Derbyshire dominated play on the first day as referee Sue Redfern made history in the LV= County Championship match in Glamorgan.
Redfern became the first woman to referee a first-class men’s match in England and Wales when she joined Graham Lloyd at center for the Division Two match.
Luis Reece made an unbeaten 139 and it was Lloyd who confirmed the wickets of Harry Came and Brooke Guest as the visitors reached 308 for two.
Gast made 96 and put on 180 for the second wicket with Reece, who had captain Leus du Plooy for company on 22, not on stumps.
Glamorgan used seven bowlers, each sending down at least ten overs, on a frustrating day in the field. Zain-ul-Hassan and James Harris were the only two to get their names in the wickets column.
Came and Reece put on 80 for the first wicket in sunny conditions but on a green pitch and took up most of the morning session.
They all went to work with early boundaries off Timm van der Gugten before Reece sent Andy Gorvin’s first two deliveries to the fence.
The 50 partnership came in 16 overs, Reece with 33 of those runs, and the scoring rate started to increase in the subsequent overs.
But Came, on 32, reached away from his body to drive at Ul-Hassan’s first delivery and edged low to wicketkeeper Chris Cooke, who took a good diving catch.
Reece’s half-century came from 74 balls when he hit Dan Douthwaite through the offside for his eighth four. Dude did the same with Ul-Hassan to bring up Derbyshire’s hundred.
Guest drove and pulled Van der Gugten for two fours in three balls, hitting eight boundaries on his way to a half-century from 85 balls.
Reece hit a Kiran Carlson full toss to the top rope to bring up the century partnership, and the team’s 200 soon followed.
Redfern signaled the first six of the match when Reece skipped long-on to loft Carlson before the second, knocked down by Guest from the same bowler, took Derbyshire to 250.
Harris removed Guest lbw one stroke short of his century with a ball that seemed to stay slightly low. Guest faced 162 balls and hit 12 fours and a six.
Du Plooy was quickly on track with boundaries from Harris and Van der Gugten before fellow left-hander Reece brought up the 300 by working Harris into the leg side.
Reece faced 269 balls during the day, with 16 fours and a six to his name and the partnership two short of a half-century at stumps.
Who is Sue Redfern?
The 45-year-old joined the Professional Umpires Team, the ECB’s group of elite officials, in 2022 and is eligible to compete in men’s and women’s professional matches.
Redfern played for England between 1995 and 1999, earning 21 caps and refereeing in six major global tournaments, including the 2022 Commonwealth Games, three ICC Women’s T20 World Cups and two ICC Women’s World Cups.
In 2023, Redfern was the first female referee to officiate a Vitality Blast match between Gloucestershire and Middlesex in Bristol.
Redfern also made history in Cardiff two years ago when she became the first female referee to substitute for a men’s match in England.