Former South Africa wicketkeeper Lizelle Lee was seen umpiring in a Female U19 National Championships game in Australia two days after putting in a player of the match performance in the WBBL final for Hobart Hurricanes.
Lizelle Lee turns out as umpire after WBBL final heroics
Lee helped Hobart Hurricanes chase down 138 in the 2025 Women's Big Bash League final on Saturday (December 13) with an unbeaten 77 off 44 balls. It was the highest individual score ever made in a WBBL final, which took Hobart to their first-ever WBBL trophy.
But Lee was back on the cricket field within two days, albeit in a different avatar.
Having become a permanent Austrailan resident late last year, Lee has been trying out umpiring in club games in the country. Carrying on her career as an umpire while still being an active cricketer, she stood in a Female U19 National Championships game as an on-field umpire two days after her title-winning knock in the WBBL.
Last month, Lee had expressed her desire to to become a "top international umpire" with an aim to feature in the Olympics, where cricket is set to make a comeback in 2028.
"I don't want to take away my cricket, because I still feel like there's a lot in me, but I would not mind being one of the top international umpires," Lee said.
"That's something that I really want to do – and who doesn't want to go to the Olympics, it doesn't matter what you're going for.
"So I would love to do that as well … 2032, there's a Brisbane one, so fingers crossed maybe if I'm done playing by then, hopefully I can do that."
Having made her debut for South Africa in 2013, Lee retired from international cricket in mid-2022 aged 30, having played two Tests, 100 ODIs, and 82 T20Is. She has featured in T20 cricket around the world since then and finished as the sixth-highest run-getter in WBBL 2025 with 305 runs at a strike rate of 154.82. No batter with more than 75 runs in the season had a better strike rate than Lee's.
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