Published: Aug 26, 2018, 04:44 PM (IST)
Edited: Aug 26, 2018, 04:44 PM (IST)
The International Cricket Council Chief Executive Dave Richardson proclaimed that the ICC’s aim is to make cricket the number one sport for women in the nest 5-10 years.
Speaking on the sidelines of the ICC Women’s World T20 2018 preparations in the West Richardson said, “Cricket is uniquely placed to be a sport that can be played by women, followed by women,” Richardson said. “Certainly, within 5-10 years, we want cricket to be the No.1 sport for women”.
The Women World T20 will be held in the West Indies in November this year and is the first stand-alone Women’s World T20. Richardson said it is a chance for the local communities to put their stamp on it.
“We want this event to belong to the community, as opposed to the ICC,” he said, adding: “We want to be more inclusive. Cricket is for everyone. Certainly this event provides an opportunity for the communities to get involved and we’re going to make accessibility to the event and coming to the matches very easy and affordable to do.”
Richardson hoped the tournament would mark another leap forward for the women’s game.
“There’s a groundswell of support for the women’s sport across the world, particularly in places like Australia, England and India, [where] cricket is taking off. The momentum was created by the [WWC 17] final at Lord’s, a full house. No one thought that would happen, but it did.”
“This is just another step towards the incredible growth we’ve seen in women’s cricket. This is a stepping stone towards the WT20 2020 in Australia where we’re going to be in a 100,000 seater stadium and hopefully have that as a full house for the final. So, hopefully, we’ll get a full house here in Antigua for this final as well,” he added.
The WWT20 is set to take place in Guyana, St Lucia, and Antigua and Barbuda.
