Scarlett Hale has been involved with cricket since joining Basingstoke CC ten years ago.
By the age of 12, she was playing hardball cricket in the club’s girls U16s team. Then, in 2018, she was selected to participate in Hampshire Cricket Board’s new Champions (Young Leaders) Programme – and her world hasn’t stopped since.
“I’ve just tried to max out every opportunity,” she says.
“That programme gave us all another path aside from playing cricket. As well as a coaching course, I went on female-only courses for umpiring and scoring which were really well supported by ECB ACO development officers. At the time, I didn’t think umpiring would be my career path. But in 2020 I was out injured for a year, I started to umpire more and more, and I realised how much I like being involved throughout the whole game.”
Her passion quickly shone through, earning Scarlett a series of umpiring landmarks along the way. In 2022 she became the first female U18 to umpire a men’s Hampshire Cricket League fixture. She also took charge of the ECB Vitality T20 finals for both boys and girls, as well as the ECB U14 Boys’ County Cup final.
And in 2023, her umpiring has accelerated to the next level. She officiated in the ECB Women’s County Championship Regional Final at Taunton and the WEPL Men’s League. She was also included in the officials’ group for the international Kwibuka Women’s T20 tournament in Rwanda, where she umpired both the tournament opener between Rwanda and Botswana and the final between Rwanda and Uganda.
“For the final, there were just so many people there,” she says. “There were probably around 300 kids just on the boundary cheering on Rwanda with singing and dancing in between every ball. When somebody hit a boundary, the whole place went wild. It was just such a special experience.
“I didn’t know it at the time, but when I did the tournament opener I became the youngest international umpire in the world. Anna Harris previously held the record, and she tweeted her congratulations. Since then, things have changed quite a bit. I know I’m being put into that ‘role model’ position for young officials in general – not just females – and that’s something I enjoy. I’m always happy to talk to young umpires.”
A pleasure to stand with you - you’ve got a bright future ahead. Hopefully we get to stand together more often 😁🏏 https://t.co/g9evGiw9NO
— Anna Harris (@a_y_harris) July 30, 2023
Scarlett’s rise has seen her selected for the ECB’s Umpire Development Talent Pathway and as an officiating lead for the Hampshire Cricket Board’s female youth shadow board. Having already experienced many of the challenges experienced by young officials, she was also selected as a mentor for the ECB ACO Young Cricket Officials Programme in Somerset.
“My confidence has grown massively because of umpiring,” says Scarlett, who also plays for Somerset Girls U18 squad. “I’ve been told I’m very organised and communicate well – but that’s because I have to.”
Her hectic diary includes playing, coaching and umpiring cricket; playing hockey; and studying at Millfield School in Somerset for a BTEC in Enterprise and Entrepreneurship.
“I also play Millfield Girls XI and I am a part of the Somerset girls U18 squad so it can be a continuous circle of umpiring, coaching, playing, and schooling. This year I’ve umpired most days during the summer holidays.”
That doesn’t leave Scarlett with much spare capacity. But with a series of ambitious targets on her checklist, she won’t be slowing down anytime soon.
“My aim is to umpire a professional game in 2024. I’d love to umpire in The Hundred and the ultimate is to do a Test match in the women’s Ashes. I want my career to be in umpiring and my plan is to run my own business that can work around any match appointments. But absolutely none of this would have been possible without the efforts of Hampshire Cricket Board. What they’ve done is fantastic and I really hope other counties can see this model and run something similar.”