Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) on Tuesday (07 March) felicitated the four Sri Lankan female officials who were elevated to the ICC Match Official panels following nominations made by Sri Lanka Cricket.

Vanessa De Silva, Michell Pereira, Dedunu De Silva, and Nimali Perera were recognized during a ceremony held at the SLC headquarters with the participation of Mr. Mohan De Silva, Honorary Secretary of SLC; Mr. Bandula Dissanayake, Chairman,SLC Umpires Committee; Mr. Ashley De Silva, SLC CEO; Mr. Chinthaka Edirimanne, Head of National Cricket Operations; and Mr. Chanaka Thenuwara, Senior Manager, Umpire Development.

Ms. Vanessa De Silva and Ms. Michell Pereira represent Sri Lanka at the International Panel of ICC Match Referees, while Ms. Dedunu De Silva and Ms. Nimali Perera represent Sri Lanka at the International Panel of ICC Development Umpires.

“We are extremely happy with their achievement, as it gives Sri Lanka women’s cricket a major boost and shows the path for women engaging in cricket is diverse, where they can go from playing international cricket to officiating at international games and more,’’ said Mr. Bandula Dissanayake.

Vanessa, Michell, and Dedunu have played for Sri Lanka, and Nimali represented Sri Lanka “A” before venturing into officiating.

They have extensive experience officiating at the domestic level, having appeared at Sri Lanka Cricket conducted women’s tournaments, men’s List “A” games, and youth games, among several other similar tournaments.

Venessa De Silva, a member of the International Panel of ICC Match Referees, officiated at the recently concluded ICC Women’s Under-19 World Cup held in South Africa and had the distinction of refereeing the finals of the tournament.

Michell Pereira, who is also a member of the International Panel of ICC Match Referees and a member of the 100% cricket future leaders program, second batch, conducted by the ICC, was part of the ICC referee panel during the recently concluded ICC Women’s T20 World Cup held in South Africa.

Dedunu De Silva, a member of the International Panel of ICC Development Umpires, was part of the ICC Umpiring Panel appointed to officiate at the recently concluded ICC Women’s U19 World Cup held in South Africa. She was also the TV umpire for one of the semi-finals and the finals at the ICC Women’s U19 World Cup held in South Africa.

Nimali Perera, a member of the International Panel of ICC Development Umpires, officiated at the recently concluded ICC Women’s T20 World Cup held in South Africa. Nimali also performed as an on-field umpire in one of the semi-finals of the concluded ICC Women’s T20 World Cup and as the 4th umpire during the finals.

Each of them was given a special plaque by Sri Lanka Cricket to honour their excellence in the women’s game.