Nigel James Llong is an English cricket umpire and former first-class cricketer, born 11th February 1969 in Ashford, Kent. Llong is currently a member of the Elite Panel of ICC Umpires and officiates in international matches. Earlier, he had played English domestic cricket during the 1990s with Kent.
Early Career
In the year 1990, Llong made his first-class cricket debut for Kent and won his county cap in 1993. His playing style was unusual as he batted left-handed but bowled right-handed off spin. He also played club cricket at Greenpoint CC in Cape Town during the early 1990s.
In 68 first-class matches, he managed to score 3024 runs at an average of 31.17 which included 6 tons and 16 half-centuries. He also took 35 matches at an average of almost 36.
He also scored 2300 List-A runs and took 40 wickets to showcase his allround performance.
He played his last match in May 2000 after which he opted for umpiring.
Umpiring Career
Llong officiated in his maiden first-class match in June 2000. Llong was appointed to the ECB's panel of first-class umpires in 2002. Llong became a member of the ICC International umpire panel as a specialist third umpire in 2004, and in 2006 he became a full member of the International Panel.
The highlights of Llong's career so far include his appointment to the final of the 2004 Twenty20 Cup. His first ODI, which took place at Lord's, was between England and Sri Lanka in June 2006. His first overseas appointment was the ODI between Pakistan and West Indies at Lahore in December 2006. Llong officiated his first Test match in January 2008, between New Zealand and Bangladesh at Dunedin.
Llong was selected to be a reserve umpire for the 2007 Cricket World Cup, but was not called upon to officiate at any point in the tournament. He was appointed to stand in the 2007 Twenty20 World Championship in South Africa in September 2007. He was selected as one of the twenty umpires to stand in matches during the 2015 Cricket World Cup.
Stats
Llong officiated in 51 Test matches till date since making his Test debut as an umpire in the year 2008. He also officiated in 117 One Day Internationals in the span of 12 years starting from 2006 and in 32 T20 Internationals which started from 2005.
Controversy
Llong was surrounded by controversy and was criticized for making wrong decisions during the second day's play in Adelaide between the Black Caps and Australia.
Llong came into the spotlight when the Black Caps reviewed a not-out decision, believing Nathan Lyon was caught at second slip off the bowling of Mitchell Santner. The Kiwis were confident they would have an appeal for the overturned by the Decision Review System only for the original verdict to remain despite a clear mark on the hot spot technology suggesting he had hit the ball.
