Women’s S’PORT is 100 per cent worth supporting
Go on, go ahead and say women aren’t as good at sport as men; that no-one watches and no-one cares.
In fact, say that to White Fern and Wellington Blaze superstar Sophie Devine as the side heads into a weekend of double-headers drawing attention to the role of women in sport through Cricket Wellington’s ‘‘S’PORT women’s sport. 100% worth supporting’’ campaign.
‘‘Nine times out of 10 I say ‘have you ever watched a women’s game?’ and they often say ‘oh well, mumble, mumble ... no’. For me, it’s about going down, seeing it for themselves,’’ she said.
‘‘We’re not men’s cricket. We’re not claiming to be. We are completely different. We have different skills to the men ... and that’s what makes the women’s game so exciting.
‘‘The way women go about constructing an innings with the bat, being able to manipulate the field, the ability with the ball . . . you see more swing bowlers in the women’s game, which requires a lot of skill.’’
Devine’s statistics speak for themselves. Last week she set the record for the fastest century in T20 women’s cricket, off just 36 balls. She went on to make 108 not out, off 38 balls, which is the highest individual score of the Super Smash season – by a man or woman.
She also has the leading strike rate of 260. Her nearest rival, Firebird Finn Allen, is on 194. Women also hold top positions for best bowling stats, most fours scored, most wickets, the best economy rate, and dot balls in a bowling spell.
There is an appetite for women’s cricket, both in New Zealand and abroad. Investment, and support of the women’s game, has flourished particularly in Australia, with a focus on the Women’s Big Bash League – the Australian equivalent of the Super Smash.
Devine has been with the league since the start, and played for the Perth Scorchers this season.
She’s seen the swell of support grow, both by broadcasters and crowds. That also translated to the 2019 T20 World Cup, which had a crowd of more than 86,000 at the final
at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
‘‘Seeing the growth of that [WBBL] competition is incredible. It’s on TV a lot more regularly than at the start. Even little things like the scheduling – the first couple of seasons we would play two games in a day. Looking back . . . it’s absolutely ridiculous and doesn’t seem very high performance at all. But that was
the way it was, to cram in as much cricket as possible,’’ Devine said.
The level of cricket had also increased as more resources, funding and support had been invested in the game and in women, she said.
‘‘You’re seeing players who are more athletic, who are starting to dive, throw, catch; all these incredible things in the field. The standard of the game is improving and that’s helping bring the crowds in too,’’ she said.
Visibility of the women’s game had also increased in New Zealand. Super Smash double headers, broadcast on Spark Sport, had exposed women’s cricket to a new audience, and hopefully inspiring the next generation into sport.
‘‘For so long we’ve been hidden away . . . playing at grounds that noone can get to or have heard of because it hasn’t been promoted. Now we’re playing at some awesome grounds. People know the games are on.
‘‘At the end of the day we just want people to be active, whether it’s male or female, young kids, older people, it doesn’t matter. We just want people to be active, for this to be out there and engaging with the public is something I’m proud to be part of.’’
The S’PORT campaign also aligns with the Government’s Women and Girls in Sport and Active Recreation Strategy, which aims to attract and retain female participants in sport, from playing and coaching, to leadership and governance roles.
S’PORT creator, double Olympian and former WNBA playerturned-director Megan Compain from agency EightyOne, worked alongside Cricket Wellington and hopes ‘‘people can get behind’’ the new movement.
‘‘Supporting women’s sport doesn’t mean you’re not supporting men’s sport. We want to make sure we’re giving our female athletes and teams the best opportunity to shine,’’ she said.
‘‘There’s such a bigger consideration and opportunity to really get some momentum behind our female athletes and grow the game so we can keep women and girls in sport.’’
Cricket Wellington has extended an invitation to other sporting codes across the capital to support the Blaze tomorrow and Monday.
‘‘Sport is beneficial to be involved with,’’ she said
‘‘Eventually we don’t want to ask people or thank people for supporting women’s sport … we just want to say ‘it’s sport’ . . . and thank everyone for supporting female athletes the way they support male athletes because it’s just good sport.
‘‘We want to raise awareness that our female athletes and teams are just as impressive [as the men].’’
Cricket plays host to one of four major sporting events in the next three years. In September New Zealand will host the Rugby World Cup, followed by the Cricket World Cup in February 2022. In May 2022 leading sports thinkers and leaders from around the world will participate in the International Working Group’s world conference for women and sport, which is followed by the Fifa Women’s Football World Cup cohosted by New Zealand and Australia in July 2023.
Cricket will also appear at the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games.
Cricket World Cup chief executive Andrea Nelson said it’s positive to see Wellington – one of seven host cities for the World Cup – leading the way in this area.
‘‘It’s really exciting a partner like Cricket Wellington is taking the initiative to not just sell women’s cricket, but the wider cause of women’s sport. It gives us great confidence it’s going to be a brilliant host for 2022.’’