For the first time in New Zealand history a solely women umpiring panel will officiate a domestic tournament this season, with the milestone happening at the New Zealand Cricket Women’s Under 21 National tournament.
The competition will feature a mixture of One Day and Twenty20 matches from 16-22 December in Lincoln. Six women will stand during the tournament, made up of three New Zealanders, two Australians and one from Papua New Guinea.
Umpiring panel
Kathy Cross (New Zealand)
Diana Venter (New Zealand)
Kim Cotton (New Zealand)
Claire Polosak (Australia)
Deanne Young (Australia)
Helen Atai (Papua New Guinea)
The two leading Australian umpires have been nominated by Cricket Australia in an exchange, which will hopefully be reciprocated with New Zealand women umpires travelling across the ditch in future seasons. The Papua New Guinea umpire was put forward by ICC East Asia Pacific.
NZC Match Officials Manager Rodger McHarg says, “We’re delighted to be able to have a completely female umpiring panel. It really shows the great strides that women’s umpiring has made in recent years.
“The quality of umpires named is exceptional. Alongside Kathy Cross, who has umpired at three women’s world cups, we have three very well qualified and aspiring umpires from overseas.
“It’s incredibly exciting for us and shows a great pathway for women umpires going forward.”
All six umpires will be under the tutelage of NZC Umpire Coach Tony Hill during the tournament.
