Sri Lanka will tour Pakistan for a three-match T20I and two-match World Test Championship series. In between the two series, England, Pakistan and Sri Lanka will also play a One-Day International tri-series. Today the panel of match officials for the next 12 international matches to be played between 9 October and 21 November has been announced.

Jeffrey Crowe, a member of ICC’s Elite Panel of match referees and former New Zealand Test cricketer, will head the playing control team for all seven matches of the showpiece ODI tri-series from October 18-31 in Rawalpindi and Lahore. Crowe was first appointed to officiate a Test match in the October 2004 Faisalabad Test between Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

Earlier this month, the New Zealander played 350 ODIs and became only the second man to umpire 700 international matches.

The ODI tri-series will be officiated by members of ICC Elite Panel of Umpires including Ahsan Raza (Pakistan) and Sharfuddoula Ibne Shahid (Bangladesh) and ICC International Panel Umpires including Wayne Knights (New Zealand), Asif Yaqoob, Nasir Hussain, Rashid Riaz Waqar and Faisal Khan Aafreedi.

As on-field umpire, Knights will partner Asif in the first match of the tri-series between Pakistan and Sri Lanka and will take his tally to 37 ODIs as Umpire.

Ahsan will be the on-field umpire in the last two games of the ODI tri-series, joining Sharfuddoula for the Sri Lanka v England clash in Lahore before standing in the field with Knights in the final. Faisal and Rashid will take charge of a match apiece while Nasir will take charge of one and Asif of two.

Sharfuddoula and Knights will rotate in the role of third umpire during the tri-series, with the latter starting in the series opener.

Dean Cosker, a former England first-class cricketer and member of ICC’s Emerging Match Referees Group, will lead the playing control crew for the first time in Tests when Sri Lanka meet Pakistan in Rawalpindi and Lahore. He has officiated 16 ODIs, 17 T20Is, three WODIs and six WT20Is since making his debut in October 2024.

The on-field umpires for the two Tests will be members of the ICC Elite Panel of Umpires Adrian Holdstock, Allahuddien Paleker from South Africa and Australia’s Rodney Tucker. Holdstock and Tucker will be the on-field umpires in the first match at Rawalpindi while Palekar will join Holdstock in the second Test.

Palekar will be the third umpire for the first Test while Tucker will be the third umpire for the second. Faisal Aafreedi and Asif Yaqoob will serve as the fourth umpire in the first and second test respectively.

ICC International Match Referee Ali Naqvi will be the match referee for the three-match T20I series which will be played on October 9, 11 and 13. Rashid Riaz and Nasir Hussain will be the umpires on the field in the first match while Faisal Aafreedi will be the umpire with Nasir in the second. Faisal will come in the third on-field with Rashid.

Faisal, Rashid and Nasir will be the third umpires in the three T20Is respectively, while Tariq Rasheed – PCB National Elite Panel Umpire – will be the fourth umpire in all three T20Is.

 Iran categorically denied involvement on Monday in a suspected plot to attack a British airbase used by the United States to strike Iranian sites, just as British police announced they were releasing on bail five men arrested over explosives and terrorism offences.

In a statement on X, Iran’s embassy in London said it “categorically rejects and strongly condemns the recent unfounded and malicious speculations”.

It said claims in the British media linking Tehran to the incident would only fuel “Iranophobia propaganda” in the UK.

The five men, British nationals from London in their mid-20s, were arrested early on Sunday after police were alerted to three suspicious white vans heading towards RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire, which houses US bombers that fly missions against Iran.

Police said on Monday the men had been released on bail after extensive inte­rviews and inquiries. But Laurence Taylor, the assistant commissioner and head of Counter Terrorism Policing, said this did not mean the investigation was over.

Officers were considering the incident “from every possible angle”, he told reporters, “including that this may be activity committed by proxies, or individuals either knowingly or unknowingly, working on behalf of a foreign state”.

Counter Terrorism Policing Senior National Coordinator Vicki Evans said she was aware of speculation about the motive and geopolitical questions that were being raised, but asked that police be given “the space to work carefully and clearly”.

Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Andy Burnham called an emergency meeting of senior officials to ensure they had “the full picture”. He pulled out of several events at Labour’s annual conference on Sunday to monitor the situation.

Authorities have not confirmed the exact nature of the threat. A bomb disposal robot was seen operating around the vans, which were examined by forensic experts with military support. Armed police guarded the main entrance to the base while heavy machinery blocked other access points.

A farmer from the nearby village of Whelford, who alerted police after seeing “hooded and masked men” running into fields, said she believed her 999 call had foiled any plot. Speaking anonymously, she said she believed police had “dropped the ball” over the threat.

The defence secretary, Wes Streeting, told the BBC the farmer had only a “partial picture” of the investigation. He declined to speculate about motives during a live inquiry but said the UK faced a general threat from Iran.

“We know that Iran and their proxies wish to do us harm,” he said. “We know that they hate our democracy, and we know that we regularly have to thwart Iranian attempts to threaten either our interests or indeed our allies.”

After the Fairford arrests, the US Emb­assy issued a security alert saying US citizens should “exercise caution” and be “mind­ful of personal security”. Security was stepped up at other US airbases in Britain. Donald Trump, speaking during a visit to Chicago on Sunday, said the suspects had been looking to do “big damage to our fort” and had been under investigation by British and American authorities.

“You’ll be hearing about it very soon. We caught them,” the US president said, appearing to nod when asked about an Iranian connection.

In March, the UK government authorised the US to use bombers based at Fairford to strike Iranian missile sites that were attacking ships in the Strait of Hormuz.

After the arrests, police put a 400-metre cordon around the base and evacuated residents from 85 homes. The home secretary, Shabana Mahmood, said on Monday afternoon that the scene was now safe and residents would shortly be able to return.
 

 US President Donald Trump’s administration was set ​to grant a limited waiver to its Iran sanctions program on Monday to allow for flights carrying ‌Shi’ite Muslim religious pilgrims between Iran and Iraq, a person with direct knowledge of the matter said.

The source, who is involved in the deliberations, said the US Treasury Department waiver would allow Iraqi Airways to fly back and forth between Iran and the ​Shi’ite holy city of Najaf in Iraq for one month, with a more permanent waiver potentially following.

Iraq halted ​flights to and from Iran on Friday, in line with US sanctions.

The source said the ⁠move aimed to ease pressure on the Iraqi government of Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi, who has sought to deepen ​ties with Washington while also balancing a strong relationship with Iraq’s influential neighbour, Iran.

Trump’s effort to impose a ​crippling economic blockade on Iran is forcing regional governments to scale back ties with Iran, creating potential backlash against those states, particularly those that balance their ties with both Washington and Tehran.

Zaidi’s office over the weekend said that Iraq was seeking an exemption ​for travel between Iran and Iraq for medical treatment, education and pilgrimage.

An Iraqi official said the Iraqi government was ​in talks with the US about the Najaf exemption and expected flights between Iran and Najaf to resume within 48 hours.

The ‌US ⁠State Department referred questions to the Treasury Department, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In recent days, countries including Turkey, the UAE and Iraq have cancelled direct flights with Iran as a result of US pressure. In response, Iranian officials have threatened to halt regional air travel if Iran’s air links continued to ​be cut.

With Shi’ite religious ​pilgrims travelling between Iran and ⁠Iraq each year to visit key shrine cities, Iraq is perhaps in the most sensitive position.

Najaf, a center for religious study, draws millions of pilgrims a year to ​the shrine of Imam Ali, the first Shi’ite leader, and the world’s largest ​and oldest ⁠active Islamic cemetery.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday said he rejected an Iranian proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and end fighting in the Middle East.

The source said that barring flights between the two countries could cause severe backlash against Iraq’s government by uniting Shi’ites who follow Iran’s supreme leader and those who follow Iraq’s Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, undermining US efforts to ⁠reduce Iranian ​influence in Iraq.

Zaidi has offered to provide safeguards for the flights, including rigorous ​screening and information sharing as well as ensuring the flights are not used for transfer of weapons, sanctioned individuals or illicit money, the ​source said.