By Tim Wigmore
he women’s cricket
team from England
beat India by nine runs
on July 23 to win the
World Cup at a place
that not so long ago
shunned female players. Lord’s,
the London ground often
referred to as the “Home of
Cricket,” drew a full house for
the title game — another break-
through in a tournament full of
them.
For the first time since the
Women’s World Cup began in
1973 (two years before the men’s
tournament began), the players
received daily expenses equal to
those provided for men in
International Cricket Council
events, and the visiting teams
flew to England for the tournament in business class, as has
long been the norm for men.
Prize money increased to $2
million, 10 times the figure for
the previous tournament, which
was held in India in 2013. The
competition, which started
among eight teams on June 24,
had attracted a global television
audience of more than 50 million for the matches before the
final, an 80 percent increase
from 2013.
“There has never been a bet-
ter time for girls to play,” said
Heather Knight, England’s cap-
tain. “The support has been fan-
tastic throughout the tourna-
ment. Hopefully after our suc-
cess, we can grow the game in
this country.”
England’s win, its fourth in 11
editions of the tournament, was
watched by more than 26,500
ticket holders, about six times
the previous high mark for a
women’s match at Lord’s —
4,426 attended the 1993 final.
Yet perhaps the most signifi-
cant legacy of the tournament
will be greater interest in the
women’s game in India, the eco-
nomic powerhouse of men’s
cricket. (Appearing in its second
final on July 23, India squan-
dered a dominant position as it
was on the verge of winning its
first World Cup.)
“These girls have really set
the platform for the upcoming
generations in India, they’ve
opened up the channels for
women’s cricket and they should
be really proud of themselves,”
said Mithali Raj, India’s captain.
“Every official has been very
encouraging and positive about
the way the team has per-
formed.”
Raj made her international
debut in 1999, and as a teenager,
she said, she did not even realize
there was a national women’s
team.
“It’s not the same for the cur-
rent generation of young girls,”
she said. “A lot of young girls in
school are taking up the sport.”
In 2015, India introduced
national contracts for its elite
players, becoming the last of the
top eight women’s teams to do
so. Shortly before the July 23
final, the country’s Board of
Control for Cricket announced a
bonus of 5 million rupees
($77,500) for each team member,
regardless of the outcome in the
championship match. That fig-
ure is about three times the
annual salary for a leading
female player in India.
Raj said she hoped that the
board would also create a
women’s equivalent of the
Indian Premier League, the
lucrative men’s competition in
Twenty20 cricket, the shortest
format of the sport.
The women’s game “has
made tremendous strides,” said
Enid Bakewell, a former member
of England’s team who was the
leading run scorer in the inaugu-
ral Women’s World Cup. “It’s
moved on phenomenally
because we’re being treated
more as equals — but not com-
pletely yet.”
The first World Cup fell short
of the necessary number of
teams, so the field had to be
padded with an International XI
(a group of players who missed
qualifying for the other squads)
and a Young England squad
(players younger than 25). None
of the teams in 1973 came from
the subcontinent, where men’s
cricket is most popular, and the
competition was so in need of
publicity that Rachael Heyhoe-
Flint, England’s captain, wrote
reports for newspapers. Lord’s
would not agree to stage any of
the matches.
“I had to work part time to get
time off to play cricket,” said
Bakewell, who was a swimming
instructor.
“During the tournament, I
wasn’t being paid, so I’d go with-
out hairdos and makeup when I
was playing.”
A generation later, Clare
Connor, a former star for
England who is now the head of
women’s cricket in the country,
made her first international tour,
through India in 1995. She and
her teammates received no
match fees and had to pay 500
pounds (about $650) toward
their airfare and accommoda-
tions.
The athletes also had to buy
their own uniforms, and they
played in skirts instead of the
practical trousers that today’s
teams wear.
For the International Cricket
Council, the interest in this
year’s tournament has increased
T
INDIA ABROAD August 4, 2017 38 SPORTS
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The Breakthrough
Women’s cricket, long sidelined, moves into spotlight
Left, England players pose after
winning the ICC Women’s World Cup
cricket final between England and
India at Lord’s cricket ground in
London on July 23. Center, India’s
Jhulan Goswami, center, waits to
receive a runners up medal after
losing the ICC Women’s World Cup
cricket final.
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