India Abroad - August 04, 2017

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

INDIA ABROAD August 4, 2017 38 SPORTS
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A F P P H O T O / A d r i a n D e n n i s

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.