred/ signaled by the on-field umpires, when a review is taken by the players, and also front foot no balls these days. The third umpire, thus with the help of technology, helps or assists the on-field umpires.

4 Fourth Umpire

The fourth umpire is the reserved umpire, meaning if an umpire falls ill or gets injured during the game, then the fourth umpire will replace him. The fourth umpire also plays a few meticulous roles like looking at the pitch conditions, keeping the collection of the balls that are/ can be used for the game, bringing drinks for the on-field umpires, and so on.

These are the four types of umpires in cricket, which are seen in any match and hence there are two on-field umpires in cricket and two off-field umpires in cricket.

Apart from the four umpires in cricket, there is also a match referee who makes sure that all the rules and regulations of the game are being properly followed during the match and also that the game is played in a fair way with the proper code of conduct.

Following are the lists of most matches as cricket umpires in Test, ODI & T20 International:

1 Most matches as umpire in Test Cricket

Sl. No.	Umpire	Country	Span	Total Matches
1	Aleem Dar	Pakistan	2003 – Present	139
2	Steve Bucknor	West Indies	1989 – 2009	128
3	Rudi Koertzen	South Africa	1992 – 2010	108
4	Daryl Harper	Australia	1998 – 2011	95
5	David Shepherd	England	1985 – 2005	92
6	Billy Bowden	New Zealand	2000 – 2015	84
7	Darrell Hair	Australia	1992 – 2008	78
8	Rod Tucker	Australia	2010 – Present	76
9	Ian Gould	England	2008 – 2019	74
10	Richard Kettlebourough	England	2010 – Present	74

2 Most matches as an Umpire in ODI Cricket

Sl. No.	Umpire	Country	Span	Total Matches
1	Aleem Dar	Pakistan	2000 – Present	216
2	Rudi Koertzen	South Africa	1992 – 2010	209
3	Billy Bowden	New Zealand	1995 – 2016	200
4	Steve Bucknor	West Indies	1989 – 2009	181
5	Daryl Harper	Australia	1994 – 2011	174
6	Simon Taufel	Australia	1999 – 2012	174
7	David Shepherd	England	1983 – 2005	172
8	Russell Tiffin	Zimbabwe	1992 – 2018	154
9	Ian Gould	England	2006 – 2019	140
10	Darrell Hair	Australia	1991 – 2008	139

3 Most matches as An Umpire in T20I cricket

Sl. No.	Umpire	Country	Span	Total Matches
1	Aleem Dar	Pakistan	2009 – Present	61
2	Ahsan Raza	Pakistan	2010 – Present	60
3	Buddhi Pradhan	Nepal	2012 – Present	47
4	Rod Tucker	Australia	2009 – Present	46
5	Adrian Holdstock	South Africa	2011 – Present	44
6	Shaun George	South Africa	2010 – 2021	42
7	Chris Brown	New Zealand	2017 – 2021	40
8	Joel Wilson	West Indies	2012 – Present	39
9	Gregory Brathwaite	West Indies	2011 – 2021	38
10	Sharfuddoula	Bangladesh	2006 – 2016	38

4 Most Matches as an Umpire in international Cricket (In All 3 Formats)

Sl. No.	Umpire	Country	Span	Total Matches
1	Aleem Dar	Pakistan	2000 – Present	416
2	Rudi Koertzen	South Africa	1992 – 2010	331
3	Steve Bucknor	West Indies	1989 – 2009	309
4	Billy Bowden	New Zealand	1995 – 2016	308
5	Simon Taufel	Australia	1999 – 2012	282
6	Daryl Harper	Australia	1994 – 2011	279
7	David Shepherd	England	1983 – 2005	264
8	Ian Gould	England	2006 – 2019	251
9	Kumar Dharmasena	Sri Lanka	2009 – Present	225
10	Nigel Llong	England	2005 – 2020	224

Umpiring in cricket is a very hectic job as everything happens in a flash and to take a correct decision on spot within seconds amidst thousands of people and given the power their decisions hold in a match, it requires tremendous skills, confidence and self belief and for this credit should go to all the umpires in cricket.