Wellington woman to umpire in Women's World Cup

Naenae women's cricket umpire Kathy Cross has been named among the umpires to stand in this year's CricInfo Women's World Cup being held in Christchurch.

Cross, 43, of Ngati Maniapoto descent, is believed to be New Zealand's first Maori woman umpire.

She will join international umpires Brent Bowden, Steve Dunne, Dave Quested, and New Zealand first-class umpire Peter Williams and umpires still to be named from Australia and South Africa in the World Cup, which starts on Wednesday, November 29 and ends on December 23.

Cross, who has been umpiring mainstream cricket for two years, learned of her appointment at the national umpiring conference 10 days ago.

"I'm absolutely delighted," she told CricInfo today.

"It was a goal that I thought might be just out of my reach. I sort of had to sit down after I heard. It took a few days for it to really sink in.

"I feel as if I have been very, very fortunate to have as many games as I have, and as a reserve umpire," she said.

Cross, whose two sons Stephen and Cameron, play for Naenae, which is managed by their father John, in Wellington's inter-city competition has stood in matches in the New Zealand women's domestic competition for the State Insurance Cup, in Wellington's men's senior competition, in regular boys' inter-school fixtures and in the secondary schools Gillette Cup competition. She also stood in two women's inter-island matches last year.

"I feel the World Cup will be a real test for me because of the number of days in which I will be standing. It is the longest time I will have been umpiring without a break.

"I've started working on my fitness. I think the stamina will be the main factor so I am out walking every day. I've already started to study my copy of the rewrite of the laws of cricket which come in this year," she said.

New Zealand's national umpiring manager Brian Aldridge said: "Kathy had a good season last year, she showed some of the men how to do it. She handles herself well."

Cross's aim for the tournament is simple.

"I want to do my best, to try and get it right every time," she said.

The list of umpiring appointments for the CricInfo Women's World Cup is (reserve umpires listed in brackets):

Nov 29 New Zealand v Australia, BIL Oval, Lincoln, SA umpire/Billy Bowden (Aust umpire)
Nov 30 England v Netherlands, BIL Oval, SA umpire/Kathy Cross (Dave Quested)
India v South Africa, Hagley Oval, Aust umpire/Billy Bowden (Peter Williams)
Dec 1  Australia v Sri Lanka, Hagley Oval, Billy Bowden/Kathy Cross (SA umpire)
New Zealand v Ireland, BIL Oval, Aust umpire/Peter Williams (Steve Dunne)
Dec 2  England v South Africa, BIL Oval, Steve Dunne/Peter Williams (Aust umpire)
India v Netherlands, Lincoln Green, SA umpire/Kathy Cross (Billy Bowden)
Dec 3  Australia v Ireland, Hagley Oval, Billy Bowden/Steve Dunne (Kathy Cross)
New Zealand v Sri Lanka, Lincoln Green, Aust umpire/SA umpire (Peter Williams)
Dec 4  England v India, Lincoln Green, Aust umpire/Billy Bowden (Dave Quested)
Netherlands v South Africa, Hagley Oval, Kathy Cross/Steve Dunne (SA umpire)
Dec 5  Ireland v Sri Lanka, Lincoln Green, Aust umpire/Dave Quested (Steve Dunne)
Dec 6  Australia v India, BIL Oval, Aust umpire/Kathy Cross (Dave Quested)
New Zealand v Netherlands, Hagley Oval, Peter Williams/Steve Dunne (Jeremy Busby)
Dec 7  Ireland v England, BIL Oval, Aust umpire/Steve Dunne (Peter Williams)
Dec 8  Sri Lanka v South Africa, BIL Oval, Kathy Cross/Dave Quested (Steve Dunne)
Dec 9  New Zealand v India, Lincoln Green, Aust umpire/Peter Williams (Kathy Cross)
Dec 10 Sri Lanka v Netherlands, Hagley Oval, Aust umpire/Dave Quested (Kathy Cross)
Australia v England, Lincoln Green, Steve Dunne/Peter Williams (Jeremy Busby)
Dec 11 New Zealand v South Africa, Lincoln Green, Aust umpire/Dave Quested (Peter Williams)
Ireland v India, Hagley Oval, Kathy Cross/Steve Dunne (Jeremy Busby)
Dec 12 England v Sri Lanka, BIL Oval, SA umpire/Peter Williams (Billy Bowden)
Dec 13 Australia v South Africa, BIL Oval, SA umpire/Dave Quested (Kathy Cross)
Dec 14 New Zealand v England, BIL Oval, SA umpire/Dave Quested (Jeremy Busby)
Ireland v Netherlands, Hagley Oval, Kathy Cross/Billy Bowden (Peter Williams)
Dec 15 India v Sri Lanka, Lincoln Green, SA umpire/Billy Bowden (Kathy Cross)
Dec 16 Australia v Netherlands, Lincoln Green, Kathy Cross/Peter Williams (Colin Fenwick)
South Africa v Ireland, Hagley Oval, SA umpire/Dave Quested (Jeremy Busby)