Isa Guha is one of the most common faces associated with cricket nowadays. She has established herself as a premier presenter and commentator in the cricketing world but this is not to forget her exploits as an English player.
From the two months or so, she has been living under the air of bio-secure environments. She has been covering the games in England for radio and TV throughout the globe. She, in interaction with ESPNcricinfo, said that the presenters and other players are trying to be as professional as possible with regards to the game and bio-bubble. She praised the Pakistani and West Indies squad for their adherence and said that Windies were in their bio-bubbles for a period of about 51 days.
She says that she has been in a bio-secure environment since July and it has been hard to keep track of the outside world. On being asked about her involvement with BBC, she said that she was pleased to have the opportunity. It was a matter of great honor and privilege for her but she adds that it was a bit strange and things felt condensed.
As a broadcaster, she says that the will is to try and make the game more interesting for the spectator indoors on his television set. However, she feels that there were many moments to get excited about and goes on to recall the 600th test wicket by James Anderson. She further elaborated on the legacy of the BBC and her memories linked to Richie Benaud. On the news of Windies women touring England and the speculations surrounding women’s cricket and its revival, she said that the English Cricket Board and PCB have done well to manage their girls as one has increased the pay while other plans to invest heavily in women’s game.
She further added that “Yeah, it may have looked like things were happening slowly, but it’s been difficult trying to fit everything in. I’m sure everyone wanted to get women’s cricket on in the first couple of months, but the priority was always going to be the England men, from a revenue point of view, because there’s a lot of money being lost from the game this summer. A testament to the girls: they took a pay cut at the start of the pandemic. That was their decision; they wanted to be in line with the staff they are working with”.
She was, however, quick to point out that while women teams, like South Africa, are not being allowed to travel outside their countries but individual male players have left for the Indian Premier League. She hopes that women, too, are allowed to take part in WBBL and IPL. She on pushing back of The Hundred to next year, she replied that “reasons behind wanting to try and reach a new audience and mobilize them through the Hundred.
People can always be afraid of something new, but I think a lot of conversations need to happen over the next six months, and people need to be open-minded. I still think it will be fantastic but there are so many things that are up in the air, in terms of getting in crowds – are we going to be in a position next year where we can push forward with it? And people should be open to conversations around whether it is the right way to move forward next year, depending on the situation. There are so many things that need consideration right now. But I still understand the merits and the reasons behind why they wanted to go in that direction”.
Loves all things female cricket