Indian G S Lakshmi to become first woman match referee in ICC event

Indian referee G S Lakshmi will become the first woman referee to officiate in an International Cricket Council (ICC) event as the apex body of cricket announced the list of the match officials for the league phase of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup Qualifier 2019.

Former New Zealand captain Jeff Crowe and Lakshmi are among the match officials for the tournament. ICC Elite Panel match referee Crowe had officiated in 488 international matches including three ICC Men's T20 World Cups. South Africa's Gerhardus Piennar is the third match referee for the event while 12 umpires are on the list.

The ICC Men's T20 World Cup Qualifier 2019 is scheduled to be held in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from October 18 to November 2.

Piennar will officiate in the opening match of the tournament between Scotland and Singapore at the ICC Academy Oval 1 Ground, with Roland Black and Ahsan Raza as the umpires. In the second match at the same venue, between the Netherlands and Kenya, Piennar will team up with umpires Chris Brown and Ravindra Wimalarsiri.

Matches on the same day at the Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi will see Lakshmi officiate along with Sam Nogajski and Sundaram Ravi for a match featuring Hong Kong and Ireland while Crowe, Alex Wharf and Allahudien Palekar will officiate in the Oman vs UAE match later in the day.

ICC Senior Manager Umpires and Referees, Adrian Griffith said: "We are committed to appointing the finest officials available for any match or tournament and have done our best to put this team together. This is an important tournament with six teams due to book places in next year's T20 World Cup and I am confident our officials will do a fine job. I wish them all the best."

The appointments for the semi-finals will be announced at the end of the league stage and those for the final will be finalised after the semi-finals.

Match officials at the ICC Men's T20 World Cup Qualifier 2019 --

Match referees: Jeff Crowe, GS Lakshmi, and Gerhardus Piennar.

Umpires: Roland Black, Chris Brown, Lyndon Hannibal, Sam Nogajski, Ahmad Shah Pakteen, Allahudien Palekar, Rashid Riaz, Sundaram Ravi, Ahsan Raza, Sharfuddoula Ibne Shahid, Alex Wharf, and Ravindra Wimalarsiri.