Sue Redfern will become the first woman to stand as an on-field umpire in the T20 Blast when Gloucestershire host Middlesex in Bristol on Sunday.
The 45-year-old was appointed to the Professional Umpires’ Team, the ECB’s group of elite officials, last year.
Members of the team can stand in men’s and women’s professional domestic cricket in England and Wales.
“It’ll be a breakthrough moment, not just for me but for our sport,” Redfern told the ECB website.
“I remind myself that I’ve worked extremely hard to progress my career to this stage and I’ve got to this point in my career on merit.”
The Professional Umpires’ Team replaced the first-class panel of umpires as the ECB sought the best way of attracting and appointing umpires from all backgrounds.
“The steps the ECB has taken over the past couple of seasons to make the umpiring pathway more inclusive have opened up opportunities like these for me,”…
