Claire Antonia Polosak (born 7 April 1988) is an Australian

cricket umpire In cricket, an umpire (from the Old French ''nompere'' meaning not a peer, i.e. not a member of one of the teams, impartial) is a person who has the authority to make decisions about events on the cricket field according to the ''Laws of Cricket ...

. Polosak is a school teacher by profession. In January 2017, she was one of the four female umpires named by the ICC to stand in matches in the 2017 Women's Cricket World Cup Qualifier. On 8 October 2017, she became the first woman to stand as an on-field umpire in a men's domestic fixture in Australia, when she was one of the umpires in the match between

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

and

Cricket Australia XI Cricket Australia XI is a domestic cricket team that plays matches against international teams touring Australia. The team formerly played in Australia's JLT Cup limited-overs tournament. Before each tournament, a 14-man squad was selected fro ...

in the

2017–18 JLT One-Day Cup The 2017 JLT One-Day Cup was the 48th season of the official List A domestic cricket competition in Australia. It was played over a four-week period at the start of the domestic season to separate its schedule from the Sheffield Shield season. ...

. On 11 January 2018, she became the first woman to umpire a match involving the England men's cricket team, when she stood in a one-day warm up match between England and a Cricket Australia XI. In October 2018, she was named as one of the twelve on-field umpires for the

2018 ICC Women's World Twenty20 The 2018 ICC Women's World Twenty20 was the sixth edition of the ICC Women's World Twenty20, hosted in the West Indies from 9 to 24 November 2018. It the second World Twenty20 hosted by the West Indies (after the 2010 edition), and the West In ...

. In April 2019, she was named as one of the eight on-field umpires for the

2019 ICC World Cricket League Division Two The 2019 ICC World Cricket League Division Two was an international cricket tournament that took place in April 2019 in Namibia. It was contested between six teams; Canada, Hong Kong, Oman, Papua New Guinea, the United States and tournament hos ...

tournament in Namibia. She was appointed as one of the on-field umpires for the final, becoming the first woman to stand in a men's One Day International (ODI) match. In May 2019, the

International Cricket Council The International Cricket Council (ICC) is the world governing body of cricket. Headquartered in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, its members are 108 national associations, with 12 Full Members and 96 Associate Members. Founded in 1909 as the ' ...

named her as one of the eight women on the ICC Development Panel of Umpires. In August 2019, she was named as one of the umpires to officiate in matches during the

2019 ICC Women's World Twenty20 Qualifier The 2019 ICC Women's T20 World Cup Qualifier was an international women's cricket tournament that was held in August and September 2019 in Scotland. It was the fourth edition of the Women's T20 World Cup Qualifier and was the qualification tour ...

tournament in Scotland. In February 2020, the ICC named her as one of the umpires to officiate in matches during the

2020 ICC Women's T20 World Cup The 2020 ICC Women's T20 World Cup was the seventh ICC Women's T20 World Cup tournament. It was held in Australia between 21 February and 8 March 2020. The final took place at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on International Women's Day. Hosts ...

in Australia. On 28 November 2020, Polosak and Eloise Sheridan were the on-field umpires for the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: * Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...

of the

2020–21 Women's Big Bash League season The 2020–21 Women's Big Bash League season or WBBL, 06 was the sixth season of the Women's Big Bash League (WBBL), the semi-professional women's Twenty20 domestic cricket competition in Australia. The tournament took place from 25 October to ...

, the first time two female umpires officiated in a national final. She became the first female to be involved as an umpire in a men’s Test match in January 2021, when she stood as the

fourth umpire The fourth umpire (sometimes referred to as the reserve umpire), is a cricket umpire. For all international matches a fourth umpire is required to perform duties like bringing on the new ball, carrying drinks on to the field for the umpires, checki ...

in the third Test on India's tour to Australia in 2020–21. In February 2022, she was named as one of the on-field umpires for the

2022 Women's Cricket World Cup The 2022 ICC Women's Cricket World Cup was the twelfth edition of the Women's Cricket World Cup, which was held in New Zealand in March and April 2022. It was originally scheduled for 6 February to 7 March 2021 but was postponed by one year due ...

in New Zealand. On 9 September 2022, she stood in her first

Twenty20 International A Twenty20 International (T20I) is a form of cricket, played between two of the international members of the International Cricket Council (ICC), in which each team faces a maximum of twenty overs. The matches have top-class status and are the ...

(T20I) match on 9 September 2022, between Cook Islands and Samoa.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Polosak, Claire 1988 births Living people Women cricket umpires Australian Test cricket umpires Australian One Day International cricket umpires Australian Twenty20 International cricket umpires Australian schoolteachers Australian women referees and umpires

See also

References