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

cricket umpire In cricket, an umpire (from the Old French 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''. Besides ...

. Polosak is a school teacher by profession. 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 The 2017 ICC Women's Cricket World Cup Qualifier was an international women's cricket tournament that was held in Colombo, Sri Lanka, from 7 to 21 February 2017. It was the final stage of the qualification process for the 2017 World Cup in Engl ...

Career

On 8 October 2017, she became the first woman to stand as an on-field umpire in a men's domestic fixture in Australia, in the match between

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

and

Cricket Australia XI Cricket Australia XI is a domestic cricket team that plays matches against international teams touring Australia. Cricket Australia XI played in Australia's limited-overs tournament from 2015–16 to 2017–18. Before each tournament, a 14-ma ...

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. She was one of the twelve on-field umpires for the

2018 ICC Women's World Twenty20 The 2018 Women's World Twenty20 was the sixth edition of the 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 Indies wer ...

. She was also 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 by six teams; Canada national cricket team, Canada, Hong Kong national cricket team, Hong Kong, Om ...

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 One Day International (ODI) is a format of cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of fifty overs, with the game lasting up to 7 hours. The World Cup, generally held every four yea ...

(ODI) match. In May 2019, the

International Cricket Council The International Cricket Council (ICC) is the global Sports governing body, governing body of cricket. It was founded as the Imperial Cricket Conference in 1909 by representatives from Australia, England, and South Africa. In 1965, the body wa ...

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

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 examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

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 t ...

, 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 was 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, check ...

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 Twenty20 International (T20I) is a form of Twenty20 cricket, in which each team plays a single innings with a maximum of twenty overs. The matches are played between international teams recognized by the International Cricket Council (ICC). ...

(T20I) match on 9 September 2022, between Cook Islands and Samoa. On 15 November 2023 Polosak became the first woman to umpire along with Eloise Sheridan, a

Sheffield Shield The Sheffield Shield is the domestic first-class cricket competition of Australia. The tournament is contested between teams representing the six states of Australia. The Sheffield Shield is named after Henry Holroyd, 3rd Earl of Sheffield, Lor ...

match when she officiated in the match between

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

and

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

at the

WACA Ground The WACA Ground () is a sports stadium in Perth, Western Australia. The stadium's name derives from the initials of its owners and operators, the Western Australian Cricket Association (WACA). The WACA has been referred to as Western Australia' ...

. In September 2024 she was named as part of an all-female officiating group for the

2024 ICC Women's T20 World Cup The 2024 Women's T20 World Cup was the ninth edition of the Women's T20 World Cup. Originally scheduled to be hosted in Bangladesh from 3 to 20 October 2024, it was later relocated to the United Arab Emirates for the same dates due to political ...

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 People from Goulburn Sportswomen from New South Wales

Career

See also

References