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Cricket鈥檚 top women umpires

Datshiane Navanayagam talks to women from India and the UK whose love of cricket led them to officiate international and domestic matches for the women鈥檚 and men鈥檚 games.

Datshiane Navanayagam talks to women from India and the UK who officiate international and domestic matches for the women鈥檚 and men鈥檚 games. They鈥檙e both on the ICC鈥檚 development panel for umpires.

Vrinda Rathi is an Indian cricket umpire. She was one of the first female umpires to stand as an on-field umpire in a men's domestic fixture in India. Earlier this year she became the first Indian woman to officiate in a Women鈥檚 World Cup final as one of the two on-field umpires for the final between England and Australia at Lord鈥檚. Vrinda was a medium-pace bowler who represented the Mumbai University women鈥檚 team for four years. She couldn鈥檛 break into Mumbai鈥檚 senior side as a player so became a scorer before eventually switching to umpiring.

Anna Harris took up umpiring as a teenager to earn extra pocket money on the advice of her mother Yolanda, who's also an umpire. At age 22 she became the youngest ever umpire to officiate in an international match for a women鈥檚 one day international between England and New Zealand. Anna has played domestic cricket for Wales, Buckinghamshire and Berkshire. She also works as an NHS doctor in Hampshire.

Produced by Jane Thurlow

(Image: (L) Vrinda Rathi, credit Matthew Lewis - ICC. (R) Anna Harris, credit Uganda Cricket.)

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27 minutes

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