Colombo: Umpire Kumar Dharmasena won the David Shepherd Trophy for first time after being named ICC Umpire of the Year at the ICC Awards on Saturday.
Dharmasena, 41, received the award following voting by the 10 Test full-member captains as well as the seven-man Elite Panel of ICC match referees. The Sri Lankan was judged on his decision statistics and officiating skills during the past 12 months.
The Sri Lankan faced strong competition from Billy Bowden, Rodney Tucker, Richard Kettleborough, five-time winner Simon Taufel and three-time winner Aleem Dar.
Dharmasena, who made his international debut as an umpire in 2009, joined the Emirates Elite Panel in May 2011. In the voting period he stood in seven Tests and 13 ODIs.
Prior to umpiring, Dharmasena represented Sri Lanka in 31 Test matches and 141 ODIs and was part of Sri Lanka's 1996 ICC World Cup winning side.