Andy Pycroft

Andrew John Pycroft (born 6 June 1956) is a Zimbabwean match referee and former cricketer who played in 3 Test matches and 20 One Day Internationals from 1983 to 1992. After his cricket career, Pycroft served as a national selector and coach for Zimbabwe national cricket team before being appointed to the ICC Elite Panel of Match Referees in 2009.

Andy Pycroft

Personal information
Full name	Andrew John Pycroft
Born	(1956-06-06) 6 June 1956 (age 69) Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia
Batting	Right-handed
Bowling	Right-arm offbreak
Role	Batsman
International information
National side	Zimbabwe (1983–1992)
Test debut (cap 10)	18 October 1992 v India
Last Test	7 November 1992 v New Zealand
ODI debut (cap 9)	9 June 1983 v Australia
Last ODI	18 March 1992 v England
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1975/76–1978/79	Western Province B
Career statistics
Competition Test ODI FC LA Matches 3 20 72 100 Runs scored 152 295 4,374 2,576 Batting average 30.40 17.35 38.03 29.60 100s/50s 0/1 0/2 5/31 1/17 Top score 60 61 133 104 Balls bowled – – 87 12 Wickets – – 1 0 Bowling average – – 52.00 – 5 wickets in innings – – 0 – 10 wickets in match – – 0 – Best bowling – – 1/0 – Catches/stumpings 2/– 6/– 63/– 38/–
Source: CricketArchive, 3 August 2016

Early life and education

Pycroft was born in Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia (now Harare, Zimbabwe) on 6 June 1956. He was educated at the Diocesan College in Cape Town, South Africa. He also qualified as a lawyer.^[1]

Cricket career

He played for Rhodesia prior to Zimbabwe's independence. He also represented the Zimbabwean team (1980 onwards) and the Western Province in the South African domestic competition.

Coaching career

After his retirement, Pycroft coached Zimbabwe national under-19 cricket team and served as a national selector. By 2001, he was Zimbabwe's chief selector and was briefly appointed as the coach of Zimbabwe national cricket team. During the 2003 Cricket World Cup, disputes arose over team selection. On 11 March 2003, Pycroft resigned from his role as a selector, citing differences with the board's selection policies.^[2]

He later worked as a cricket commentator before being appointed coach of the Zimbabwe A team in 2006. He held this position until August 2008, when his contract was terminated by the Zimbabwe Cricket.^[3]

Match referee

Pycroft became a member of the Elite Panel of ICC Match Referees in March 2009.^[4]

In 2018, during a Test in Cape Town where Australian cricketers were found to have tampered with the ball, he imposed sanctions that included a one-match ban on captain Steve Smith and fines for David Warner and Cameron Bancroft.^[5]

Pakcroft

In September 2025, Pycroft was at the centre of controversy in the India-Pakistan fixture at the 2025 Asia Cup for allowing the captains to forego the shaking of hands at the toss amid political tensions between the countries.^[6]

The Pakistan Cricket Board wrote to the ICC accusing him of breaching the ICC Code of Conduct and Spirit of Cricket, and they requested the removal of Pycroft as match referee for rest of the tournament.^[7] Pakistan delayed taking the field for its subsequent match until the PCB announced that Pycroft had described the situation as a "miscommunication" and had apologized to Pakistan's team management.^[8] An internal ICC investigation cleared Pycroft of wrongdoing. The dispute delayed the start of Pakistan's next match by approximately one hour. The PCB withdrew its boycott threat, and Pycroft continued to officiate in the tournament.^[6]

See also

• Elite Panel of ICC Referees