Is the first woman to be appointed to the ICC panel of Match Referees

Former Railways cricketer G. Suvarna Lakshmi says that what she failed to achieve as a player she will make up as a Match Referee at the highest level.

In a chat with The Hindu, after being named as the first woman on the ICC panel of Match Referees, the 50-year-old former South Central Railway player says the news has come as a huge, pleasant surprise.

“Honestly, I was not expecting this. I was nominated by the BCCI last year also. I am sincerely thankful to the BCCI for nominating me again this year,” says a visibly-elated Lakshmi.

World Cup dreams

“A tag of ‘being the first’ to achieve something gives one a special feeling. And, I am no exception,” she says. “Now, the dream is to officiate in a World Cup.”

“There was that huge disappointment of not playing for India though I was a member of the team on the 1999 tour to England,” says the all-rounder who bowled medium-pace. Interestingly, it was the tour where Mithali Raj marked her ODI debut with a century.

“My cricketing career began in Tata Nagar (Jamshedpur) where my father was employed. But, only when I moved to Hyderabad and joined SCR in 1989, did I step into the next level. I owe everything to my mother Vijayalakshmi who is with me now.”

Lakshmi, who has been a match-manager assisting the Match Referee in few ODIs and T20Is, says that experience has helped her a lot.