Dubai: The International Cricket Council’s commitment to support women officials reflects in the appointments with several making their ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup debuts starting with the tournament opener between the West Indies and hosts New Zealand at the Bay Oval in Tauranga.
Former South Africa player Shandré Fritz, who featured in the 2005, 2009 and 2013 World Cups, will be the Match Referee in a Women’s World Cup match for the first time in the opener, as will her compatriot Lauren Agenbag, the first woman from her country to umpire a T20I International.
Sharfuddoula Ibne Shahid (on-field), Alex Wharf (third umpire) and Sue Redfern (fourth umpire) will be the other officials for the match.
Apart from Agenbeg, Fritz and Redfern, the other women officiating in the tournament are Match Referee GS Lakshmi and Umpires Kim Cotton, Claire Polosak, Eloise Sheridan and Jacqueline Williams.
Adrian Griffith, ICC Senior Manager – Umpires and Referees, said the appointments were part of ICC’s policy of nurturing the best available talent in different countries.
Lakshmi, who was the first woman to be named in the Emirates ICC International Panel of Match Referees in 2019, will make her Women’s World Cup debut in the second match of the eight-team tournament while Polosak, Redfern and Williams, all pathbreakers too, will stand in their second Women’s World Cups.
Polosak was the first woman to stand in a Men’s ODI, Redfern the first to have both played and stood in the Women’s World Cup, while Williams was the first woman to officiate as the Third Umpire in a men’s ODI.
Paul Wilson, Langton Rusere, Ahmad Shah Pakteen and Ruchira Palliyaguruge are other experienced officials in the tournament while two New Zealanders – Umpire Kim Cotton and Match Referee Gary Baxter – also feature in the list of three Match Referees and 12 Umpires.
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