The global lockdown inflicted by the Covid-19 pandemic brought in its wake a lot of casualties. The sports calendars of many sporting events went totally out of gear. One amongst them is cricket and more so women’s cricket.
Come March and Australia will travel to New Zealand for a limited-overs tour. Australia’s star wicket-keeper Alyssa Healy has her fears about the lack of match practice women cricketers face due to the far and few matches coming their way.
The upcoming Women’s National Cricket League (WNCL) will see Healy’s NSW Breakers go head-to-head with her Australian captain Meg Lanning and Ellyse Perry in the season opener against Victoria. Hannah Darlington, who won the Betty Wilson Young Cricketer of the Year award, has been picked as her vice-captain over veteran Rachael Haynes.
The WNCL will hopefully act as a dress rehearsal for the Australians and afford them some practice, feel of the ground, and playing conditions as it’s been some time since the girls played their cricket which was the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) in November.
Healy rightly fears that the pandemic might have undone the recent progress done by the women’s game in the past few years as many countries have overlooked women’s cricket during the pandemic. India’s last international match was the 2020 ICC Women’s World T20 in March while Australia themselves will be playing an international game after 5 months.
🗨️Australian cricketer Alyssa Healy calls for more International matches for women cricketers.
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— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) February 9, 2021
Speaking to the Sydney Morning Herald, Healy said, “We are really aware of the perspective that there is a global pandemic at play and the opportunities that we’re going to get given might be a little bit more limited than what we’ve seen in the past. But I’d like to see, definitely, some international cricket popping up a bit more frequently as we move forward.”
Exhorting Cricket Australia to lend its support to the lesser privileged cricketing nations, Healy urged, “The more that we can help one another out as countries, I think the better. Whether that be sharing the load funding wise…. that’s a potential way for us to be able to get more cricket playing in places that are the most COVID safe.”
And we, cricket lovers, couldn’t agree more with Alyssa Healy when she urges for more cricket matches for women cricketers as it will definitely augur well for women’s cricket.
Source – The Sydney Morning Herald
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