Amidst the global lockdown enforced due to the outbreak of Novel COVID-19 virus, people wonder if the lives would the same. Worrying for the duration of the lockdowns, one might wonder if the times after this pandemic, the world might see a new normal.
From the cricketing world, the concern comes from the English captain. Heather knight in a recent interaction raised her concern about women’s sports and not only cricket. She fears that sports by women might become an afterthought after the crisis weakens. She, although, remains hopeful that the unprecedented momentum that her game and women’s cricket got around the T20 world cup will be faded.
Fans and players realize that women’s cricket has seen some revolutionary years. The crowd of 86,174 at MCG was the symbol where Aussies retained their T20 crown. However, as of now, the cricketing world is deadly silent. English cricket board has canceled all professional cricket matches till July.
There are speculations of men resuming their normal play during summer. Knight understands the men being the center of concern but, at the same time, she is not ready to her side getting seated on the back seat. On being asked about the chances of women’s cricket being left behind, she added that this worry is not just for cricketers but for women in all sporting activities.
She says that it is understandable for board and authorities to give the front seat to commercially viable parts of the game. Nonetheless, she hopes that women will get the same opportunities and will be back on the ground as soon as men are. She believes that efforts have to be made from all ends to make sure that the impact on women’s cricket is restricted to minimal.
“I’m sure there will be some impact as there is in many walks of life. That’s just the way of society at the moment.
“But I’m hopeful that when we do get going again, the game won’t be affected too much and hopefully people will really support it,” she added.
While the crisis of this scale, she agrees, will bring a lot of impact on the people and society, she remains hopeful that the game won’t be affected much and more importantly people will support it. The reason for her hope is plenty. MCG was one of them. Knight candidly recalls that she had only seen such a crowd for test matches. It was good knowing that a presence was recorded for a women’s cricket match.
She adds that the support shall not be a one-off event and the support shall continue in places throughout the globe. Knight is willing to be flexible for the unseen changes that the game has to go through if resumption is anywhere near. She expresses her desire to go back on the field and play cricket in a manner that is safe for all. She says that even a closed-door or isolated environment will work if that means she and girls getting on the ground.
She accepts that the women’s section of ECB is doing as much as others in ECB and they might get a game or two in the later phase of the summer. Interestingly, Knight applied for the NHS volunteer scheme launched last month.
Source: SkySports
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