Women's Cricket
India's GS Lakshmi set to be Match Referee for Women's Cricket World Cup Final
In the upcoming first-ever all-women officiated Women's Cricket World Cup final between England and Australia, India's GS Lakshmi will act as the Match Referee.
India's GS Lakshmi will act as the Match Referee in cricket's first-ever all-women officiated World Cup final (Source: ICC/Twitter)
Although India failed to make it past the group stages at the ongoing Women's Cricket World Cup 2022, the upcoming final between defending champions England and Australia on April 3rd at Hagley Oval is set to have Indian representation with GS Lakshmi selected as the Match Referee for the trophy clash.
GS Lakshmi, who was the first-ever woman in the Emirates ICC International Panel of Match Referees in May 2019 was also present to officiate the semi-finals that took place between England and South Africa at the same venue.
A former domestic level cricketer herself, Lakshmi also coached the South Central Railways team for a decent period of time till 2014, after retiring from the sport in 2004
Quite notably, Lakshmi created history when she became the first female match referee to oversee a men's ODI with the opening match of the third series of the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup League 2 between hosts United Arab Emirates (UAE) and United States of America (USA) in December 2019.
Adding one more feather to her illustrious cap, the 53-year-old from Andhra Pradesh will now be acting as the Match Referee in the upcoming final, alongside two on-field umpires Lauren Agenbag of South Africa and Kim Cotton of New Zealand. On the other hand, West Indies' Jacqueline Williams will act as the Third Umpire for the England versus Australia clash.
In yet another historic development, the Women's Cricket World Cup Final will be the first time a global cricket tournament final will have all four match officials as women. This follows in lieu of the ICC making a conscious attempt to promote gender equality in cricket that saw them select a squad of 15 match officials with 8 of them being women for the ODI World Cup 2022.
