For those who follow the game keenly, knows Claire Polosak very well. Be it juggling between her teaching job or to be the firsts in women umpiring, Polosak is not only creating history but is also inspiring women.
Since 2016, Polosak, who stood in 15 women’s ODI so far but her first big break came when she became the first woman to stand in an Australian men’s domestic fixture in 2017 during the JLT Cup. She followed alongside colleague Eloise Sheridan became the first women pair to officiate a match in WBBL together.
In 2018, she became the first woman to umpire a match involving the England men’s cricket team, when she stood in a one-day warm-up match between England and a Cricket Australia XI. Now, that was something huge and really did catch the eyes of many.
Looks like the 31-year-old is in no mood to stop, thanks to her sharp decisions, she now will stand in a men’s ODI when she officiates in the final of the World Cricket League Division 2 between Namibia and Oman.
Talking about it to Cricinfo, Polosak ( I’m sure with that beautiful smile on her face) said:
“I am thrilled to be the first woman to stand in a men’s ODI and how far I have come as an umpire,” Polosak said. “It really is important to promote women umpires and there’s no reason why females can’t umpire in cricket. It’s about breaking down barriers, creating awareness so more females can come into the role.”
“Umpiring is a team effort. I would like to thank all the umpires I have worked with, my local umpires association – NSW Cricket Umpires’ and Scorers’ Association and Cricket Australia, as well as my family and friends, as without their support, this match today would not be possible.”
We are not that far to see more women umpires on the field now. Talking about India, we do have a lot of scorers and a few umpires (Vrinda Rathi and Nagre Varsha are quite famous) who have officiated domestic matches, say under-16 men tournaments.
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