Cricket has returned. The Indian Premier League is on and the fans are all hearts to celebrate the game. 100% Cricket is a step taken by the International Cricket Council to promote and discuss women’s cricket. The virtual seminar in its recent installment saw key figures from throughout the globe.
Mithali Raj and Ian Bishop were on the show and the moderator was another all-time great Lisa Sthalekar. Clare Connor was another guest on the show and as the managing director of English Cricket Board’s Women’s Cricket, she offered some interesting and thought-provoking insights on relevant aspects of the women game. She remembers her starting days as a woman in cricket administration. She recalls being the only woman at her job and was surrounded by men.
However, she says that the conditions have turned for good now as over 30 percent of her colleagues in ECB is female. In the ICC, she feels, that change has been comparatively slower in relation to the English Cricket Board. There is, however, a drastic shift in play as well. She further said that stakeholders have realized that women’s cricket has grown immensely in recent times and there are greater opportunities for everyone waiting ahead.
On the potential for changes, in the future, to improve the game, she says that “The most important thing is to have a really good rationale for making a change – to the playing conditions or formats. We knew why we created the multi-format Ashes: it was to protect that one-off Test.
There was so little Test-match cricket being played in the women’s game but we wanted to protect it and create a narrative about the women’s Ashes, and that was well-received by the media and fans”.
On the comparison between male and their female counterparts, Connor was crisp and sharp. She added that “Cricket has returned. The Indian Premier League is on and the fans are all hearts to celebrate the game.
She further added that the cancellation of the scheduled tri-series was unfortunate but the decision has to come from the officials of different countries and the apex cricketing board or ICC. She says that the administrators will have to invest themselves in women’s cricket to ensure that the current air of uncertainty fades away.
Fans can watch the full episode here.
