There was an immense build-up for the much-anticipated, high-octane Australian summer starting with the Indian men’s team battling out against the Aussies in a first of its kind, 5-match Test series, famously known as the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT).
Meanwhile, the landmark 10th edition of the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) recently concluded with a new winner in the form of Melbourne Renegades led by skipper Sophie Molineux. The Renegades defeated the Brisbane Heat led by skipper Jess Jonassen by 7 runs in a rain-curtailed encounter in the final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on 1st December 2024.
To add to that, the Indian women’s team led by skipper Harmanpreet Kaur is in Australia for a three-match ODI series from 5th December to 11th December 2024. All these matches have taken a backseat in the limelight of the ongoing BGT, at least in terms of branding and advertisement.
“Why not spend those dollars on the women’s game to elevate it,” the former Australian cricketer Lisa Sthalekar emphasizes the better use of the financial resources from the Australian Cricket Board in terms of investing in the women’s game.
Cricket Australia was the first cricket board to launch a women’s franchise league coined as the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) in the year 2015, alongside the men’s competition. Over the last decade, the tournament has successfully churned out world-class domestic talent who have gone on to represent Australia at the international level.
In fact, it wouldn’t be wrong to say that one of the core reasons for Australia’s supreme dominance and their invincible aura at the international level in the women’s game is to the success of the WBBL. However, with the emergence of a few other franchise leagues around the world, the likes of The Hundred [England] in 2021, Women’s Premier League (WPL) [India] in 2023, the Women’s Caribbean Premier League (WCPL) [West Indies] in 2022, Australia’s very own, and the kind of a pivotal women’s franchise tournament seems to be gradually falling behind in the race.
The lack of innovative branding, and advertisement to go along with a bit of a lack of awareness within the local group of fans in terms of the season fixtures and venues and to add to it, the inadequate use of technology could possibly be the reasons for setback for the franchise tournament, in terms of the reach and popularity among its audiences.
Lisa expressed, “Not only has cricket dropped the ball on a domestic front, the WBBL has fallen behind its competitors overseas… The Hundred was launched in 2021 where the women played alongside the men. The tournament has been extremely successful with clubs playing their men’s and women’s team in back-to-back games 30 minutes apart. The WBBL did that with the BBL but with as much as 90-minute between games with few sticking around to watch the men, nor coming in early to watch the women.”
“Despite a 23 percent increase in attendance, the one thing that the WBBL has in spades is talent. Any player that has played in all three competitions will always state that the WBBL is the hardest competition to play in. Our domestic players are hardened cricketers,” Lisa spoke about the positives and highlights the traits that still potentially separate them from the rest, especially in terms of competitiveness.
The Australian women’s team, after the conclusion of their three-match ODI series at home against India, will head to New Zealand for a three-match ODI series from 19th to 23rd December 2024.
“I hope the women’s Ashes is a different story in the new year, as we celebrate 90 years of women’s Test cricket with a day-nighter at the MCG — the first of its kind on that ground,” the former Australian cricketer shared, hoping for an improved buildup and overall viewership and fan engagement, while also celebrating the landmark moment for Women’s Tests during the upcoming all-important Women’s Ashes, earlier next year.
They will return home from New Zealand to host the high-octane multi-format Women’s Ashes from 12th January 2025 to 2nd February 2025. The all-format series will include a three-match ODI series followed by a three-match T20I series and then a one-off day-night Test match at the Melbourne Cricket Stadium (MCG).
(Quotes sourced from Lisa Sthalekar’s column for The Nightly)
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