Australian female umpire’s ‘courage’ in David Warner scolding on historic day

The first female umpire to officiate a men’s Test match reprimanded David Warner before a ball had even been bowled in Sydney.

Female cricket umpire Claire Polosak at the SCG.

Claire Polosak will become the first woman to officiate a men’s Test match when Australia plays India at the SCG this week.

The coronavirus pandemic has made it difficult for international umpires to travel overseas to officiate Test matches.

Although it is traditionally frowned upon to use locally-acquired umpires for Test cricket, it has become necessary in the age of COVID-19.

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As a result, Polosak has been included in the team of match officials for the third Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

Field umpire Claire Polosak during the Marsh One Day Cup.

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Australians Paul Reiffel and Paul Wilson will serve as the on-field umpires at the SCG, while Bruce Oxenford and David Boon have been respectively named as the third umpire and match referee.

Polosak will make history this week as the fourth umpire, and will be responsible for overseeing pitch preparation and repairs, player injuries and replacements, and organising replacement or new balls.

Former ICC umpire Simon Taufel praised Polosak on Channel 7: “She has a tremendous amount of experience at the international level and today we see her debut in the ICC men’s match officials team for the first time.

“When I spoke to Claire a couple of days about this about opportunity, she was relishing it.”

Before the Test match had even commenced, Polosak was fulfilling her duty by asking Australian opening batsman David Warner to move off the pitch during the warm-ups.

“I did see early on in the telecast where she had the courage to tell Dave Warner before the match started to get off the pitch and do his shadow batting from behind the rope,” Taufel said.

“That showed a lot of courage and a lot of fortitude for someone in their first experience as a fourth umpire and a Test match.”

Polosak also had the privilege of being the first female match official in a men’s List A game in Australia.

The 32-year-old will be on standby should anything happen to the on-field or TV umpires at the New Year’s Test.

Claire Polosak will become the first female official to be involved in a men's Test after being named as the fourth umpire for the SCG Test 👏 #AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/Lwlp1vWwsR

— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) January 6, 2021

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Former Australian cricketer Alex Blackwell posted: “Great to see that Claire Polosak will perform 4th Umpire duties – making her the first female umpire to be involved in a men’s test match.”

Channel 7 commentator Alison Mitchell tweeted: “Pandemic restrictions are presenting many unexpected opportunities – notably Claire Polosak will be involved at the SCG, the first time a female has been part of an officiating team for a men’s Test.”

Meanwhile, Ian Wright will make his debut as the scorer of a Test match in Sydney.

The third Test between Australia and India will commence on Thursday, with the first ball scheduled for 10:30am AEDT.