For all the cricket passionate ladies, this article is especially for you, yes you! If cricket is your passion and to be associated with it in some way or other is your dream, then please thanks me for delivering this article to you. In coming para’s you’ll come across women who were just like you and me (by that I mean cricket fanatic) and if they can make their way into this male dominated game then so can we!
1. Donna Symmonds
Did y’all like me though that she was an international cricketer and then like other players ended up as a commentator? Well she has played cricket but for her school and not for her country. She also played junior tennis for Barbados. Although by profession she’s a practicing lawyer in her own firm in Bridgetown, she got her first commentary job in 1987 when she was asked to cover Shell Shield match. She soon became the first Women Commentator for Test cricket in West Indies by covering West Indies vs Pakistan in 1988 at Barbados. She was also a female TMS (Test Match Special, a program runned by BBC) commentator and went on covering 1998 England Tour of the West Indies, 1999 Cricket World Cup and 2000 West Indian tour of England.
2. Kasturi Naidoo
It’s not only you and me, who draws inspiration from Donna Symmonds but the likes of Kasturi Naidoo, popularly known as Kass Naidoo realized her dream of becoming a cricket commentator after hearing Symmonds. She was 14 when Symmonds voice stuck her ears and made her fall in love with the game before that she only used to see cricket as middle aged white men thing. As soon as she realized that this is what she wanted to do, she started observing the game. She used to go to Kingsmead after her school hours and study the minutes of the game with the help of her brother. After a decade of learning the game she was discovered by SABC for the job. Not only is she the first female commentator from South Africa but also is the first woman to host a post match press conference and it all happened in 2003 when she was the face of the World Cup. The journey wasn’t easy for her but yet she achieved what she wanted to!
Read about other Career options for girls in cricket
3. Alison Mitchell
This one is my personal favorite, Alison Mitchell, a sport journalist and the first woman regular commentator of BBC Test Match Special. She started her career as a sports journalist back in 2002 with BBC and started commentating for men’s and women’s international match in 2007. She has covered various matches some of which includes England winter cricket tour to Australia, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, New Zealand and South Africa. Mitchell has also covered number of World Cups which also includes 4 Women World Cup. Along with cricket she has also covered Commonwealth, Olympics, Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and Open Golf. She has also contributed towards cricket by writing articles for The Wisden, Wisden Almanack, The Times, Mail on Sunday, The Guardian and TMS Blog. No doubt as to why she is considered as one of the best in the industry.
4. Claire Polosak
Another great example of someone who was not a cricket player but the love for game was so much that they finally ended up getting associated with it, only this time not as a commentator but as an Umpire. Claire Polosak an cricket umpire from Australia, was one of the four umpires to stand in 2017 Women’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier. On 8th October 2017 she set a new record by umpiring a Men’s domestic cricket match between New South Wales and Cricket Australia XI and on 11th January 2018 she became the first woman to umpire a match involving the England Men’s Cricket team. She has definitely showed all of us that if we believe in ourselves, then we can achieve everything and that cricket is no more a male dominated game.
Also Read : Interview with Vanitha Viola S – State Cricketer, Umpire and Coach from Hyderabad
5. Shubhda Bhosale
Shubhda Bhosale who used to play for U16 and U19 team of Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association till 2009 soon realized that she wanted to be associated with the game but not as a player but as an Umpire and in 2013 she made this vision of hers a reality as being the only woman who successfully cleared level 1 umpiring course held by MCPA. She stands as an umpire not only in women’s matches but also in men’s matches and is the youngest Indian Women Umpire. Her dream now is to complete the next level of umpiring and become the member of ICC umpires. She also want other girls to consider Umpiring as a career and explore the possibilities.
Isn’t she amazing!
Must Read our Interview with Shubhda Bhosle Gaikwad, youngest female umpire in India
Aren’t these ladies a bunch of inspiration? A perfect set of ladies who’ll force you to get up from your bed, put your doubts aside and walk towards your dream and achieve it!
