Howzat for women’s cricket

Umpire Vicki Daniel
Umpire Vicki Daniel

Local cricket umpire Vicki Daniel is encouraging more women to get involved in the profession.

Daniel was one of the top performers at the recent Regional 2017 Practical and Oral Examinations. Daniel placed fourth overall in the region among the 35 candidates that sat the examination.

Daniel was among three TT officials who finished in the top five – Carlton Best finished third, while Afraz Mohammed was fifth.

Talking about her achievement yesterday, Daniel said she was happy as she had a busy schedule and had to balance her studying with other commitments.

“I am really proud of it because of the amount of things I was doing at the same time. I had my last module in my MBA programme and the period to study was a bit difficult, but I am happy with the outcome,” Daniel said.

She thanked North-East zone official James Singh and president of the TT Umpires and Scorers Association Parasram Singh for their assistance.

Daniel, whose aspiration is to officiate an international Test match in the future, said more women should become umpires. “Yes, of course I will embrace the opportunity (to umpire in Test cricket.) Right now in Trinidad and Tobago, we need female umpires because I think in terms of practising female umpires under the age of 50, I think I am the only person probably in my age group.”

Daniel, who is 31 years old, has umpired in zonal division matches in the past which includes three-day matches and limited overs matches. Next season, she is eligible to umpire in the championship and premiership divisions in the domestic season. Also, local cricket organisations have recommended that Daniel officiate in the 2018 Women’s T20 World Cup which will be held in the Caribbean.

Daniel, commenting on whether she has encountered players disrespecting her because of her gender, said she does not have a major problem as a women in a male-dominated field.

“I am given a lot of respect by the male players. I just had one little bad experience in terms of supporters making remarks. We did address the matter at the zonal level, and hopefully in the future I would not experience those.” However, Daniel believes umpires are not given the credit they deserve as it is an extremely demanding job.

Daniel said, “I honestly don’t think that umpires are given their due respect because it is a tough job, knowing that you have to be alert all through the match. It is not like players who go off and come on based on the innings. The umpires are there throughout the match.”

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