Jacqueline Williams To Become The First Woman To Officiate As The Third Umpire:
Jacqueline Williams, the Jamaican cricket umpire, will become the first woman to officiate as the third umpire in men’s international cricket.
This has been done to empower females. She will be officiating from the 3rd match in the T20I series against the visiting Ireland.
According to the ICC, Jacqueline stated, “I am very thrilled about the prospect of my role as TV umpire in a men’s international match. This is an experience of great honor for me. I have taken charge as the third umpire in previous men’s match, but this is an international for the first time to me and that too presenting the West Indies. I wish that in the coming years more women take up umpiring. I derive the greatest satisfaction in umpiring, but umpiring is a challenging job.”
Williams was the first woman to be the TV umpire in an ICC men’s tournament in 2016. She was on the field in the match-Oman versus Nigeria at the World Cricket League Division Five in Jersey.
Lady umpires worldwide:
New Zealand’s Kathy Cros, who has retired, was the first woman to officiate in a men’s ICC tournament during the World Cricket League Division Five and Three that took place in Malaysia.
A month ago, India’s GS Lakshmi served in the same role in the third series of the Men’s Cricket World Cup League 2 in the United Arab Emirates to become the first lady to umpire in the men’s ODI. A year ago in May, she was named in the ICC International Panel of Match Referees.
In April 2019, Australian Claire Polosak became the first female umpire to officiate in an ODI between Namibia and Oman in the World Cricket League Division 2 match in Windhoek, Namibia.