Aleem Dar replaces Koertzen

South African umpire Rudi Koertzen, who wrongly gave Kumar Sangakkara out when he was on the verge of completing...

South African umpire Rudi Koertzen, who wrongly gave Kumar Sangakkara out when he was on the verge of completing a double century against Australia, has been replaced by Pakistan’s Aleem Dar for Sri Lanka’s upcoming Test series against England.

Koertzen, a veteran of 86 Test matches and 182 one-day Internationals, gave the controversial decision during the second Test match between Sri Lanka and Australia in Hobart recently. He apologised to Sangakkara for the mistake which prevented the batsman from reaching a seventh double hundred, while destroying the slim chance that Sri Lanka had of levelling the series. Sangakkara scored 192 in the second innings of the crucial Test, which Sri Lanka lost by 96 runs.

“South Africa umpire Rudi Koertzen has been replaced by Aleem Dar for the Test series against England beginning in Kandy on Saturday,” Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) spokesman Samantha Algama said. The home umpires, who will stand in the three-Test series starting December 1 are Asoka de Silva, T H Wijewardena, Gamini Silva, Gamini Dissanayake, R D Kottachchi and D Gunawardhana.

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