Referee Surekha Griffiths says volunteering and diversity important for sport
British Asian female referee on why football diversity and volunteering are important
By Sarwar AlamAug 11, 2023
MIDDLESEX-BASED referee Surekha Griffiths was recognised as a community champion at the Grassroots Football Awards held at Wembley Stadium last Sunday (6).
Griffiths, who has just completed her first season of refereeing for Middlesex Football Association (FA), was the recipient of the match official award.
The 45-year-old takes charge of games at all levels, from children to adults. However, she said the games that give her the most joy are the ones in the Middlesex Pan-Disability League.
“It’s a privilege to be among these players who are full of passion even though they wake up every day facing all sorts of challenges,” Griffiths told Eastern Eye.
“These games never get cancelled, even during adverse weather conditions. I’ve refereed them in the snow and in the absolute burning heat, because they wait for this one day each month when they get to play tournaments against each other. They live for this moment where they feel like they’re actually just letting go on the pitch,” added Griffiths, who has undertaken additional training to help officiate deaf matches.
“The fact that I get to be part of a day where we’re focusing on their ability, not their disabilities, it’s an honour. It’s special and I feel lucky.”
Cheering her on at a FA-hosted event, which took place ahead of the Community Shield between Manchester City and Arsenal, were her two sons who had urged her to take up refereeing; and her father, who 40 years earlier was worried about his children getting into the game because of the racism he had witnessed.
“My parents are first-generation Hindu-Punjabis from India. They came to this country in the 60s when racism in sport was common, so they themselves were never interested in following any sport,” Griffiths said.
“My dad worked on the buses and I remember him telling me about the violence he would see between people with different shirts (football jerseys) just because they supported different teams. The abuse that would go on and the racism you would see and hear about. It’s not that he told us ‘don’t ever watch football’, it just became unattractive to him.”
Though her dad tried to “steer” Griffiths and her two sisters away from football, she couldn’t resist following her “beloved” Liverpool and England.
Surekha Griffiths match official of the year with her award at Wembley Stadium on August 6, 2023 in London, England. (Photo by Henry Browne - The FA/The FA via Getty Images)
“I just had this pull for all sports. I used to videotape football games and play them at night. I used to sit and watch a full game of England, Liverpool or whoever else was playing. I was just so thrilled by the drama of football in particular but also all sports.”
Though she continued to watch games, it didn’t play an active role in her life as she developed a career as a business operations manager working in transport and settled down and had a family.
Her husband, she said, “hates football and knows nothing about it”.
However, it was a different story when it came to their two sons.
“I still loved watching all the games, so I decided I was going to get my boys into playing for a local team. They’re 10 and 12 now – around five years ago, they joined this lovely local team that’s run by volunteers,” said Griffiths.
“Two years ago, when they became really desperate to have a parent referee, my boys were like, ‘mummy, you should do it. You know everything about football’, which is not the truth, by the way,” laughed Griffiths.
She signed up for a referring course with the sole intention of helping her sons’ team. But she impressed so much with her officiating that different opportunities started coming her way.
She has taken part in events such as marking of the anniversary of when women’s football was banned in 1921, in the UK, and South Asian Heritage Month.
“I’ll be very honest, volunteering is not a selfless task. It’s selfish for me because I know I feel great doing it. Volunteering makes me feel amazing,” she said.
“I’ve realised that as I’ve got older, we all want to feel like we’re doing something. Volunteering makes you feel great because you love giving something back into community. It’s like having a daily vote on what goes on around you because you’re making an impact.”
Griffiths is making an impact in football circles, mixing with the likes of England manager Gareth Southgate and her childhood hero John Barnes, who gave her the Grassroots Football award.
“To be presented an award by John Barnes, who is the reason I support Liverpool, was just mind-blowing,” she said.
“As a young kid growing up in the 1980s in London, John Barnes was one of the few brown faces we saw playing football, so that was one of the reasons why so many of us were attracted to Liverpool.”
While Griffiths is reluctant to say she too is a role model now, she hopes she can inspire people from the south Asian community to follow in her footsteps.
“Growing up in London when equality and representation, especially in sport, was not as advanced as it is now, I still often carry that feeling of being an imposter in football. But the huge support and awareness of this by my local FA team really helps me to shake this off and focus on my development as a referee,” she revealed.
“We are so much closer to getting to a point where match officials, coaches and players are accepted without prejudice or preference, but this is change that can and will only happen as representation from people of all backgrounds and ages are involved in all areas of football.
“As we see people from different backgrounds progress up the ranks in their field and become role models for the new generation, change will happen.
“It is often said that ‘if you can’t see it, you can’t be it’. I have had so many women and men from all ages and backgrounds who had never considered they could be referees before, now ask me how to get involved.”
The ICC described Dhoni as someone who redefined the role of a wicketkeeper-batter, bringing 'brute force and power-hitting' to a position traditionally filled by lower-order players. (Photo: Getty Images)
FORMER India captain MS Dhoni has been inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame for 2025, along with six other cricketers, including South Africa’s Hashim Amla and Graeme Smith, and two women players – former Pakistan captain Sana Mir and England’s Sarah Taylor.
Also inducted were Australia’s Matthew Hayden, New Zealand’s Daniel Vettori, and England’s Taylor, who joins Mir as the only two women recognised this year.
The induction ceremony was held at Abbey Road Studios in London, near Lord’s, where the World Test Championship final begins on Wednesday. Both captains – Australia’s Pat Cummins and South Africa’s Temba Bavuma – attended the event.
Dhoni’s unmatched leadership record
Dhoni, who led India to three ICC white-ball titles – the 2007 T20 World Cup, the 2011 ODI World Cup, and the 2013 Champions Trophy – was acknowledged by the ICC for his overall contribution to cricket. The former wicketkeeper-batsman scored 10,773 runs in 350 ODIs at an average of 50.57, including 10 centuries and 73 fifties. He also played 90 Tests, scoring 4,876 runs with six centuries, and 98 T20Is, with 1,617 runs.
“It is an honour to be named in the ICC Hall of Fame, which recognises the contributions of cricketers across generations and from all over the world,” said Dhoni, who played in this year’s Indian Premier League at age 43. “To have your name remembered alongside such all-time greats is a wonderful feeling. It is something that I will cherish forever.”
Dhoni remains the only captain to win all three ICC white-ball tournaments. He also led India in 60 Tests, with 27 wins, 15 losses, and 18 draws. In ODIs, he captained the side in a record 200 matches, winning 110. In T20Is, he led India in 72 games, with 41 wins.
ICC tribute: calm, consistent and unconventional
The ICC praised Dhoni’s achievements, stating, “Celebrated for his calm under pressure and unmatched tactical nous, but also a trailblazer in the shorter formats, MS Dhoni’s legacy as one of the game’s greatest finishers, leaders and wicketkeepers has been honoured with his induction into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.”
“With 17,266 international runs, 829 dismissals and 538 matches across formats for India, Dhoni’s numbers reflect not just excellence but extraordinary consistency, fitness and longevity,” it added.
“Dhoni’s ODI legacy is studded with records, including the most stumpings in the format (123), the highest individual score by a wicketkeeper (183*), and the most matches as captain for India (200), to name a few,” the ICC said. “His glove work defied convention. Dhoni’s technique behind the stumps was unorthodox, yet extraordinarily effective... completing stumpings in the blink of an eye, and pulling off catches with a style all his own.”
The ICC described Dhoni as someone who redefined the role of a wicketkeeper-batter, bringing “brute force and power-hitting” to a position traditionally filled by lower-order players. It said the 2007 T20 World Cup win under Dhoni sparked a new era in Indian cricket and confirmed “that the future of its leadership was in safe hands”.
Other inductees honoured
Hashim Amla, who became the first South African to score a triple century in Tests with 311 not out at the Oval in 2012, was honoured alongside his former teammate Graeme Smith. Smith, who captained South Africa in a world-record 109 Tests, said, “This is also a proud moment for South Africa, as two of us have got recognition this year.”
Amla added, “It is an honour to be inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame, especially alongside Graeme.”
Hayden was a key part of Australia’s successful sides in the early 2000s, scoring 30 Test centuries at an average above 50. Vettori, who now serves as an assistant coach with Australia, is one of only three players to score 4,000 runs and take 300 wickets in Tests.
Women stars recognised
Sarah Taylor, regarded as one of the finest wicketkeepers in women’s cricket, helped England win multiple global tournaments, including the 2017 ODI World Cup on home soil.
Pakistan’s Sana Mir, the first woman from her country to enter the ICC Hall of Fame, took 151 wickets in ODIs and led the national team to gold at the 2010 and 2014 Asian Games.
“From dreaming as a little girl that one day there would even be a women’s team in our country to now standing here, inducted among the very legends I idolised long before I ever held a bat or a ball – this is a moment I couldn’t have dared to imagine,” said Mir.
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Alcaraz became the first man to win a Grand Slam after saving match point since Novak Djokovic defeated Roger Federer in the 2019 Wimbledon final.
CARLOS ALCARAZ came from two sets down to defeat Jannik Sinner in a five-set French Open final on Sunday, saving three championship points in a match that lasted five hours and 29 minutes.
Alcaraz, the defending champion, won 4-6, 6-7 (4/7), 6-4, 7-6 (7/3), 7-6 (10/2) to claim his fifth Grand Slam title. The 22-year-old remains unbeaten in Grand Slam finals and ended Sinner's 20-match winning streak in majors.
"This was the most exciting match that I've played so far without a doubt," said Alcaraz. "I think the match had everything."
The Spaniard completed his first-ever comeback from two sets down in what became the longest final in Roland Garros history. He saved three match points while trailing 5-3 in the fourth set.
"Today was all about believing in myself. Never doubted myself today and I tried to go for it," he said. "Real champions are made in those situations."
Alcaraz became the first man to win a Grand Slam after saving match point since Novak Djokovic defeated Roger Federer in the 2019 Wimbledon final. The only other man to do so in the Open era was Gaston Gaudio at Roland Garros in 2004.
Comeback from the brink
Sinner missed out on a third straight Grand Slam title, following wins at the 2023 US Open and 2024 Australian Open.
"It's easier to play than talking now," Sinner said. "I won't sleep very well tonight but it's OK.
"We try to delete it somehow and take the positive and keep going. There are no other ways," he said. "It hurts, but you cannot keep crying."
This was Sinner's fifth consecutive loss to Alcaraz and their first meeting in a Grand Slam final. It was also the first major final between two men born in the 2000s. Alcaraz now leads their head-to-head 8-4, having also beaten Sinner in the Rome final after the Italian returned from a three-month doping ban in May.
Set-by-set battle
Alcaraz started the final by creating three break points, but Sinner held and created his own chance soon after. Alcaraz broke in the fifth game to lead 3-2 but gave it back immediately. Sinner took the first set after breaking again at 5-4.
Sinner went up 3-0 in the second set and tightened his serve after facing seven break points in the first. Alcaraz broke back when Sinner served for the set, but Sinner won the tie-break with a series of strong points, including a cross-court forehand to finish.
Sinner then broke at the start of the third set, but Alcaraz responded by winning four straight games to go up 4-1. After losing serve at 5-3, Alcaraz broke to love to take the set, ending Sinner’s 31-set winning streak in Grand Slams.
The fourth set was close, with Sinner breaking for a 5-3 lead and reaching three match points. But Alcaraz broke back and forced a tie-break, which he won to take the match into a decider.
Dramatic final set
Alcaraz broke early in the fifth and held on despite pressure.
Sinner broke back while trailing 5-3 and went on a three-game run, forcing Alcaraz to hold serve to stay in the match.
Alcaraz held, and then dominated the 10-point tie-break, winning on his first championship point with a forehand winner.
(With inputs from agencies)
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Rahul, who has experience batting across the order, is seen as a likely option to partner Jaiswal at the top. (Photo: Getty Images)
KL RAHUL scored a century in the second unofficial Test against England Lions, offering some clarity to India’s top-order plans ahead of the five-match Test series in England.
Rahul, opening alongside Yashasvi Jaiswal, made an unbeaten 116 on Friday in Northampton. He batted on a lively pitch under overcast skies without offering any chances.
India are currently without experienced batters Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, who both retired from Test cricket last month. The team, now led by Shubman Gill, is looking to rebuild its top order.
Rahul, who has experience batting across the order, is seen as a likely option to partner Jaiswal at the top. Gill or Karun Nair could be considered for the No. 4 position previously held by Kohli.
Nair, who last played a Test in 2017, made a double hundred in the first unofficial Test in Canterbury.
“We haven't really decided on the (batting order), we still have some time,” Gill had said at his pre-departure press conference in Mumbai.
“We will be playing an intra-squad match and we will be having a 10-day camp in London. So we still have a little bit of time and I think we can decide on the batting order once we go there.”
The five-Test series starts in Leeds on June 20.
(With inputs from agencies)
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Jos Buttler raises his bat as he walks to the pavilion after losing his wicket, LBW bowled by West Indies' Alzarri Joseph. Reuters/Lee Smith
FORMER captain Jos Buttler scored a superb 96 off 59 balls, and Liam Dawson took four wickets on his international return, as England beat West Indies by 21 runs in the T20 series opener at Durham's Riverside ground on Friday (6).
After making a 3-0 winning start to Harry Brook's captaincy in the one-dayers, England kept the momentum in the shorter format with an innings of 188-6 after winning the toss and batting first.
West Indies finished on 167-9, with Romario Shepherd caught on the final ball of the match.
Buttler, in at number three with England 16-1 after Ben Duckett was caught by West Indies captain Shai Hope off Shepherd, brought up his half century from 25 balls in the eighth over.
He had earlier smashed three sixes and scooped a four from the first four balls of a devastating sixth over with Alzarri Joseph bowling.
The 34-year-old, who stepped down as white-ball captain last February following England's group-stage exit from the Champions Trophy, continued to look like a man relieved of a heavy burden as he hit six fours and four sixes.
Needing just four for the century, he was out lbw to Joseph in the penultimate over.
The tally was Buttler's highest T20 international score on home soil.
West Indies were 33-2 off 5.2 overs after losing Johnson Charles for 18, stumped by Buttler off Dawson, and Hope caught by Duckett, who repaid his own dismissal in like-for-like fashion, for three off debutant Matthew Potts.
England restricted the visitors to 44-2 at the end of the powerplay, compared to 78-1 at the same stage of the home innings.
Evin Lewis hit West Indies top score of 39 off 23 balls, before being caught by Brydon Carse with Jacob Bethell bowling.
Dawson, back in the side at 35 and playing his first England match since 2022, claimed his second and third wickets when Duckett caught Sherfane Rutherford (2) and Roston Chase (24) in quick succession.
The left-arm spinner wrapped up with a fourth wicket, for 20 runs from his four overs, by bowling Rovman Powell as West Indies slipped to 115-6 on a tough night in the north-east.
"I feel really good. Really pleased to contribute to a really good win," said Dawson after being declared player-of-the-match.
"When you get 190 on the board, you can go out there and simplify everything. You can bowl defensively and they've got to come to you. Tonight, it worked.
"It's been maybe three-and-a-half years since I played. I was nervous going into the game but I'm happy to contribute."
Hope said his side had not bowled as well as they had wanted to and needed also to perform better with the bat.
"We've got to put this behind us and we've got two games to win the series," he said.
(Reuters)
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FILE PHOTO: Piyush Chawla. (Photo by INDRANIL MUKHERJEE/AFP via Getty Images)
VETERAN leg-spinner Piyush Chawla, who played key roles in India's 2007 T20 World Cup and 2011 ODI World Cup victories, announced his retirement from all forms of cricket on Friday (6) after more than two decades in the sport.
The 36-year-old made the announcement through an Instagram post, describing his decision as the end of an "incredible journey" while hinting at a new unspecified venture ahead.
"After more than two decades on the field, the time has come to bid adieu to the beautiful game," Chawla wrote. "Though I step away from the crease, cricket will always live within me. I now look forward to embarking on a new journey, carrying with me the spirit and lessons of this beautiful game."
Chawla represented India across all three formats, playing three Tests, 25 ODIs and seven T20 internationals, claiming 43 wickets in total. However, his most memorable contributions came as part of India's World Cup-winning squads in 2007 and 2011.
"From representing India at the highest level to being part of the victorious 2007 T20 World Cup and 2011 ODI World Cup squads, every moment in this incredible journey has been nothing short of a blessing," he said. "These memories will forever remain etched in my heart."
The spinner enjoyed particular success in the Indian Premier League, playing for four franchises during his career - Punjab Kings, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians. He was part of KKR's 2014 IPL championship team and famously hit the winning runs in the final against Punjab Kings in Bengaluru.
Chawla paid tribute to the IPL franchises who showed faith in him, describing the tournament as "a truly special chapter in my career". He also thanked his coaches, particularly K.K. Gautam and the late Pankaj Saraswat, for nurturing his development.
The Uttar Pradesh player burst onto the cricket scene as a teenager, making his competitive debut at just 15 and his first-class debut at 17. He gained national attention when he bowled out batting legend Sachin Tendulkar with a googly during the Challenger Series in 2005-06.
In domestic cricket, Chawla accumulated over 1,000 wickets across all formats, representing India Under-19 and Uttar Pradesh Under-22 teams during his early career.
"Today is a deeply emotional day for me as I officially announce my retirement from all forms of international and domestic cricket," he said, paying special tribute to his late father. "A special mention to my late father, whose belief in me lit the path I walked. Without him, this journey would never have been possible."