{"id":6999,"date":"2016-06-02T15:43:08","date_gmt":"2016-06-02T10:13:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=6999"},"modified":"2016-06-02T15:43:08","modified_gmt":"2016-06-02T10:13:08","slug":"mens-test-cricket-first-woman-umpire-claire-polosak","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=6999","title":{"rendered":"Men\u2019s Test Cricket Has Been Around for 144 Years. In 2021, It Gets Its First Woman Umpire in Claire Polosak"},"content":{"rendered":"\nI<\/span>ndia\u2019s tour of Australia has been riveting so far, with a close contest among the two teams and records tumbling ever so often. However, it was an Australian woman who created history on Thursday, as the two teams hit the field for the third Test match of the Border-Gavaskar trophy. Claire Polosak became the first woman to officiate in a men\u2019s Test, a sport that has been around for 144 years<\/a>. She will be performing the role of the fourth umpire in the ongoing game between India and Australia.\n\nClaire\u2019s career<\/a> has seen a meteoric rise over the years. The 32-year-old was the first woman umpire in a men\u2019s ODI and the first woman umpire in a men\u2019s domestic game. In 2019, she officiated the final of World Cricket League (WCL) Division 2 between Namibia and Oman. In 2018, she and colleague Eloise Sheridan became the first women umpires to officiate on-field together during a WBBL game when Adelaide Strikers faced the Melbourne Stars. In 2016, New Zealand\u2019s Kathy Cross and Polosak became the first two women umpires to officiate at the Women\u2019s World T20.\n\n\u201cI never played cricket, but I always followed cricket, and my parents got me into it [umpiring], Dad used to drive me up from Goulburn to do the umpires course here. It took a few times to pass but it was something I was determined to do and I just kept working through the grades in Sydney competition. I\u2019ve probably had to work a little bit harder [than men] but it\u2019s all part of the enjoyment, and being able to do well makes it even better. It just shows there is a pathway now, there are increased opportunities,\u201d Claire Polosak had earlier said while talking about her umpiring career.\n\nNot one to be fazed by superstars on the field, Polosak reprimanded David Warner on the historic day<\/a> even before a ball was bowled. She asked Warner to move off the pitch and do his shadow batting from behind the ropes. Polosak will be responsible for overseeing pitch preparation and repairs, player injuries and replacements, and organising replacement or new balls during the course of the test match.\n\n

In 2016, New Zealand\u2019s Kathy Cross and Claire Polosak became the first two women umpires to officiate at the Women\u2019s World T20.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\nLocal umpires for Test cricket are normally frowned upon, but we live in the age of COVID-19, where it hasn\u2019t been convenient for umpires to travel. It has opened opportunities for those like Claire Polosak.\n\nVeteran ICC umpire Simon Taufel was full of praise, stating, \u201cShe has a tremendous amount of experience at the international level. When I spoke to Claire a couple of days about this opportunity, she was relishing it.\u201d Taufel also praised Polosak for her call to reprimand Warner, adding that she \u201cshowed a lot of courage and a lot of fortitude for someone in their first experience as a fourth umpire and a Test match.\u201d\n\nFormer Australian cricketers and commentators cheered her on. World Cup winning captain Alex Blackwell tweeted<\/a>, \u201cGreat to see that Claire Polosak will perform 4th Umpire duties \u2013 making her the first female umpire to be involved in a men\u2019s Test match.\u201d Channel 7 commentator Alison Mitchell posted, \u201cPandemic restrictions are presenting many unexpected opportunities \u2013 notably Claire Polosak will be involved at the SCG, the first time a female has been part of an officiating team for a men\u2019s Test.\u201d\n\nWith female officials being the norm across sports like tennis and football, it was about time cricket caught up as well. One hopes Claire Polosak is simply one of many more women umpires to get their due on the world stage.\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Claire Polosak created history as she became the first woman to officiate a men\u2019s Test match. A fourth umpire in the India vs Australia series, she\u2019d said that she \u201cprobably had to work a little bit harder [than men]\u201d to get there. That\u2019s Polosak speaking for all working women.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":7000,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[394],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6999","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\nMen\u2019s Test Cricket Has Been Around for 144 Years. In 2021, It Gets Its First Woman Umpire in Claire Polosak<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Claire Polosak created history as she became the first woman to officiate a men\u2019s Test match. 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