Cricket Southern Bayside in appeal for more female umpires

Clare Haysom is the only female umpire in Cricket Southern Bayside. She’d like to see more like her in the ranks.

Fast-rising Cricket Southern Bayside umpire Clare Haysom.

Clare Haysom had to go out and buy men’s pants a couple of weeks ago.

She needed deeper pockets.

The 22-year-old is Cricket Southern Bayside’s only female umpire, and her pockets weren’t big enough to hold her counter, match card, scissors, bandaids, coins, hand sanitiser and the other odds and ends she requires.

“Women’s black pants don’t have enough pocket space, so I wear men’s pants and I also wear a men’s shirt and a men’s jacket,’’ she said.

“It would be nice to get a women’s line of deep-pocketed pants!’’

Haysom has had a speedy rise in umpiring ranks.

She started only last season, doing CSB thirds matches. Now she’s in the Championship, having been promoted from Division 1 after some good ratings.

CSB officials are holding her up as a role model for other potential female umpires.

“There may be girls out there that haven’t considered or didn’t realise they could be involved as Clare is,’’ CSB’s Russell Keyt said.

“In a relatively short period, Clare has reached Championship Division and is a highly rated and respected umpire.’’

Clare Haysom enjoying success as a player.

Haysom said she wasn’t perfect “but I would like to say that at the end of the game nobody would walk off saying, ‘Gee, that umpire’.’’

“I like to think I’m doing OK,’’ she said.

Haysom umpires on Saturdays and plays on Sundays, for Monash University in Cricket Victoria Women’s Community Cricket.

She first picked up bat and ball eight years ago.

“The cricket over summer was always on the TV when I was growing up, and I often played backyard cricket with my older sister,’’ she said.

“I’m a sports fanatic and cricket is one of my favourites. I first caught women’s cricket on the TV – it was aired on the ABC – when I was 13 and realised for the first time that girls could play real cricket too, not just backyard with the family. From then on, I got involved in school cricket and asked my parents if I could play club cricket too.’’

She linked with Box Hill Cricket Club, and if she’s looked back, it’s only been to marvel at the improvements in female cricket.

What got her interested in umpiring?

She said she wanted to give back cricket community, “something which I think we tend to under-appreciate’’.

“I’ve made lifelong friends through cricket, and my summer would feel empty without it,’’ she said.

“My aim when first becoming an umpire was to improve my craft and enjoy the cricket community surrounding CSB.

“Since then, I have begun to observe that there are hardly any female umpires around. I would like to see more women having a go at umpiring. As to my own ambitions, I am still at the beginning of my umpiring career, but one day, who knows where I might end up?’’

Anyone interested in umpiring, men or women, can contacting [e-mail] or [e-mail]