Ian Robinson

Ian David Robinson is a Zimbabwean cricket umpire who hails from England. He was born on 11 March 1947 in Oxford, England. Robinson was one of Zimbabwe’s most senior umpires and he died of lung cancer on 3 April 2016. He was 69 years old.

Early Career

Robinson’s umpiring career began in 1975 and he used to play local cricket in England and Zimbabwe before that. Even after his umpiring career began, Robinson had to wait for a while before he could officiate in international matches.

Umpiring Career

Robinson began umpiring in 1975 and he was promoted to first-class cricket in 1978. He stayed there officiating matches for 31 long seasons before starting in international cricket. He made his international debut on 18 October 1992 in a test between Zimbabwe and India at Harare.

Robinson’s ODI debut came in the 1992 World Cup held in Australia. His first match in charge was between Pakistan and West Indies on 23 February 1992 at Melbourne. Robinson’s career spanned a total of 12 years as a top-level umpire and he took up a job in the ICC Panel in 2008. He became the ICC Regional Umpires' Performance Manager for the Africa region.

Robinson was also ZCU’s board member for 14 years and held a top administrative position there for nine years. He was sacked by the Zimbabwe cricket board in 2004 and no reason for it was stated.

Stats

Robinson umpired a total of 28 test matches and 90 ODIs.

Retirement and Death

Robinson retired from umpiring duties in 2008 to take up the role as ICC Regional Umpires' Performance Manager for the Africa region.

In April 2016, Robinson died of lung cancer.