Fifty thousand screaming spectators. A hundred million dissenting voices. Two billion eyes rolling in incredulity. One index finger raised with unwavering conviction. Welcome to the most high-pressure job in elite sports — the Cricket Umpire.
Let us put this statement in context. When India bats in a Test match, Virat Kohli is under performance pressure for the time that he spends at the crease. In most cases, that stretches from a few minutes to a few hours. Jasprit Bumrah has two billion eyes on him in short spells. Rishabh Pant, admittedly, has a more difficult job. There is nowhere to hide, with six cameras focused on his reactions as a wicket-keeper every time the ball goes past the bat.
But by far, the most difficult task of all on a cricket field is performed by the two on-field umpires. They are under intense scrutiny of spectators, cameras, journalists, and armchair experts. Moreover, there is unrelenting pressure on social media, every minute of every hour of play over five long days. It is performance pressure beyond anything you and I can possibly comprehend in our daily jobs.
In his book Finding the Gaps, Simon Taufel, one of the most respected professionals in the field and five-times ‘ICC Umpire of the Year,’ writes: “We are driven to perform to high standards by the fear and desire to not to make a mistake.” And yet mistakes happen because umpires, like the rest of us, are imperfect humans. The more advanced the level of the sport at which one officiates, the higher the stakes, and consequently, the expectations.
Only those thrive who possess the mental strength to internalise the fact that they will make mistakes. They build the confidence and self-belief to minimise these errors, and stay confident despite them. They train themselves to remain in the present, and not lose focus. Their focus kicks in the moment the ball leaves Bumrah’s hand and remains at high alert until it comes to rest in Pant’s gloves, or races over the boundary ropes, or lies inert next to Root’s shattered stumps.
It is they who make it to the very top of their profession — the 12 wise men on ICC’s Elite Panel. And at this point in time, they are all men.
A legitimate question to ask is why are none of the most well-known women umpires — Claire Polosak and Sue Redfern to name just two — or the all-women umpiring panel at the recently concluded Legends Cricket tournament, a part of this list?
It is a point to which we shall return in a while.
The Umpire’s Journey
While researching and writing this piece, as I read about and spoke to umpires around the world, their starkly varying journeys fascinated me.
Simon Taufel worked in the printing industry at one stage and was no mean cricketer himself. He played as a pace bowler, with Adam Gilchrist keeping wickets. Claire Polosak, the only woman umpire to have officiated in a Men’s Test [India versus Australia at Sydney in 2021>, was a schoolteacher before becoming an umpire. She did not play cricket at a high level.
Gayathri Venugopalan, one of only three Indian women umpires currently on the BCCI Panel, played university-level cricket, then had a corporate career before giving it up and embarking on a decade-long hard grind of umpiring.
Venkataraghavan trained to be an engineer, and became the first player with Test, ODI, and First-Class experience to become an Elite Panel umpire. Kumar Dharmasena of Sri Lanka and Paul Reiffel of Australia followed in his footsteps. Susan Redfern, one of the most respected women umpires, played for England for several years before taking up a second career officiating at the highest level. Nitin Menon, S Ravi, and several of India’s umpires, were first state level cricketers before they exchanged their whites for umpiring garb.
What was common to all of them was the passion for the sport and working towards acquiring the special skills it takes to succeed as a guardian of the 22-yards. The pathways to get them there varied.
The journeys for young Indian aspirants [male or female> seeking to emulate S Venkataraghavan, S Ravi or Nitin Menon [the only three Indian umpires to make the Elite Panel> begin once they clear their Level 1 Umpiring examination. Before this, they have usually cleared the state Association accreditation while gaining experience. On average, umpires with BCCI Level 1 qualification will spend two to three years officiating at local league matches and gaining experience, before attempting to clear Level 2.
With Level 2 in hand, the umpire begins the ascent of the minor peaks — BCCI’s domestic circuit. This is where they wet their toes, slip on the banana peels, and rise stronger for it. They can spend between four and 10 years officiating matches. The count varies [since the retirement age was recently raised from 60 to 65>, but it is estimated that about 130 active umpires across the country are at this level. Three of them — Gayathri Venugopalan, Janani Narayanan, and Vrinda Rathi are women.
Shubhda Bhosle Gaikwad, who officiated in the recently concluded Legends League at Oman, is India’s youngest umpire. She is not yet qualified to officiate at the higher levels of the sport in India unlike her three seniors but is seen as an exciting prospect for the future.
Narayanan and Rathi, two of Gaekwad’s three seniors, have recently been included in the ICC Development Panel. This is the highest level to which women umpires can currently aspire.
Venugopalan hopes to join them in due course. For now, like all the other Indian cricket officials whose livelihood has been so badly impacted by COVID-induced shutdown of domestic cricket, she is waiting for the cricket to restart so that she can get back on the field to do the job she loves more than any other in the world.
Meritocracy versus Equity Debate
One of the threads that ran through every conversation I had with umpires [male or female> around the world revolved around the fast tracking of women umpires by the ICC and individual cricket boards.
Let us tackle the elephant in the room for a start. There are no women in ICC’s panel of Elite Umpires. This, reasonably enough, is not an issue that is likely to generate a gender equity debate just yet. The Elite Panel is the crème de la crème of world umpires, and to make it to this select group, one must have a high level of experience in addition to the obvious skills and track record that put these umpires at a different level. As things stand, the few women umpires officiating at the highest level of the sport, do not possess this mix. This has nothing to do with their skill level, but simply because the ecosystem that produces them has not yet reached that stage.
The debate centres more on women umpires around the world being fast tracked to the ICC’s Development Panel that currently has 12 women on it. The rest of the Development Panel consist of men who hail from the Associate Nations, not full ICC members, and they can only officiate in matches involving these nations, not full member fixtures.
The 12 women on the panel officiate in women’s internationals and just occasionally in men’s matches at the highest level. They hail from all over the world — India, Australia, New Zealand, and Qatar to name just a few. The experience level on this panel varies widely. And herein lies some of the angst.
As some senior umpires pointed out to me, there is a trade-off between meritocracy and equity. The fact is that an equally competent male umpire puts in 10 years of hard grind to arrive at a certain stage, while a woman may now be fast tracked in less than three to five. This even though experience is of paramount importance when it comes to consistent performance as an umpire at the highest levels.
This becomes an even bigger issue when it comes to red ball cricket. Ask any senior umpire, male or female, and they will confirm there is a significant difference between umpiring in white and red ball cricket from an experience standpoint.
Simon Taufel explains, “Four- and five-day games require inner reserves to be brought out. Resilience and managing pressure are key. Mistakes will be made sometimes but dwelling on them only causes more. People management skills come in. You have 13 elite high intensity athletes on the field who want to win. It’s your job to manage them over long periods of time on successive days. Fatigue can set in over the few days, and physical and mental fitness both become key. Finally, consistency of your skills is what separates a good umpire from an average one given all the other factors I mentioned.”
But even in Australia for example, women umpires do not get the opportunity to officiate first-class domestic matches before being thrust into a Women’s Test match. Claire Polosak and Eloise Sheridan, who made her Test debut during the recent Women’s Ashes, have umpired Men’s four-day Second XI matches. Indeed, a significant part of Polosak’s umpiring career has been spent officiating men’s matches at Grade level. But no female Australian umpire has officiated in a red ball game at a first-class level before standing in a Test match, even if she has already stood in the finals of a World T20 for example.
This is not because she does not want to. It is from a lack of opportunity. There are no four-day domestic red ball matches for women played in which they can gain experience and garner the necessary skills. And women have not yet officiated in the Sheffield Shield, the domestic men’s first-class competition. It is surely something that must be in Cricket Australia’s sights particularly given the need for more women umpires and the excitement red ball cricket of both genders has generated in recent years.
In India on the other hand, women umpire on the BCCI Panel [other than over the COVID period when the Ranji Trophy has not been played> get to officiate in red ball cricket including first class matches. It is another matter that over the past decade Indian women have only played a handful of Tests where these umpires could test their skills at the highest level.
While in terms of populating the ecosystem quickly, fast tracking of less experienced women umpires makes sense, the rungs on this ladder need looking into from a credibility standpoint. The ICC and the national boards may not be doing the young ladies a favour in the long run. All the officials I interviewed were unanimous in their support of the intent of bringing more women into the fold. But they were also clear on the fact that when these same women are promoted to the highest level, they must not be set up to fail, for they are role models, and they must be given every opportunity to succeed.
The only way to ensure that is to increase the number of women at the grassroots level. It is difficult to get an idea of exactly how many women in India officiate at the grassroots level [where accreditation, if any is from state associations>. In Australia, where data is available, of the approximately 10,000 registered officials, only three women now have stood at the Test level. The Top 17 contracted umpires with Cricket Australia count among them one woman.
The reality is that there are no strategic shortcuts here. Efforts at the grassroots level are key, and the ICC’s fast tracking of a few may well create some role models that help with the former. But roles that require such high levels of skill, experience, and resilience, cannot afford to be entirely fast tracked.
No one denies the importance of a meritocratic system.
Gayathri Venugopalan tells me, “We all want a meritocracy. I want to be known as a good umpire, not a good woman umpire. Left to me, I would not mention umpiring and gender in the same breath. But I am very happy to be part of the journey that draws in more and more women into the job.’
Claire Polosak agrees, “Progress for umpires needs to reflect meritocracy. Every umpire wants to officiate at the highest level that is commensurate with their ability. To involve more women, there needs to be more awareness that umpiring is a viable pathway to be involved in cricket other than player, administrator or coach. There should be women represented at all levels of Cricket, however, pushing an umpire of [any gender> too fast through the pathway is detrimental to everyone involved.”
The Future of Women in Umpiring
Cricket administrators worldwide are now clearly alive to their responsibilities. But it is also important that as fans, cricket writers, and journalists, we play our role. For example,
while there is much needed social media outcry on the growth of women’s cricket worldwide, there is no focus on the need for more women in umpiring. As my conversations with umpires across the spectrum over the past weeks revealed, there should be.
Claire Polosak is pragmatic when she says:, “I would love to see gender become a non-issue in umpiring. But the reality is that while we may be 50 percent of the population, in cricket, we are still a small community. That will take time to change, perhaps even a generation or two.”
Watching an all-Women’s group officiating at the Legends League Cricket was a heartwarming experience. Granted that it was a largely symbolic gesture given these were retired greats playing an exhibition tournament. But symbolism is often key to changing mindsets.
When Polosak sat down on the fourth umpire’s chair at the SCG when the Australian men’s Test team took on Kohli’s India last year, it was a hugely important step towards equity. The journey, however, has miles to go, and we can all play our role in helping put more women on this road. The next time you meet a young girl passionate about the sport, even if her cricketing skills are not enough to make her a Mithali Raj, suggest to her that she might want to be an umpire. You never know where that conversation may lead.
Perhaps one day in the not-too-distant future, she, or perhaps a couple of younger female colleagues, will walk out together as the all-women team of on-field officials in a Men’s Test at the Wankhede or the Eden Gardens. The equanimity with which that is greeted, will reflect how far we have come.
Anindya Dutta is a sports columnist and author of six bestselling books, including Wizards: The Story of Indian Spin Bowling and Advantage India: The Story of Indian Tennis. He tweets @cric_writer.