The International Cricket Council (ICC) expects that by planning ahead for the T20 circuit with the help of their already published Future Tours Programme, they would be able to coordinate a women’s international cricket schedule that conflicts less frequently with franchise leagues than in the men’s game.
The ICC introduced its inaugural women’s FTP last year, well before Women’s PSL and IPL were announced, and the game’s international governing body is confident in its ability to control the growth of the women’s game so that both league and international cricket can be played concurrently.
“The balance between the women’s international fixtures and the domestic leagues is something we are going to have a better chance at co-ordinating than the way the men’s calendar has developed over the last decade or so. We are starting to see a fairly regular schedule of cricket for the top female players around the world and the release of the first FTP for women’s international cricket was a big stepping stone for trying to get ahead of that and trying to avoid clashes wherever possible with some of those leagues. It is something we are monitoring on a regular basis and hopefully as we update the FTP, it’s something we will continue to do to stay ahead of,” Geoff Allardice, the ICC’s CEO said as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.
The lack of Test matches is a significant distinction between the men’s and women’s games that Allardice thinks will favour the women’s calendar.
“The one difference is that there isn’t the same chunks of time taken up with Test series in the women’s calendar and that gives a little bit more freedom to avoid those clashes,” he added.
There is sufficient cricket time for the white-ball format because there are just seven Test matches for the women’s FTP scheduled for the years 2022-25.
In advance of the T20 World Cup, which begins next month and will be followed by the debut seasons of the Women’s IPL and PSL, a number of women’s teams are already playing T20 cricket. With applications for teams currently open and the player auction scheduled for January 26, the WIPL is particularly intriguing. The ICC views the WIPL as a competition that can accomplish the same, much like the men’s IPL did for Indian and global players seeking huge money and professional growth chances.
“It will be tremendous for Indian cricket but also for overseas players who participate in the tournament. We have seen in the India-Australia series, not only did we have great crowds, we also had a great standard of cricket which has been a good advertisement for whatever might come next. The opportunity for so many more players to become professional and become close to professionalism will boost the depth and the quality in not just India but all over the world,” Snehal Pradhan, the ICC’s new Women’s Cricket Manager, said.
The ICC prioritises expanding the women’s game internationally, which is one of the main reasons they chose to host the women’s Under-19 T20 World Cup (which kicks off on Saturday) and to increase the field to 16 countries, six more than the senior competition. The ICC wants the women’s game to develop more equitably than the men’s, despite the fact that Australia is already the undisputed leader. Only 10 sides play Test cricket in the men’s game, and among those teams, there is a clear hierarchy of who plays more frequently and which nations are the major contenders.
While Pradhan referenced Brazil and Thailand’s handing of female national contracts as another indication of how the game has grown, Allardice cited the two newcomers at the U19 T20 World Cup – Indonesia, who won their first warm-up game against Zimbabwe, and Rwanda – as success stories.
“The fact that there are more playing opportunities at the global level is one of the key things that will advance the game outside of the top countries. We’ve seen this in the last three or four years – countries like Thailand and Brazil have offered full-time contracts to their women’s teams ahead of men’s teams because they recognise there are opportunities for those teams to get to major world tournaments. It’s worth noting that it’s a very important strategic decision to make this (U19 T20 World Cup) tournament a 16-team event and therefore more opportunities at the global level,” Pradhan said.
Allardice stated that the senior women’s T20 World Cup will expand from 10 teams to 12 in 2026 and that the U19 competition, which will play an important role in the growth of the game, may eventually feature more than 16 teams.
“The establishment of the Under-19 World Cup is going to help in terms of providing a pathway for players in some of the countries that perhaps haven’t been leading the development of the women’s game. That’s one of the reasons why the Under-19 T20 World Cup is such a strategically important decision for cricket,” he said. (ANI)
This report is filed by ANI news service. TheNewsMill holds no responsibility for this content.
