Jhulan Goswami, a celebrated figure in women’s cricket and the record-holder for the most wickets in women’s ODIs, recently voiced her strong support for franchise leagues as the basis of women’s cricket’s future. With her experience as a bowling coach for Mumbai Indians (MI) in the Women’s Premier League (WPL) and her upcoming role with the Trinbago Knight Riders in the Women’s Caribbean Premier League (WCPL), Goswami emphasizes the need to prioritize T20 leagues over traditional bilateral series.
In a recent discussion on ESPNcricinfo’s Powerplay podcast, Goswami highlighted a significant challenge facing women’s cricket today – scheduling conflicts. “The clash of calendars in women’s cricket is a major issue,” Goswami remarked. “We’ve seen this kind of scheduling conflict in men’s cricket before, but it’s now impacting women’s cricket as well. The ICC must recognize that franchise cricket represents the future. To ensure global growth and visibility, these leagues need to be given precedence.”
The growing importance of T20 leagues has intensified the ongoing debate about the balance between club and country commitments. High-profile players have faced tough decisions due to overlapping schedules. For instance, in 2023, Australian stars like Meg Lanning, Ashleigh Gardner, and Tahlia McGrath chose to sit out of The Hundred (Women’s) to manage their busy schedules, which included the debut season of the WPL, the T20 World Cup, the Ashes, and the WBBL. Similarly, Smriti Mandhana opted out of the WBBL to focus on domestic cricket.
The issue was also apparent earlier this year when England’s tour of New Zealand overlapped with the business end of the WPL. This overlap led England captain Heather Knight to choose the bilateral series over playing for the Royal Challengers Bangalore, and her teammate Lauren Bell also missed the WPL. More recently, Chamari Athapaththu, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, and Richa Ghosh had to miss the early days of The Hundred due to their participation in the Asia Cup in Sri Lanka.
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Goswami argues that the rapid development and popularity of franchise leagues are critical to the advancement of women’s cricket. “Franchise leagues like the WBBL, the Hundred, the WPL have produced a wealth of talented cricketers,” she stated. “It’s vital to create dedicated windows for these leagues in the cricket calendar. If these leagues overlap with bilateral series, we risk losing some of our top players, which will affect the quality of our tournaments.”
The remainder of 2024 is set to be an action-packed period for women’s cricket. After the conclusion of The Hundred on August 18, the WCPL will take place from August 22 to 30 in the Caribbean. This will be followed by the T20 World Cup in October, and the WBBL will kick off on October 27, running until December 1. Additionally, international home seasons will start for Australia, Bangladesh, South Africa, India, and New Zealand, with further international fixtures scheduled for December and January.
Goswami’s insights highlight a crucial juncture for women’s cricket, where aligning the global schedule to accommodate the growth of franchise leagues could be key. By prioritizing these leagues and ensuring they are integrated thoughtfully into the cricket calendar, the sport can continue to evolve and thrive on the international stage.