Kim Cotton: During the second T20 match played between India and New Zealand in Christchurch, female umpire Kim Cotton played the role of on-field umpire.
Kim Cotton: Although female umpires have been seen many times in international cricket matches, it is rarely seen in men’s cricket when two ICC full member nations are face to face and a female umpire has taken command. A similar scene was seen during the second match of the ongoing 5-match T20I series between New Zealand and India. Kim Cotton played the role of on-field umpire in this match.
As soon as Kim Cotton was seen on the field, the discussion about her name once again intensified on social media. Only one question started coming in the minds of people that whether women umpires can officiate in men’s international cricket matches? Let us know who is Kim Cotton and what are the rules of ICC…
Who is Kim Cotton?
Kim Cotton is a leading cricket umpire of New Zealand. He was born on 24 February 1978 in Auckland, New Zealand. Cotton has played the role of on-field umpire in the final matches of the 2022 Women’s Cricket World Cup and 2023 Women’s T20 World Cup. After umpiring in many international matches in women’s cricket, she created history by umpiring in men’s international matches also.
🏏 Do you know who she is? 👀
Meet Kim Cotton – a trailblazer in cricket umpiring! 👏
She is the first female umpire to officiate on the field in a men’s international match between two ICC Full Member nations when New Zealand faced Sri Lanka in 2022 🤝
Today, she’s back on the field for the 2nd T20I between India 🇮🇳 & New Zealand 🇳🇿!
How many of you knew about her remarkable achievement? 👇
— Sagar_H 🏏 (@SagarH62) October 24, 2026
Also read: Abhishek Sharma was out after scoring 27 runs, still created history, made a world record in T20I
Umpiring in men’s match for the first time in 2023
In April 2023, Kim Cotton played the role of on-field umpire for the first time in the second T20 International match played between New Zealand and Sri Lanka. With this, she became the first female umpire to play the role of on-field umpire in a men’s International T20 match between two ICC full member countries (New Zealand and Sri Lanka).
What are the rules of ICC?
According to ICC rules, women umpires can officiate in men’s international matches. Apart from Kim Cotton, Claire Polosak has also umpired in men’s international matches. Claire became the first woman to umpire in a men’s ODI match. He officiated in the match played between Namibia and Oman in the year 2019.