Joel Sheldon Wilson is a cricket umpire hailing from West Indies from the region of Trinidad and Tobago. He was born on 30 December 1966 in Siparia, Trinidad. Wilson stands in as an umpire in all formats and is a member of the Emirates International Panel of ICC Umpires representing West Indies.
Early Career
Joel Wilson officiated in local club matches in West Indies and was also an umpire in the Caribbean Premier League before being selected in the Emirates Panel of International ICC Umpires.
Umpiring Career
Wilson umpired his first match on 16 June 2011 in an ODI between West Indies and India at Kingston. He was one of the stand-in umpires for the 2015 World Cup and officiated in three of the matches held in Australia. He was third umpire and fourth umpire in a few matches along with greats like Aleem Dar and Billy Bowden.
On 21 July 2015, Wilson received a chance to be umpire in a test for the first time. The match was between Bangladesh and South Africa held at Chittagong.
Wilson also officiates in T20Is and his first one was between Canada and Netherlands on 13 March 2012 in the ICC Twenty20 qualifiers held in Dubai.
Stats
Wilson has been an on-field umpire in a total of 10 tests, 51 ODIs and 24 T20Is.
Controversies
Wilson was a part of the umpire panel that was involved in a controversial opening match in the 2015 ICC World Cup. The umpires allegedly knew the conditions of the ground and let play go on in spite of there being a dead ball.
This was serious error in judgement and also a black mark on the ICC panel of umpires. This event also reminded everyone of the 2007 World Cup where a match was allowed to go on in pitch darkness just to complete Sri Lanka’s innings against Australia.
