Growth thanks to women on big stage

AS the women’s Ashes wrapped at North Sydney Oval on Friday night, the takeaway from the Test and T20 played there is how important it is for female cricket to be showcased on the big stages.

More than 16,000 people witnessed international cricket during the week the Ashes came to Sydney and with the World T20 to be hosted in Australia as a stand-alone event in 2020, these games need to be given top billing.

Much like Cricket Australia backed its female players and delivered professional salaries, CEO James Sutherland said they now looked to ensure the big venues could be filled.

“We want the women’s game to very quickly get to a stage where we have to play in the big venues because we know that they’re going to pull a crowd and we know we can capitalise on those big crowds,” he said.

More exposure, bigger crowds, greater growth of the game – it’s a formula that is working in the division in which Sydney’s Ashes venue is nestled.

The North Shore junior district is setting the participation bar high in NSW with the number of girls’ teams growing from 11 in 2015/16 to 16 for the pre-Christmas spring season.

And the best kind of advertising for the sport is the likes of Ellyse Perry – whose Sydney Sixers capture the North Shore junior area – smashing double centuries and Beth Mooney finding the boundary at will to lead Australia to Ashes victory.

Cricket NSW general manager, game development Ivan Sprydz said these were the moments they now capitalised on for junior player numbers.

“The fact (Perry) is wearing Sixers magenta is great for the Sixers and that she’s from New South Wales is fantastic for us,” Sprydz said.

“That initial impact (of that) is kids going: ‘ I want to play cricket just like these girls are’ and ‘ How do I play cricket?’ which is why we’ve divided our competitions into two different seasons – spring season: preChristmas and a new competition to start post-season in January, February, March.”