The referees are ultimately in charge of all international cricket matches, and act as the ICC's representative at the grounds.
In addition they are responsible for imposing penalties for infringements of the ICC Code of Conduct, and so being ex-international cricketers they can ensure that the punishments dealt out are just.
As of the 2 February 2025 the ICC Elite Panel consisted of:[1][2] The following people were included in the inaugural panel of elite referees but have since retired: Mike Procter was criticised for failing to persuade umpires Darrell Hair and Billy Doctrove to continue with the match, which was awarded to England when Pakistan refused to take the field in protest at being accused of ball tampering.
[9] Jeff Crowe was seen as ultimately responsible for the failure of the five match officials (himself and umpires Bucknor, Dar, Koertzen and Bowden) to adhere to the ICC's playing conditions regarding to the number of overs required before Duckworth-Lewis can determine the outcome of a match.
In the aftermath of this fiasco, Crowe apologised on behalf of the playing control team for the error.