Maryellen Jackson's desire to contribute to local cricket is so great that she unselfishly put her own playing career on hold to take up umpiring duties in the middle.

And the veteran all-rounder - who represented Bermuda in South Africa earlier this year - has no regrets and is loving each and every moment of it.

"Umpiring is an extremely different perspective for any sport. Being a player and an official is like two sides of the coin, you can't compare the two.

"You are forced to be aware more as an umpire and when you are officiating you have to be on," Jackson said.

"I call it as I see it according to my interpretation of the law. You just have to make the call and not get emotionally attached - I can only go by that.

"What I have learned so far is that half the people are going to believe they are right and the other half are going to believe they are right.

"So no matter what call you make someone is going to walk off extremely excited while someone else is going to walk off really upset."

Umpiring in a male dominated sport, naturally Jackson turns heads whenever she's standing in the middle of the park.

"Most of the players are surprised but after that the game tends to just go on.

"I've received a lot of positive feedback from those who have been excited to see a female umpire.

"It's actually an opportunity for any woman who's interested in being part of the game and a great way to be front and centre," the Smith's parish resident said.

The ex-St.George's Cricket Club medic and cricket scorer - believed to be the first certified female umpire to officiate locally - first fell in love with the sport decades ago.

"When I was 16 I actually tried to join a team (Commercial) but the Board (Bermuda Cricket Board) were not allowing women to play cricket then and I wanted to play for a men's team," Jackson recalled.

"I couldn't join and so I stayed involved with St.George's' cricket team as a medic and a scorer during the era of Wendell Smith and Charlie Marshall."

Jackson's dream of playing the sport finally became a reality two years ago when the Board formed a women's national team.

Since then she has successfully completed a Level One coaching course in Peru, represented Bermuda abroad and earlier this year completed a Bermuda Cricket Umpires Association (BCUA) course conducted by top umpire Roger Dill.

She also coaches a BCB development Under-12 girls team and is a big fan of star batsmen Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara.

"It (playing cricket for Bermuda) was a dream come true because I waited more than 20 years for an opportunity to play and never thought it would come," she said.

"Playing cricket in South Africa (World Cup qualifiers) was amazing.

"We had the opportunity to play in a professional environment where all women were playing.

'It was something I thought I would never see. It was just amazing to see that there is opportunity for women in the sport."