Women’s cricket has been gaining momentum in the UAE. Cricket is no longer considered men’s exclusive domain here and the UAE women’s team now regularly partakes in international cricket. As a result, a few women have also qualified as umpires. But women as scorers in the UAE were missing.
So, it was a pleasant surprise to meet Blessy Rivin, who is one of the scorers in the press box at the Abu Dhabi Zayed Cricket Stadium for the ICC T20 World Cup. Watching her go about her task, it seemed she was enjoying every moment of her job. Armed with a bunch of colour pencils, it was interesting to see her neatly enter every detail of the match, and at times, she would get busy on her calculator trying to figure out the smallest details.
Blessy took up scoring in the year 2011. She went on to narrate how it all began: “I began scoring while in Singapore. My husband, Rivin Varghese, was working for Singapore Airlines and was also the captain of their cricket team. So, I used to go with him to watch his matches albeit I did not know anything about the game.
“Except for some India-Pakistan matches, which I used to watch on television, I wasn’t really keen on watching the game. I had no idea about the rules and regulations of the game too. One day, the regular scorer for Singapore Airlines did not turn up, and team manager Manoj Patel asked me if I could score.
“I took up the challenge and told him that if he could explain the guidelines to me, I could give it a try. So, for the second match too, even though the regular scorer turned up, they asked me to be there and score as well. I would keep asking him questions and learnt a lot from him.
It’s all about enthusiasm folks!
“Seeing my enthusiasm, Patel suggested that I attend the Singapore Cricket Association training course for scorers if I was interested. I approached the association and attended their course and received a certificate.
“After that, the Singapore Cricket Association started inviting me to score for their domestic matches and for the National team contests as well. My first international match as a scorer was the Asian Cricket Council Under-19 women’s championship in Singapore.”
Blessy started scoring in the UAE in 2015 when her husband joined Etihad Airlines. “Etihad has a cricket team, and it was their team manager Mohammad Zaheer bhai (brother) who introduced me to Abu Dhabi Cricket Council. Very soon I started to score the Abu Cricket Council matches. I wanted to learn more about the game, so I decided to become an umpire.
“The Abu Cricket Council recommended that I attend an umpiring course in Sharjah. Although I completed that course, I am still awaiting opportunities to officiate matches. In the meantime, I focused more on scoring.
“In fact, I am loving it because it teaches me to concentrate and focus, and at the same time, enjoy the game. I am sure if more women come forward to do umpiring as well as scoring, more opportunities would open up,” she notes.
Blessy, who hails from Pandalam in the southern Indian state of Kerala, has already scored in Asia Cup matches in 2018 and Abu Dhabi T10 matches. She has also scored when an English county team played in Abu Dhabi.
“The county team had Allen, an experienced scorer, and he taught me a lot about scoring. I also watch YouTube videos on cricket scoring. I use different colour pencils for each bowler so that I don’t go wrong when entering details.
Digital scoring and the tech
“I have done digital scoring too, but I enjoy the thrill of manual scoring. Technology is progressing fast and it’s likely that manual scoring will fade away soon. In digital scoring, it’s only about ticking boxes. However, in manual, it’s a joy putting dots on the score book for every delivery and also when a batsman hits sixes,” explains Blessy.
Blessy’s husband, Rivin, is thrilled that his wife enjoys scoring. “My husband has been my biggest support. From a young age, he has always dreamt of playing in a World Cup and being with legends. Thanks to scoring, I am not only watching live this World Cup but also getting to closely see some of the legends of the game. I am keen on progressing as a scorer, and it would be great if there are Level One and Level Two scoring courses too like in umpiring,” says Blessy.
This article has been used in arrangement with www.cricketlovers.com, Main image of Blessy Rivin scoring from the Abu Dhabi Zayed Cricket Stadium press box courtesy krbuzz.blogspot.com
