Recently, the Gandhi Nagar Cricket and Sports Club made history. It was history of a different kind. Two women umpires officiated at a TNCA League match.
This is said to be first time two women umpires were taking charge at a TNCA League match. TNCA League matches are all men’s games.
Janani N. and Aarthi A. umpired a Fourth Division game between Nungambakkam and Sounder Cricket Club at the Gandhi Nagar Cricket and Sports Club ground.
Janani, a software engineer, is a qualified women’s league umpire who made her debut 2.5 years ago at this ground. Since then, Janani has officiated at the ground for three seasons.
On October 15, Janani entered the ground along with Aarthi, both in nice and crisp cricket umpire’s attire. Aarthi was introduced as the debutant of the day.
Meeting the challenge
Sumathi Iyer, a senior cricketer from Chennai, was part of the women’s cricket wing of our Club in the 1970s. She has the distinction of being one of the first women umpires in India. She represented the University, State, South Zone and India teams and had played at many venues in India and abroad, including Sri Lanka, West Indies and England. In 1980, Sumathi became a qualified umpire and has officiated at many games including women’s Test matches. She continues to umpire even now and recently officiated at a match in New Zealand. While Sumathi is a fomer player who moved to umpiring after retirement, Janani and Aarthi are cricket enthusiasts who took up umpiring for the sheer love of the sport.
Do Janani and Aarthi have a big challenge in handling these games ? Not at all, they say. Cricket has been a gentleman’s game. The matches are played in the right spirit, they add.
(V.S. Sukumar is vice-president at Gandhi Nagar Cricket and Sports Club)
