The Mary Waldron story: Late to cricket, Ireland wicketkeeper, international umpire

OLIVER THORPE: At 36, Mary Waldron is still keeping wicket for Ireland, while also pushing ahead as a promising umpire on the ICC's development panel

For most international cricketers around the world, their cricketing journeys are fairly standard: they play youth cricket, move onto county or state level, international cricket and then retire.

However, for Mary Waldron, there are no signs of things slowing down. At the age of 36, the Ireland wicketkeeper is still playing for her country and enjoying every minute. 

In addition to playing, she is umpiring – and at a high-level too. In May 2019, the ICC added Waldron to their development panel of umpires and has since stood in T20 World Cup qualifying events.

To get to where she is now has been a long road and balancing both jobs is challenging at times.

“It can be difficult,” admits Waldron. “I do rely on Cricket Ireland being flexible with me and my training. Sometimes I have to say to Ed Joyce (Ireland Women’s head coach): ‘Look, I can’t make training because I’m umpiring.’

“There’s a balance for Cricket Ireland – it’s great exposure for an Irish umpire and for me going forward. It reflects well on them.”

Despite making really good progress in both Ireland and the UK, where she umpired a handful of Kia Super League matches last summer, Waldron began her umpiring journey while playing in Tasmania.

“There was a chance to go out to Australia and play,” explains Waldron. “So, I took that opportunity and alongside that I took the chance to do my introduction to umpiring course.

“That course took place at the end of the season, so I didn’t get a chance to do much. When I got back home, I took up a role as cricket development officer at Malahide Cricket Club.

^{Mary Waldron has represented Ireland 102 times}

“Part of that role was to coach the under-15s. As any coach will know, that involves managing, selection and umpiring amongst other things. For whatever reason, I really enjoyed the umpiring; I used to be quite particular and take it quite seriously; I’d be all over it,” she jokes.

Another trip out to Tasmania followed and with that the chance to develop further as an umpire. Former Australia wicketkeeper Julia Price played as a professional in Dublin and was her contact at Cricket Tasmania.

“I asked her if there was anyone in the office that could train me up properly for umpiring,” Waldron says. “They were really keen and paired me with all their experienced umpires for the first few weeks – doing any game I could; even if it was under-17 trial games.”

Waldron spent two years in Tasmania before moving to Adelaide, where she continued her development. From there, she went on to umpire the under-18 national championship final in 2019, and in the same year she was one half of the first all-female pairing to umpire men’s first grade cricket in Australia.

People often ask themselves “who would be an umpire?” – the constant questions, challenges, back-chat and the odd bit of abuse thrown in for good measure too. Few would be blamed for giving it a miss.

However, contrary to what people may think, Waldron says that she has been pleasantly surprised by how people have received her on the cricket pitch.

“People don’t care that I’m a woman,” she says. “Whether it’s on the field or in administration, I have had so much support. I know bodies are trying to promote women in sport and officiating but I feel like and get treated like anyone else.

“It takes a little bit of time for guys to know what to say; if I was a bloke, they would say ‘eff you’ whereas because I’m a woman they don’t know what to say. I’ve had a couple of words here and there, but nothing major – or nothing I wouldn’t say to an umpire under my breath!”

^{Waldron is on the ICC's development panel of umpires}

Despite earning over 100 caps for Ireland, it wasn’t until she was studying her degree in French and Italian at University College Dublin that Waldron found cricket.

Up to that point it was football through and through; from the age of 11, she rose through the age groups playing for local clubs and also the Republic of Ireland at underage level.

“I don’t really know where the love for football came from,” she admits. “I have three older brothers and two older sisters and none of them played soccer; we did play football in the garden, but it was nothing serious. My older sister played but it wasn’t until after I’d played.

“My dad is a Manchester United supporter so we would have always watched the football on TV, but we would have watched every sport. My brothers played Gaelic football, rugby and a bit of hurling; my sisters would have played hockey and camogie (an Irish stick-based sport), so I’m not totally sure why soccer stood out – I could have been influenced by several sports,” she adds.

With everything Waldron has achieved in sport – not just as a player but as a cricket umpire too – she believes that she can reach the top of the game in an officiating capacity. 

“I don’t know how long it’ll take, but I’d love to umpire a World Cup final or a Test match. It may never happen, but that’s a goal I’d like to become a reality; it’s completely out of my control,” Waldron explains.

The chairman of the Irish Association of Umpires and Scorers (IACUS), Phil Thompson, believes that there is no reason why she can’t make the top and that she can be a role model for other women that want to follow in her footsteps. 

“She is very competent, very knowledgeable and has the hunger to work and hunger to learn, more importantly, Thompson explains. “She is a real team player and gets stuck into it every time and she has a great work ethic.

^{The Ireland wicketkeeper only took up cricket at university}

“The pathway is there and she’s on it – the only thing that can take her off it is herself. If you want to go all the way, you’ve got to be 100 percent committed to officiating and if you’re not then you’re going to struggle.

“If she decides that she’s going to take up umpiring full-time then she can go as far as she likes. There’s a good career there for someone who would want to progress.”

Steve Busbridge, manager of premier cricket at South Australia Cricket Association, was full of praise when it came to speaking about Waldron.

“When you talk about the person, she’s fantastic to have around,” Busbridge says. “The players have a lot of respect for her.

“We obviously want to push umpires through as fast as we can. Umpires progress at different speeds but Mary had some great opportunities at Futures level or second grade level at that sort of thing.

“She has the ability to go to the international level but for me there’s no limitations. If Mary can get through to become a first-class umpire in Australia – whether that’s in with the ICC doing some second division international matches, it’s all a stepping-stone or a path to test yourself at the highest level.

“I hope Mary can get all the way to being an international umpire and I think she has the dedication to go and do so – sometimes it’s out of your control and like a player, you have to keep performing. You get picked on performance rather than potential; she’s got a bright future and she’s passionate about it.” 

Speaking of Waldron officiating in the Big Bash League, Busbridge added: “Part of that is down to Mary’s professionalism and how she conducts herself as well as her preparation ahead of games.

“For her to be involved in the Big Bash is massive for any umpire, but for a female umpire to push in the BBL is huge and I really hope there are opportunities for Eloise as well as Mary to keep pushing through the ranks and staking their claims for higher honours as an umpire.

“The more that young girls see lady umpires on TV or in the media then the more beneficial it will be for the game in the long run.”