Women's World Cup 2022: India's GS Lakshmi appointed match referee for final between Australia and England

India’s GS Lakshmi, the first-ever woman to make it to the ICC international panel of match referees, has been appointed as the referee for the final of the Women’s World Cup 2022 that will be played between England and Australia at Christchurch on Sunday, April 3.

She also holds the distinction of being the first female match referee in a men’s One Day International match, having served in that capacity in UAE in December 2020 at the World Cup League 2. The final game of the World Cup will witness four women officiating the match for the very first time in the history of cricket.

Apart from Lakshmi, Lauren Agenbag of South Africa and New Zealand’s Kim Cotton are the two on-field umpires that have been appointed by the ICC whereas Jacqueline Williams of the West Indies will be the official TV Umpire.

Four women will be officiating the final clash of the 2022 World Cup

All the women have a marked distinction in their careers. Kim was seen as the only woman official during the ICC Women’s T20I World Cup final between India and Australia as she stood as the on-field umpire in the game along with Pakistan’s Ahsan Raza. Jamaica’s Jacqueline has the distinction of officiating a men’s international cricket match as the first-ever female third umpire.

“As part of its strategic commitment to a gender-equitable sport, the ICC has focused on increasing the number of international female match officials, with women comprising eight of the 15 match officials at this event,” ICC said ahead of the summit showdown.

Australia defeated West Indies whereas England defeated South Africa in the semi-final to seal a date for the finals. Coincidently, this will be the first time when the finalists and the host city will be repeating in an ICC event. Australia and England locked horns with each other in the 1982 World Cup finals at the same location, i.e., Christchurch. The same incident will repeat on Sunday as well. Australia will be eyeing to snatch the title away from their opponents, England will look forward to retaining it.