ICC announces the appointment of the highest number of female match officials for the ICC U19 Women’s T20 World Cup 2023.
In the lead-up to the ICC Women’s U19 T20 World Cup, the International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced that over 15 match officials have been appointed for the warm-up and group stage matches of the World Cup. In a welcome move, nine out of the fifteen officials are women. This will now break the record for the highest number of female match officials to be appointed for an ICC event ever. There will be a total of twelve umpires and three match referees who will oversee and officiate the tournament in the league stages.
Vanessa de Silva, the former Sri Lanka women’s team captain will be leading the ICC International Panel of Match Referees and will be joined by Neeyamur Rashid, the former Bangladesh international cricketer and Owen Chirombe, a former Zimbabwe player. Besides the aforementioned, we also have distinguished members of the ICC International Panel of Umpires with Wayne Knights, Ahmad Pakteen, Virender Sharma and Shahid Saikat also hopping on the bandwagon. There is an International Panel of ICC Development Umpires who will join the officiating duties and includes Dedunu de Silva, a former Sri Lanka woman batter, Kerrin Klaaste, Maria Abbott, Sarah Bartlett, Jasmine Naeem, Lisa McCabe, Sarah Dembanevana and Candace la Borde. The appointments for the knockout stages will be announced at the latter half or end of the League Phase.
Adrian Griffith, ICC Senior Manager of Umpires and Referees said, “We are pleased to announce the match officials who will be officiating the historic ICC U19 Women’s T20 World Cup. We are delighted that this group of officials reflects the work we have been putting in to advance women in our sport as part of the ICC’s global development strategy. Every appointed official has steadily made a good name for themselves in the cricket ecosystem and we look forward to watching them as they play their part in the history that will be made in South Africa. We wish them the best of luck and know that they will do an excellent job.”
Here’s the final list of Match Officials for the ICC U19 Women’s T20 World Cup
|
Match Referees |
Vanessa de Silva, Neeyamur Rahul, and Owen Chirombe |
|
Umpires |
Sarah Bartlett, Jasmine Naeem, Lisa McCabe, Kerrin Klaaste, Maria Abbott, Sarah Dembanevana, Dedunu de Silva, Candace la Borde, Wayne Knights, Ahmad Pakteen, Virender Sharma, Shahid Saikat |
The ICC U19 Women’s T20 World Cup 2023 is slated to begin on 14th January 2023 and will feature 16 teams fighting it off for the elusive trophy.
I am a first year postgraduate student pursuing a MA in Media and Communication Studies at Christ University, Bengaluru. I am a podcaster, blogger and an avid cricket fan. When not glued to cricket matches, you can find me submerged in books and thinking about cricket all the time.
