In a historic first, the ICC announces that all the match officials at the upcoming Women’s T20 World Cup will be women

The eighth edition of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2023 will have 13 female officials, the highest ever tally in an ICC tournament.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced that for the first time ever, an all female official group will take charge of matches at the upcoming ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2023 which will be held in South Africa. It surpasses the previous tally of the most female officials at a single tournament, reached at the currently ongoing U19 Women’s T20 World Cup where nine of the 15 match officials are women.

Let’s take a look at the 13 match officials who will be in the thick of the action during the World Cup which gets underway on February 10 in South Africa:

Anna Haris

The youngest match official at the competition, 24-year-old Anna Haris is also a medical student in England. Having made her top-flight umpiring debut two years ago, she has officiated matches in international cricket as well as The Hundred. However, this will be her World Cup debut as a match official.

Claire Polosak

Australia’s Claire Polosak isn’t short on experience and she had previously officiated in the ICC T20 Women’s World Cup in 2016. In 2019, she became the first female official to take charge in a men’s ODI. She also became the first female official to be involved in a men’s Test match when she served as fourth umpire for the third and fourth tests of the 2020/21 Border Gavaskar Trophy between India and Australia.

Eloise Sheridan

Eloise Sheridan is also a popular and acclaimed women’s official who has a close working relationship with Claire Polosak. Together, the duo became the first female umpiring pair to officiate together in a competitive game on Australian soil. This feat was achieved during the 2018/19 season of the Women’s Big Bash League.

G. S. Lakshmi

Before India’s G.S. Lakshmi became an umpire, she had an 18-year-long career in domestic cricket. The second innings of her career began in the 2008/09 season and she has officiated matches across all formats in women’s cricket. She was also the first woman to be appointed to the International Panel of ICC Match Referees and has officiated men’s ODIs and T20Is too.

Jacqueline Williams

Jacqueline Williams is a prominent name from Jamaica who was one of the four women umpires to feature in the ICC Women’s World T20 Qualifier 2015.  She also holds the record of being the first female umpire to officiate a List A contest on the Caribbean soil and she made her debut as an umpire in men’s international cricket in 2019.

N Janani

Much like Anna Haris, N Janani will also be at her very first World Cup this time around. She has the experience of officiating women’s international ODIs and T20Is and has also umpired in the domestic leagues in India.

Kim Cotton

One of four female umpires at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in 2018, Kim Cotton is a lawyer by profession. She has officiated both men’s and women’s international matches and has also stood in the final of the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup.

Lauren Agenbag

When she was just 22, Lauren Agenbag was the first South African woman to stand in a women’s T20I in 2019. She has taken massive strides since then and was Cotton’s partner in the Women’s World Cup final last year, thus, becoming the youngest umpire, male or female, to stand in an ICC World Cup final. She officiated a men’s T20I for the first time in December 2022.

Michell Pereira

Michell Pereira is a former cricketer and was part of the Sri Lanka squad for the 2005 ICC Women’s World Cup as a reserve wicket-keeper. Having become an ICC Match Referee in July 2022, this will be her first ICC event.

Nimali Perera

Nimali Perera is the second match official at the World Cup from Sri Lanka. She will also be the first female umpire from the country to feature in a T20 World Cup. Perera has stood as an umpire in T20Is, and was also a part of the Women’s Asia Cup recently.

Shandre Fritz

Shandre Fritz hardly needs an introduction given that she was a part of the South African national team for over a decade. Fritza has refereed in both men’s and women’s domestic as well as international games. Moreover, she is the only match official at the event to have been involved in a T20 World Cup as a player.

Sue Redfern

Like Fritz, Sue Redfern has also played a World Cup for her country, in the 50-over format. She has appeared in a number of ICC events and she is also a part of the International Panel of ICC Development Umpires.

Vrinda Rathi

This will be Vrinda Rathi’s first experience of an ICC tournament. She has previously umpired in the Ranji Trophy and has also officiated a number of women’s T20Is.