The rise of women’s cricket

As India and Australia face each other in the semi-finals, cricket fans have a cracker of a match to look forward to. Yes, we are talking about the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup, which has gained popularity beyond expectations, and fans, men and women alike,have shown their active support for the game.

The first Women’s Cricket tournament was played in 1973, in England, in fact, two years before the first Men’s Cricket World Cup yet people spend more time and dedication to watch Men's matches over Women's. This just shows to which extent Women have been overshadowed by Men in sports throughout history. The reason is that, during those times, sports for women was still not completely acceptable, and the women who pursued cricket were exceptions. The viewership was also limited, and men could hit more powerful shots and bowl faster, which made Women’s cricket pale in comparison to The Gentleman’s Game, and there was a general reluctance to accept women playing a sport which has been dominated by men, as society was patriarchal.And moreover problems such as cricket boards not recognising university level women’s cricket, persist till now, though the situation has been improving.

But then came the big domestic leagues, especially the Australian Big Bash, after which the popularity of women’s cricket shot up. The shorter T20 format drew large number of people, and finally, more women’s cricket matches were aired on Television. New talents were discovered, and support for the Women’s National Team was at an all time high, and then there was no looking back. Now, women’s cricket is slowly inching towards being as popular as Men’s cricket. Social media has helped popularise the game, and online views of the matches has grown manifold.In India, we need more universities to offer sports like cricket, to women. Still, there has been a massive improvement in the matter of girls being exposed to the game. Nowadays we can see girls playing cricket on the streets, something that was very rare few years back. Players like Mithali Raj, Ellyse Perry and Meg Lanning have inspired many aspiring women cricketers, and have spawned a generation of young girls, who are passionate about the game.

Now, I think 2017 is THE year for Women’s Cricket. This is the most popular Women’s World Cup ever, and for the first time, at least in India, people are as excited for the match, as they were for the 2015 Men’s World Cup.Women’s involvement in other areas of the game is also steadily increasing. From commentary to Match previews and Post match analysis, women are now seen everywhere in cricket.

Bats are much better now, and rules are framed according to physical capabilities of women, so now they rely on timing rather than power while batting, making the game more beautiful to watch. Now we can see packed stadiums for a women’s cricket game. This shows how far we have progressed as a society.The real growth of Women’s cricket started only after the first decade of 21st Century. Considering that the first ICC rankings for Women was launched as late as October 2015, the traction and popularity that this form of the game has achieved in the past one and a half years is unbelievable! If we look at the interest in the game now, it almost feels as if women’s cricket has been growing parallely with men’s cricket. Though this growth is remarkable,women’s cricket will reach its peak only when the game reflects the attitude of the society. India will witness more women saying "My hobby is playing cricket" when we get rid of the societal prejudice against it and have more domestic tournaments.

We’ve come a long way, but there are still miles to go.

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