Claire Polosak, remember the name! Why should you? Because she was part of a truly historic moment of cricket on Saturday, April 27 at Windhoek, Namibia. As she crossed the boundary line onto the field of play with her male colleague, the lady from Australia became the first woman to officiate in a men's one-day international game.
The match, a World Cricket League Division 2 final contest between Namibia and Oman would not have otherwise garnered too much attention. But with Polosak's ground-breaking appearance, doors have been opened to more such instances of female umpire's in men's game.
Importance of the event
While in other sports such as hockey and football, on-field referees are usually of the same gender as the players, there is no imaginable reason why a woman should face any more difficulty than a man in umpiring a game of men's cricket.
It wasn't the first time, though, when Polosak was on-field for a match played by male cricketers. She had earlier umpired in a men's game of the Australian domestic circuit as far back as 2017. Another distinction she already possessed was being part of the first female pair of umpires to officiate in a professional match in Australia. It was during a Women's Big Bash League game and her partner in crime, or rather preventing crime, on that occasion was Eloise Sheridan.
Polosak's reaction
Speaking on her unprecedented achievement, Polosak was conscious of her role in furthering women's position in the officialdom of cricket. "I am thrilled to be the first woman to stand in a men's ODI and how far I have come as an umpire. 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," she was quoted as saying by the ICC.
Polosak also thanked all those bodies and people who helped her along. "It's really to do with the partners you work with all the way through. Right from my local association – NSW umpires and scorers – as well as parents and my partner, Evans, my husband, without whose support there's no way I'd be here today."
This achievement of Polosak may have had to wait longer if the ICC had not given ODI status to Oman recently. Namibia already possesses ODI status and has made appearances in previous World Cups. We can now look forward to the day when a woman would be present on-field during an international contest involving top cricket playing nations.
