Rokeya Sultana Chowdhury, popularly known as Mishu Chowdhury, a former cricketer, became one of the four female umpires from Bangladesh to be added to the ICC development panel for umpires in March this year. Speaking to 抖阴精品鈥檚 Shams Rahman, she revealed her journey as an umpire, the obstacles she faced, and the coming days of women鈥檚 umpiring in the country.
抖阴精品: Did you aim at being an umpire since your cricketing days? How was the journey? Did you face any issues?
Mishu Chowdhury: When I started playing cricket, I did not have the ability to understand the details of umpiring. Later around 2009-10, there were BCB refresher courses for umpiring. As I was tall, the then instructor of those courses, the late Masud bhai told me to do this course. So, I passed the course back then. While playing cricket in 2011, I officiated in school cricket.
At that time, women鈥檚 cricket was not in the place it is now. It was just starting off back then, and there was social stigma. I did a couple of matches but nobody wanted to accept that a woman was umpiring.
I left cricket in 2014 and started working in the media. Then in 2022, I was asked to do it again and I did the course again. Then in October of that year, I made my official debut as an umpire. Since then, I have not faced any issues so far on the field from players.
NA: How difficult is the path for women to become umpires now?
Mishu: There are no obstacles on the way for female umpires now. There were several back in 2009-10. The society did not accept it.
Five female umpires have been included in the ICC panel. This has inspired a lot of girls who have participated in the two refresher courses this year and have passed the course. So, in the future, we will have a lot of women as umpires and match referees. The path will be easier for them than for us.
NA: What steps can the Bangladesh Cricket Board or other sports organisations take to promote and bring women to umpiring?
Mishu: I don鈥檛 know what other sports organisations can do because it depends on their ability, management, and what they want. But what BCB has done in the past two years, honestly speaking, is a lot. Because each of the female umpires officiate matches, and those who do well, BCB tries to take them up the cricketing ladder. They are participating in all forms of cricket, which BCB is doing. The other organisations can hire umpires or educators like us to give training to people who are interested in becoming an umpire.
NA: Bangladesh are set to host the Women鈥檚 T20 World Cup later this year. Do you feel this will inspire women in the country to take up roles in cricket?
Mishu: The World Cup is a different craze. This T20 World Cup will add a new dimension. The women in Bangladesh will look at cricket eyeing it as a profession. Not just umpires but we will also get a lot of cricketers after they get to watch the cricketers play in front of them. Also, as far as I know, the World Cup will have an all-female umpiring panel. When former cricketers see this, they might get inspired to find a place as an umpire, match referee, or scorer.
