Claire Polosak to make history as first female umpire to officiate in Australian men's domestic cricket

Sport360 staff 23:27 04/10/2017
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  • Claire Williams will make her List A umpiring debut on Sunday.

    On Sunday, when New South Wales and Cricket Australia XI square-off in the JLT One-Day Cup, a unique piece of cricket history will be created.

    One of the two on-field umpires will be a certain Claire Polosak, who in doing so, will become the first ever female umpire to take the pitch in Australian men’s domestic cricket.

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  • The 29-year-old had already created history in 2016 when she and Kathy Cross of New Zealand became the first female umpires to be named to officiate in an ICC Women’s World T20.

    Creating history has become a habit for Polosak who last summer became the first female umpire to officiate in a Australian domestic cricket final when she took the field in the Women’s National Cricket League (WNCL) decider.

    A member of Cricket Australia’s development umpire panel since 2015-16, Polosak was also on duty in the ICC Women’s World Cup in England this summer.

    A high school teacher by profession, the Goulburn-born Polosak has never played cricket competitively and took interest in umpiring since the age of 15.

    The 29-year-old has worked her way through the ranks of Sydney grade cricket, the WNCL and the Rebel’s Women’s Big Bash League.

    In 2015, Polosak broke more barriers when she became the first female to officiate in an Australian senior men’s competition. She was named as the third-umpire in a Matador BBQ’s One-Day Cup match in Sydney.

    “If you were to ask my 16-year-old self if I thought this would have happened when I first started umpiring, I definitely would not have thought I would be umpiring a men’s domestic match,” Polosak had said in a news release on Wednesday.

    “To be entrusted with this opportunity is humbling. With my role at Cricket New South Wales working in female umpire engagement, I realise what I do can be incredibly important for other women.

    “We need to see more female umpires officiating at all levels of the game, as this allows others to see there is a path to follow. Hopefully other female umpires will realise that umpiring cricket at the elite level is a real possibility and that they can be involved.”

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