Sue Redfern broke ground last week as she became the first female umpire to stand in a first-class fixture as Glamorgan took on Derbyshire at Sophia Gardens.
Capped 21 times by England as a player between 1995 and 1999, Redfern has since become a trailblazing figure for female umpires.
Redfern returned Cardiff where she made history two years ago by becoming the first female umpire to officiate a home England Men’s match, when she was the fourth official in the Vitality IT20 against Sri Lanka.
Earlier this summer, Redfern was the first female umpire to stand in a Vitality Blast match when she officiated the game between Gloucestershire and Middlesex at the Seat Unique Stadium in Bristol.
Redfern has also umpired in six major global tournaments including the 2022 Commonwealth Games, three ICC Women’s T20 World Cups, and two ICC Women’s World Cups.
Redfern was the first female umpire to sign a full-time professional contract at the start of last summer when she was appointed to the ECB’s newly-created Professional Umpires’ Team.
Redfern said, after her historic first: "I feel incredibly privileged and lucky to be where I am and to call this a profession. I was delighted I was able to finish the game feeling strong and I'm very pleased overall, and grateful to my colleagues,
"It is a dream to be able to do what I love for a living. I love cricket and it has given me so much. It's just great that I can stand out in the middle and watch some fantastic cricket - I love it," she said.
"It was a new environment for me, and it was a case of establishing myself and getting used to it. I wanted to see what the differences were.
"I just wanted to be me on the field, and that's what I hopefully did. There are different pinch points and different pressure points between the women's and men's game but overall, they all want to be highly competitive and just win the game.
"For me It is all about working with the players."
"There is absolutely no reason why females can't umpire in this environment and I think that's an important message to send," added Redfern.
"I have to recognise the importance of visibility and the fact people haven't seen female umpires before in this environment. We know that if we see people who are like us, others can aspire to be.
"Who knows what the future holds. For me it is a case of reflecting on the season, looking at some areas of development and seeing how I can improve.
"I want to come back next season and try to consolidate what I've done this year. I need to give myself a bit of time to be proud of what I have achieved.
"I want to stay at this level in the game and I just want to keep on improving. I am full-time and contracted for next season, so the key thing for me is to work hard over the winter to try to improve in all areas.
"You have to is to be able to control the controllables. Whatever I'm given, it is important I can show I can work in that environment, whatever it might be."