Women’s cricket has been growing in popularity in recent years. In India, 127 women have represented their country in one-day internationals. This has been good news for women who have wanted to take their love of the sport out onto the cricket pitch.
Betting on cricket is also increasing in popularity for women as more females become interested in watching the sport. However, this year has brought challenges for the sport of cricket overall that no-one could have foreseen. Will these challenges lead to an uncertain future for women’s cricket after such a successful start to 2020?
The success of the T20 World Cup
The start of 2020 was indeed successful for women’s cricket. The T20 World Cup became the most-watched women’s cricket event in history for the format. It attracted 89 million unique audience members across the world.
The event was held in Australia and attracted viewing figures of 1.2 million in that country. The timing of the matches also meant that viewing figures in India were high. Of the 113.5 million viewers on the subcontinent, 76% we’re based in India.
The climate was right for a significant boost to women’s cricket. However, the global crisis has caused significant financial issues in the world of cricket since then.
The current financial challenges
The suspension of cricket in India has caused financial issues across the board. However, it has been especially problematic for female cricketers who have little or no earnings as a result of the shutdown.
In fact, cricket boards across the world are having problems with their finances. This has led to concerns for the women’s game overall. Will it bear the brunt of the financial problems brought about by the pandemic? The ICC has been encouraged to investigate the matter.
Protection from cricket boards
In fact, the news does not seem to be as bad as it could be, for women’s cricket, as boards pledge their support and female cricketers play their part.
In England, women players who are centrally contracted took a voluntary three-month pay cut. The England and Wales Cricket Board has agreed to pay a retainer to up to 24 domestic players as a show of support. Although, it has also put on hold plans to introduce 40 domestic contracts. This is perhaps understandable given the amount of money the board could potentially lose as a result of the suspension of cricket.
In India, the wealthy BCCI has stated that it will not consider cutting costs until it has a better idea of how much money has been lost as a result of the shutdown. On a positive note, it has suggested that male and female players are unlikely to suffer in the long term and that it does not intend to cut back on investment in the women’s game.
There does seem to be a certain amount of uncertainty around women’s cricket right now. However, cricket boards do seem to want to offer as much support as they can. Hopefully, the women’s game can weather the storm and emerge stronger on the other side.
