Andrea Bryan’s dream of being involved in cricket was close to being over – but now she has been named on a New Zealand Cricket match official panel.
New Zealand Cricket (NZC) confirmed its match official panels on October 1, naming Whanganui scorer Bryan as one of the reserve scorerpanel members.
Reserve scorers provide support for the top-tier national panel, officiating in under-age and provincial A-level matches, and serve as a pipeline for emerging talent to gain experience in the more prominent domestic competitions.
Born in Caterham, England, Bryan came to New Zealand at age 10 and lived in Taranaki.
Bryan attended New Plymouth Girls’ High School, where she wanted to play cricket; however, she said she did not have the skillset required to give it a go.
“I wasn’t very sporty and I never thought I’d have a chance to play cricket for New Plymouth Girls’ High because they were the top team back then so I never played cricket at all,” she said.
“I just always watched it on TV. I love watching cricket – I was that 14-year-old girl sitting up at night with my little 14-inch TV in my bedroom watching cricket all night then went to school the next day.”
Having always been good with numbers and loving cricket, Bryan’s dream job was to be a cricket analyst.
She got involved with cricket scoring after moving to Wellington, where her mother contacted Cricket Wellington to see how her daughter could be involved.
Bryan was “thrown in the deep end” just two weeks after learning the trade when a game’s scorer pulled out at the last minute.
Eight years later, she has not looked back.
Bryan, who has been scoring in Whanganui since 2019, said she enjoyed it for many reasons.
“For me, because I am not very sporty, it’s such a cool way to be involved in sport without having to be athletic.
“I wish I’d gotten into it sooner really. It’s just having a hobby, isn’t it? It means every Saturday I’m going to be up at Victoria Park and scoring some cricket.”
Bryan was the recipient of Cricket Whanganui’s 2024 Robert Wake Umpire or Scorer of the Year.
Whanganui umpire Scott Oliver (left) has also been selected on the match officials panel. Photo / Central Districts Cricket
She said finding out she had made the panel was a proud moment and a recognition of the time and effort she had put in over the years.
“It was nice to get that acknowledgement. I messaged everyone in my immediate family like, ‘I’m so excited’ and I came home buzzing from it – I had a glass of bubbles.
“It’s just nice. I’ve been doing it for eight years and you spend a lot of your time without getting a lot of compensation then suddenly, when you get on that reserve panel, you’re getting money for scoring and opportunities to get good games.”
She encouraged other women who wanted to get involved in cricket to consider scoring as a possibility.
“I was pleasantly surprised how many women are involved, like there are 11 women out of 34 match officials on the panel – I was surprised that there were that many,” she said.
“New Zealand Cricket are really trying to encourage women umpires. They are appointing umpires and scorers to as many women’s fixtures as much as the men’s fixtures.”
Oliver said it was great to be selected again and even more so alongside Bryan.
“It’s good to be in the little cricket community of Whanganui and to be able to do these things,” Oliver said.
“It’s always a bit more special, coming from here, because we find we get a lot of support from the local community.”
Bryan hoped to build her experience and get more opportunities in the coming season.
“This year I’m hoping to get a Super Smash game, that would be really cool.
“It would be my first Twenty20 game. You get more of a crowd and it is often televised but, essentially, I am just hoping to move up and get more opportunities.”
Bryan will begin her NZC season at the end of October, with several weekends of Whanganui cricket to get practice in.
Fin Ocheduszko Brown is a multimedia journalist based in Whanganui.
