Sue Redfern: Breaking boundaries for cricket umpires

“The utopia of officiating should be that anybody, regardless of gender, can umpire any game”.

Sue Redfern is a much-celebrated cricket umpire and former England player.  Sue became the youngest ever female to play cricket for England when she started her career at just 16 and went on to represent her country for the next five years, including playing in the 1997 World Cup in India. Having retired from the game and moved away from cricket, Sue came back to work at the ECB and, in 2012, decided to give umpiring a go. 

Her impact over the following decade has been quite remarkable, and she's now a member of the professional umpire team for domestic cricket in England. She's also an international development panel umpire for the International Cricket Council and has umpired various international matches, including five World Cups. 

In 2018, Sue was awarded an MBE for her services to women's cricket, and last year, she became the first female to umpire in a men's first-class cricket match in England. 

I was fascinated to know what it’s like to be centre stage at some of the biggest cricket events in the world and how it’s possible to retain your focus in a sport that can last hours. 

We discuss Sue’s playing career and where we’ve seen the biggest changes in the women’s game over the past two decades as she reflects on what it was like to umpire a Women’s World Cup in 2017, having played in a World Cup 20 years before.

Sue talks candidly about how she deals with nerves before the biggest games and shares her thoughts on the disparity in payment for elite female umpires and what needs to change.

It’s exciting to learn more about the huge growth in women’s cricket for those playing and officiating from a woman who’s been such a trailblazer in the sport.

Thank you to Sport England who support The Game Changers Podcast with a National Lottery award.

Find out more about The Game Changers podcast here: https://www.fearlesswomen.co.uk/thegamechangers

Hosted by Sue Anstiss
Produced by Sam Walker, What Goes On Media

A Fearless Women production