NZC has unveiled its Match Official panels for the coming season, and joining the CD names regularly appointed is a familiar face - in a new role. 

BEVAN SMALL needs no introduction to long-time Central Stags fans. The Feilding-born allrounder burst on the scene in 2011, going on to play more than 100 matches across the three formats, lifting multiple trophies with the team.

He quickly went viral with one of the world's first notable fielding assists in T20 cricket, and most recently he came back from potentially career-ending knee reconstructions to help the Stags win both The Ford Trophy and Plunket Shield in the same season, 2022/23. He carried on to play three more one-dayers and almost a full season of Super Smash in the following summer. 

Now Small is set to continue his on-field career as an umpire, as the only new recipient of an NZCPA Umpiring Scholarship for the coming summer.

The scholarship is a collab between NZC and the New Zealand Cricket Players' Association, designed to fast-track interested past players into the national umpiring arena.

Bevan Small came back from two major knee surgeries | PHOTOSPORT

Former Otago and ND captain Brad Wilson and Auckland's Craig Pryor have been the latest success stories - both were appointed to stand in Plunket Shield, Domestic one-day and Super Smash matches last season, and Small caught up with both of them at a recent workshop. 

"As the first two recipients of the scholarship, it's been awesome to see them make a great start to their umpiring journeys," says Small.

"It's great for me to be following them through the process and it's bloody helpful that they're open to sharing advice and enjoying the ride."

They're on their way to joining other successful converts to umpiring, including New Zealand's sole current ICC Elite Panel umpire, Chris Gaffaney (an ex-Otago rep), and former Otago batter Shaun Haig - who just happened to be a Small's maiden Domestic wicket on Stags debut.

Brad Wilson was meanwhile the batter he dismissed when he was a 19-year-old substitute fielder teaming up with Michael Mason in the old HRV Cup days to pull off their famous assisted catch.

Small says he actually started considering umpiring seriously in his mid twenties. A few bouts with injuries and the like during his playing career allowed him to try umpiring at various schoolboy tournaments, at different stages.

So why umpiring?

"I love the game," he says simply. "I will always be a fan of cricket, and having the opportunity to remain involved in a different capacity is appealing to me."

Especially since his bionic knees now make it easier to stand in the dirt all day. "Add a bionic shoulder and rib cage into the mix and you're basically unstoppable!"

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The NZCPA umpiring scholarship is spread over a two-year period, and provides an ideal platform to learn how all aspects of the professional umpiring world works.

There are obviously a number of laws, rules and specific details to get your head around, and a collegial support network at NZC to assist emerging umpiring talents through the process. 

Bevan Small fought his way back more than once.

For Small it's an opportunity that meshes well with his regular job as Director of Sport at Iona College, a girls' secondary school in Havelock North, Hawke's Bay where he started as a sports coordinator.

"It's been a great role for me to develop my skills away from the game over the last 3.5 years, and I'm really lucky to have a very supportive workplace when it comes to cricket.

"In the later stages of my playing days, I was juggling trainings and matches with the Stags with work, and the balance between the two actually provided some of the most enjoyable cricket moments for me.

"I think at that stage, cricket just purely became about running around with my best mates again, and removing any outside pressures.

His 2023 comeback after the latest knee reconstruction and a long, tough rehab was special - and he made an almost instant impact for the team, as a dependable and experienced allrounder.

"That comeback was a very proud and enjoyable moment for me, a real highlight.

"Aside from all of the title-winning moments with the Staggies, it obviously took years of graft and rehab following the two right-knee surgeries, and I was never quite sure, across those years away, that I would ever be able to get back to that stage."

What a comeback.

But after that final season of white-ball cricket in the following summer, 2023/24, his left knee now decided it had had enough.

"I went back under the knife in November 2024 for a 'lateral release' procedure.

"That was enough to hang up the bowling boots for good and, fortunately, after another 12-month rehab period, I was able to dust off the cobwebs from my golf bag and return to the first tee again."

So to have an opportunity and pathway to potentially get back onto a Domestic cricket field as well - as "Umpire Small" - is something to cherish.

At 33, he can look back on a substantial playing career "but the most enjoyable thing for me was any time we returned to the changing rooms to sing the team song after a win, and of course every winning campaign in the Staggies' green.

"Sharing the field with a bunch of my closest mates was all it was about for me.

"I feel very lucky to have played for the Stags through the period that I did - an incredibly enjoyable ride.

"I also had a bloody supportive family who spent years travelling across the country watching and supporting the Stags, and a particularly special moment having my wife Grace on the bank at Hagley Oval when I managed to make my way back onto the park in 2023."

CD Cricket congratulates all Officials named today on the NZC and CD Regional Panels, our top performers re-appointed for the 2025/26 summer.

Nelson-based John Dempsey remains CD's only rep on NZC's nine-member National Umpire Panel while Manawatū's Duncan Mitchell and Nelson's Euan West return as CD appointees to the NZC National Scorers Panel.

Richard Hayward and Greg Stretch return as Match Referees on the Domestic circuit.

Central Districts Regional Umpire Panel

2025/26

John Bromley - Nelson

Regan Combe - Hawke's Bay

Jimmy Ellingham - Manawatū

Andrew Holdaway - Marlborough

Chris Judson - Taranaki

Jason Leahy - Hawke's Bay

Ajmal Majeed - Horowhenua-Kāpiti

Brendon Munford - Manawatū

Scott Oliver - Whanganui

Tim Shirriffs - Hawke's Bay

Glen Walklin - Hawke's Bay

2025/26

Match Officials Panels

Emirates ICC Elite Panel (Umpire)

Chris Gaffaney - Otago

NZC G.J. Gardner Homes National Umpire Panel 

Chris Brown - Auckland* 

Cory Black - Wellington* 

Billy Bowden - Auckland

Kim Cotton - Canterbury* 

John Dempsey - Central Districts

Shaun Haig - Otago* 

Kannan Jagannathan - Otago

Greg Pennell - Northern Districts

Wayne Knights - Auckland* 

*Also ICC/International Panel Umpires 

NZC Match Referee Panel

Trudy Anderson - Canterbury* 

Richard Hayward - Central Districts 

Greg Stretch - Central Districts

Sue Morris - Auckland 

Shayne O’Connor - Otago* 

Kevin Pulley - Wellington

Gary Troup - Auckland

*Also International Panel Match Referees

NZC Emerging Women’s Umpire Panel

Christelle High - Northern Districts

Tina Semmens - Auckland* 

Alyson Shipley - Canterbury

*Also International Panel Umpire Shape

NZCPA Scholarship Umpires

Bevan Small - Central Districts

Craig Pryor - Auckland – completed

Brad Wilson - Auckland – completed 

NZC National Scorer Panel

Michael Anderson - Auckland

Annette Campbell - Auckland

Chris McQuaid - Auckland

Chris James - Northern Districts

Chris High - Northern Districts 

Toni Hill - Northern Districts

Justin Williams - Northern Districts

Dean Plummer - Northern Districts

Duncan Mitchell - Central Districts 

Euan West - Central Districts 

Matt Frost - Wellington

Keith Horsley - Wellington

Jared Larsen - Canterbury 

Gail McGowan - Canterbury

Karen Fleet - Canterbury

Jeffrey Stuart - Canterbury 

Steph Drake - Otago

Lindsay Neilson - Otago 

Malcolm Jones - Otago 

Sarah Tuapati - Otago 

NZC Reserve Scorer Panel

Erica Knights - Auckland

Liam Du Burgess - Auckland

Ian Pool - Northern Districts

Shirish Nagar - Northern Districts

Andrea Bryan - Central Districts 

Braden Byrne - Central Districts

Kieron Thwaites - Wellington

James Manhire - Wellington

Tony Feely - Canterbury

Kirsty Lees - Canterbury

Jack Holdem - Canterbury

Raewyn Inder - Canterbury

Andrew Brookes - Otago

Helen Simpson - Otago

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Article added: Wednesday 1 October 2025