Following an independent review of top-level cricket officiating in England and Wales, the ECB has developed a new 34-strong professional umpires’ team, with Sue Redfern becoming the first woman on the panel.
In 2020, ESPNcricinfo reported that two non-white umpires, John Holder and Ismail Dawood, had accused the ECB of supervising “years of bigotry” in the recruitment of match officials. The two subsequently filed a legal challenge against the European Central Bank, which was ultimately dropped.
As a result, the ECB commissioned an independent investigation “to better understand how the ECB can continue to attract, appoint, develop, performance manage, and evaluate match officials from various backgrounds.”
The abolition of the distinction between a full-time first-class panel of umpires and a part-time reserve list was one of the primary suggestions, and it was implemented ahead of the 2022 season.
“This is significant because every umpire on the Professional Umpires’ Team will now have the performance and financial support to make umpiring their only career,” said Neil Snowball, the ECB’s general director of county cricket.
“Previously, Reserve List umpires had to balance their umpiring obligations with other responsibilities. Those umpires are now part of a single pool, and they have greater time and resources to focus on honing their skills and abilities as umpires.
“This also sends a clear message to anyone interested in becoming an umpire that there are institutions and support in place to make umpiring a realistic and appealing career option.”
Naeem Ashraf, who played two ODIs for Pakistan in 1995, former Worcestershire seamer Jack Shantry, Anthony Harris, Surendiran Shanmugam, and Redfern have all been added to the new list. Following the retirements of Jeff Evans, Jeremy Lloyds, Ian Gould, and Ian Ramage in the last two years, they have been appointed.
Redfern may become the first woman to umpire a County Championship match in the coming years, although she will most likely be assigned to Second XI games at first, as she juggles chances in men’s cricket with her international obligations in women’s cricket.
“The most important component of this opportunity for me is that it allows me to spend all of my concentration on umpiring as a job for the first time,” Redfern said. “This is my first full-time umpire contract.” That means a lot to me since it helps me to push myself to advance in my work.”
The ECB is also forming a new officiating department, with Richard Glynne-Jones, the FA’s former national referee manager, as its new head of officiating.