Cricket Australia (CA) National Umpire Panel (NUP) member Phil Gillespie and National Match Referee Panel (NRP) member Bob Stratford are officiating in the Pacific Islands Cricket Challenge event being played in Suva, Fiji. Prior to this season, Gillespie was added to the International Cricket Council (ICC) International Panel of Umpires. Gillespie subsequently made his Men's T20 International on-field umpiring debut when Australia played the West Indies in the Dettol T20 International at Metricon Stadium on the Gold Coast.
Stratford who also serves on the ICC International Panel of Match Referees similarly made his Men's T20 International debut in the same series. More recently, Stratford oversaw the most recent CommBank Women's International series between Australia and Pakistan.
The tournament commenced on the 12th March and will be played between a Papua New Guinea XI, Samoa, Vanuatu, Fiji and a combined ANZAC team (Australian and New Zealand Defence Force). The matches between Fiji, Samoa and Vanuatu have been classified full T20 International status.