Inside edges, lbws ... and Katy Perry
Rising umpiring talent Kim Cotton can see the lighter side of her first-class officiating debut. Christchurch-based Cotton, New Zealand Cricket’s umpire of the year last season, ticked off a major milestone in the last round of the Plunket Shield – standing in her first men’s four-day match.
Cotton and Chris Brown controlled the Central Stags’ fixture against Northern Districts in Nelson and the 42-year-old’s performance drew praise from the players and match referee Richard Hayward.
A perfectionist, like most umpires, Cotton got only one decisionwrong – giving Black Caps legend Ross Taylor out lbw when there had been a faint inside edge – which annoyed her.
‘‘That was my one mistake during the game, which he obviously wasn’t too happy about, but Ross was professional and just took it on the chin,’’ she said.
Not making an error across a four-day match or test is rare for any umpire and while she wanted to get everything right, Cotton said it always served as a learning experience.
Later in the match, shemade a sage call, turning down a confident lbw decision against ND’s test wicketkeeper BJ Watling when he had got a small inside edge. Captains Joe Carter (ND) and Greg Hay (Central) commended her in their post-match review.
Cotton is among the most promising umpires in the country.
Her rise to the top has been some story, considering she was umpiring club cricket in Timaru 11 years ago after finishing up playing.
An associate solicitor at
Katherine Wilmott Legal in Rangiora inNorth Canterbury, Cotton is a busy woman balancing her umpiring commitments with her work in conveyancing, family law and business transactions.
‘‘It is a challenge to juggle both. Once I’m at cricket the phone is off and I don’t check the emails until I finish cricket, so there’s a clear line between one and the other.
‘‘For me, I always make sure I’ve got everything sorted before I leave [the office]. I don’t want anything distracting me when I’m out on the field.’’
Cotton experienced a huge honour last year, being selected to stand in the 2020 ICC women’s T20 final alongside Pakistan’s Ahsan Raza.
A record women’s cricket crowd of 86,174 packed into the Melbourne Cricket Ground to watch Australia beat India by 85 runs.
Pop star Katy Perry belted out
her hits before and after the final. The crowd noise was so deafening during the match, Cotton couldn’t hear whether Australian opener Alyssa Healy wanted middle or off stump marked at one stage.
‘‘We’ve got downtime until the game starts, thatwas the hardest period being in the umpires’ room being able to hear the crowd outside and hear it building. Then hearing Katy Perry doing her bit. I’m sitting there nervously waiting.’’
Acricket lover since first playing in the backyard with her siblings as a fiveyear-old, Cottonwas a decent all-rounder. She represented Central Districts at under-21 level, and played a county tournament for Kent, while living in England.
After finishing in the club ranks, she was keen to remain involved and always enjoyed player-umpiring.
‘‘I thought I’ll give that a go. If I don’t enjoy that I’ll try scoring.
‘‘Itwas never my goal when I started umpiring [to do it internationally or domestically]. It just didn’t register to me that was an option. Certainly never last season I pictured I’d be doing a
women’s World Cup final. I’m still now thinking how did that happen?’’
Cotton was first included on New Zealand Cricket’s reserve panel in 2016-17. Her international debut camewhen the White Ferns played the West Indies in a T20 match in 2018. Last summer, she officiated her first men’s List A 50-over match.
She is on NZC’s national reserve panel and in 2018 became the fourth woman to join the ICC development panel.
Having a legal background had been beneficial for Cotton, who enjoyed reading up on the different match playing conditions and understanding the laws of the game.
Trailblazing New Zealand women’s umpire Kathy Cross, who finished in 2018, had been a key inspiration for Cotton. Cross was the first woman to be named on the ICC umpires panel and umpired 22 women’s World Cup matches.
Cross sent Cotton a congratulatory message after her first-class debut. Retired international umpire Tony Hill, who was NZC’s umpire coach from 2014 to last summer, and many other Kiwi male umpires had been invaluable with advice and support too.
Cottonwas a gifted umpire and her diligence and commitment had been instrumental in her growth, Hill said.
‘‘I think a huge part for all umpires is confidence. It’smaking sure you know the law, you know the playing conditions, and those take a lot of study and reading and making sure you’ve got them in the headwhen the moment occurs.
‘‘Kim has put in a heap of time. She’s works extremely well with whoever she’s out there with and those are the things that have got to be worked on to make sure you’re doing the best you canwhile you’re out there.’’
Tricky inside edgeswith lbw appeals and whether a batsman had produced a tiny nick through to thewicketkeeper were among the toughest calls as an umpire, Cotton said.
Moving on quickly from any wrong decision, which inevitably cropped up, and concentrating on the next delivery was a crucial skill to master.
‘‘You’ve got to park it to the side and move on. You don’t want to be thinking about that when the next ball comes in andmaking another mistake because you’re not focused. That’s one of the biggest things you’ve got to learn is to put that to the side.’’
Cotton is the lone women’s umpire on NZC’s topmatch officials list (international panel, national panel, and reserve panel). Several emerging women’s umpires were involved in senior club cricket around the country. Cotton hoped she could provide motivation for others, who were considering standing in the middle.
She will attend the Gillette Venus Cup schoolgirls nationals in Palmerston North in December as amentor umpire. Cotton had a simple message for anyone, who wasweighing up getting into umpiring.
‘‘It is the best seat in the house to stay involved in the game without having to play. I’m having to use skills I’ve developed to make sure I ammaking those right decisions.
‘‘When you walk off the field and you know you’ve had a good game and seen some brilliant performances [it’s rewarding]. You’ve got the best chance to see some hat-tricks, or an excellent piece of fielding, or brilliant strokeplay.’’
‘‘It was never my goal when I started umpiring [to do it internationally or domestically]. It just didn’t register to me that was an option.’’ KimCotton