Identify the correct reason, out of the following, about Claire Polosak for being in the news:
- (a)She has been honoured with the Pulitzer Prize
- (b)She recently won a Grand Slam championship
- (c)She became the first female match official to conduct a men's cricket test match
- (d)She has been conferred with the Gandhi Peace Prize
Correct — C, she became the first female match official to officiate in a men's cricket Test match. Australian umpire Claire Polosak served as the fourth (reserve) umpire in the third Test between India and Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground in January 2021 — the first time a woman had held an on-field match-official role in a men's Test in the format's long history. She had already, in 2019, become the first woman to umpire a men's One Day International.
- (a)She has been honoured with the Pulitzer Prize — The Pulitzer Prize is a US award for journalism, literature and music — nothing to do with Claire Polosak, a cricket umpire.
- (b)She recently won a Grand Slam championship — A Grand Slam is a tennis title; Polosak is a cricket umpire, not a tennis player, so this is a cross-sport distractor.
- (d)She has been conferred with the Gandhi Peace Prize — The Gandhi Peace Prize is an Indian award for social and political work; it has no connection to Polosak.
Match officials — umpires and referees — in men's cricket had historically all been men. Claire Polosak broke that barrier: first woman to umpire a men's ODI (2019) and first woman match official in a men's Test (Sydney, January 2021), marking milestones for women in sports officiating.
Only one option relates to cricket officiating; the others are prizes and sports from unrelated fields, so the cricket 'first' identifies option (c).
- Claire Polosak is an Australian cricket umpire.
- She was the fourth umpire in the India-Australia Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground in January 2021.
- That made her the first female match official in a men's Test.
- In 2019 she became the first woman to umpire a men's One Day International.
- Being distracted by prizes from unrelated fields (Pulitzer, Gandhi Peace Prize).
- Confusing the 'fourth umpire' role with that of an on-field umpire.
Asked as 'person X is in the news for what reason' — a current-affairs identification item.
No directly related past PYQ was found.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Claire Polosak, in the news in 2021, is associated with which sport?
- (a)Tennis
- (b)Cricket (umpiring)
- (c)Athletics
- (d)Swimming
Answer(b) Cricket (umpiring) — the first female match official in a men's Test.
- practice — not a real PYQ
In 2019 Claire Polosak became the first woman to umpire a men's international in which format?
- (a)Test
- (b)One Day International (ODI)
- (c)T20 International
- (d)The Hundred
Answer(b) One Day International (ODI).