Meet Kim Cotton, who made history by becoming first female on-field umpire in full-member men's international

In the world of cricket, history was created on Wednesday when Kim Cotton became the first-ever female umpire to stand in a men`s international cricket match featuring two full member countries. Cotton accomplished the feat during the second T20I match between New Zealand (NZ) and Sri Lanka (SL) in Dunedin, New Zealand.

In the match, she took to the field with another New Zealand official, Wayne Knights. Who is Kim Cotton? She is a New Zealand cricket umpire. Her full name is Kim Diane Cotton. She was born in New Zealand's Auckland. 

The 45-year-old was named as one of the 12 on-field umpires for the 2018 ICC Women's World Twenty20. In February 2022, she was named as one of the on-field umpires for the 2022 Women's Cricket World Cup in New Zealand.

On 5 April 2023, Cotton became the first woman to stand in full-member men's T20I as an on-field umpire. The International Cricket Council (ICC) also acknowledged this historic moment and took to their official Twitter handle to share the news with fans. 

"Kim Cotton created history during the second #NZvSL T20I by becoming the first female umpire to stand in a men`s international match between two ICC Full Member countries," tweeted ICC.

Kim Cotton created history during the second ZvSL T20I by becoming the first female umpire to stand in a men’s international match between two ICC Full Member countries  pic.twitter.com/Kpez8BA1UP

— ICC (@ICC) April 5, 2023

New Zealand beat Sri Lanka by nine wickets at the University Oval to level the three-match series. With this, the T20I series is levelled at 1-1. Sri Lanka had won the previous match in Super Over after it ended in a tie. The third and final T20I will take place in Queenstown on April 8.

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