WEST INDIAN UMPIRE BLANKED

West Indian umpire Billy Doctrove, one of the umpires at the centre of the controversial Oval Test, will not stand in the forthcoming ICC Champions Trophy in India.

Doctrove's colleague at The Oval, Darrell Hair, was removed last week, officially for security reasons.

Eight umpires have been named from a 10-man panel the 16-match tournament and an ICC spokesman insisted there was "nothing sinister" in the absence.

"There were only going to be eight umpires," the spokesman told BBC Sport.

"It doesn't mean Billy Doctrove is a bad umpire."

Doctrove and Hair both came in for criticism at last week's disciplinary hearing into the Oval Test, which the umpires decided Pakistan should forfeit after they refused to take the field following ball-tampering allegations.

Bermudan Doctrove is only a recent addition to the ICC's elite panel and the match at The Oval was just his ninth Test.

He emerged from the disciplinary hearing saying only: "I'm still an umpire".

The International Cricket Council has not made any umpiring appointments beyond the one-day tournament in India, which finishes on 5 November.

Umpires are selected for major tournaments based on a five-point assessment of each international match they stand in.

Areas assessed include percentage of correct decisions, ability to cope with pressure, player management, communication and application of regulations.