David Boon prepares for his first series as elite panelist

Boon, who played 107 Tests and 181 ODIs for Australia, replaced compatriot Alan Hurst in the elite panel who retired on July 9 after the fifth and last ODI between England and Sri Lanka in Manchester after joining the panel in April 2004.

Boon will lead the playing control team in the one-off Test that gets underway on Thursday next week. The Test match, which will be supervised by Rod Tucker and Ian Gould, will be followed up by three ODIs which will be umpired by Gould along with local appointments, and two T20Is.

"I am really looking forward to visiting Zimbabwe for my first assignment as an elite panelist. I am very fortunate to have been close to cricket all my life and I am sure this phase in my new cricketing life will be as enjoyable as the other experiences," said Boon.

"I also can't wait and make my debut as an ICC official at the highest level in a country where I visited as a young player for an Australian under-25 side and on another occasion as captain of Tasmania," he added.

Boon, 50, enjoyed an international career spanning from 1984 to 1996. In the longest format of the game, he scored 7,422 runs, including 21 centuries and 32 half-centuries while he hit 5,964 runs with five centuries and 37 half-centuries in limited-overs internationals.

After retiring from international cricket, Boon moved to cricket administration and worked as General Manager (cricket) at Cricket Tasmania and also served as an Australia national selector.