India vs. England was the final, for the Women’s World Cup 2017 this whole tournament has created history as they have had sellout matches, not just for the final but at the group stages as well. This has been great recognition for the Women’s cricket and the final was a brilliant match both England and India were playing fabulously, on the day. Both India’s and England’s bowling and fielding was fantastic they were giving it their all, and the match had come down to the wire. England were victorious in this game but India gave it their all.
This is definitely a celebration of women’s cricket because the game has come into the limelight and is finally getting the recoginition it deserves. The success of the World Cup 2017 will definitely generate more interest for the game, and will encourage the audiences to come and watch the games more in the future.
The Kia Super League in England and Women’s Big Bash in Australia are great at encouraging the best women players to get competitive cricket in. Which allows them to flourish in their careers we need more leagues like this, as hidden talent will emerge from these type of leagues as well. Also the World Cup final was the most watched game in the history of Women’s cricket. Nation vs. Nation is still unmatched the feelings that the match evokes, especially the World Cup leads to more interest once again in the game.
Talk of adding the Women’s cricket game has been going on Gaurav Kalra wrote for espn.co.uk “Imagine this as a four-year playing cycle for women’s cricket: a World T20 every two years, and a World Cup and the Olympics each every four years. Each year would feature a competition with a meaningful outcome that energises the support base and creates a well-defined aspiration for the players. Teams will seek dominance by aiming to capture each of the major titles in sequence, year after year. The chasing pack will have the opportunity to topple the winners from the previous year. Winning gold at the Olympics will be the crowning glory of a playing career, and those who pull off the feat will script storylines that will be held up as examples for the players making their way into the game.”
Gaurav has raised a very good point it would be the right time now to include the Women’s game in the Olympics. As this will allow the globalisation of cricket to continue, the game is gaining momentum worldwide but adding the Olympics into the mix will definitely help generate more interest, and to some extent might help accelerate the interest in the game as well. It would be great for the players to be able to have the dream of winning an Olympic Gold medal, it would be another pinnacle to achieve in their careers.
So I am definitely hoping to see cricket added to the Olympics in the near future the format which would fit in best would be the T20 game.