Men’s game prioritised during Covid admits ICC

‘‘Our members made some trade-offs and choices as consolidated and emerged from this health emergency and that saw a shortterm prioritisation of the men’s game but it won’t last long.’’

ICC statement

The International Cricket Council (ICC) says it’s ‘‘committed’’ to the women’s game, even though the men’s game was prioritised during Covid-19.

The ICC’s response also follows a damning report released last week showing globally female cricketers are experiencing bullying and intimidation, given fewer opportunities to forge a career in the sport, play on subpar facilities, and feel their voices aren’t being heard.

In a statement to Stuff cricket’s global governing body acknowledges Covid-19 has had a ‘‘profound impact’’ and adjustments to both men’s and women’s games were ‘‘inevitable.’’

‘‘Our members made some trade-offs and choices as consolidated and emerged from this health emergency and that saw a short-term prioritisation of the men’s game, but it won’t last long.

‘‘ Strategically women’s cricket remains a priority for the ICC, it is a central plank of our future strategy,’’ the statement said.

‘‘We have come too far to revert to women’s cricket of 10 or even five years ago.

‘‘In the longer-term our ambition remains the same around the women’s game and cricket more generally. We want to strengthen and grow the game and women’s cricket will play a significant role in that.

‘‘The appeal of women’s cricket has not diminished because of the pandemic.’’

The report from Federation of International Cricketers Associations found two-thirds of players feel insecure with their cricket employment, nearly half feel they do not have enough access to mental health support, 25 per cent have felt bullied or intimated by their employer, and 41 per cent say they are playing on sub-par facilities.

Major barriers also stem from limited playing opportunities and funding of the women’s game.

Calls were made last week from Federation executive chairman Heath Mills from New Zealand, who asked for the ICC to take affirmative action in addressing gender inequality in the game.

‘‘The ICC needs to provide some leadership ... design a future tours programme and compel all the countries to participate within it,’’ he said.

‘‘The ICC provides countries with significant funding ... there needs to be a global push and requirement for more countries around the world to provide more playing opportunities for their female players.’’

New Zealand Cricket said in a statement last week it ‘‘continues to lobby’’ for a future tours programme for women ‘‘at ICC level’’, before announcing the White Ferns will host 12 international games against Australia and England from late February to April.

The ICC said it continues to work with all the member cricket nations to ‘‘shape the FTP (future tours programme)’’ in the build up to the Cricket World Cup in 2022 and provide framework to allow female cricketers to play both international and domestic cricket.

‘‘Increasing the volume of women’s cricket is a high priority for us,’’ it said.

’’In addition, the ICC Board has also supported a qualification event for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games – again providing more competition opportunities.

The ICC said it is ‘‘driven by gender equity’’ and has committed equal prize money for both men’s and women’s ICC tournaments ‘‘by the end of the next media rights cycle.’’

‘‘We have already made progress in this regard, and the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup is a good example here.

For the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in 2020, there was an overall increase of 320% in the prize pot, as compared to 2018.

That meant all the 10 competing teams received more for their participation, as part of efforts to drive improved standards throughout the game and not just rewarding the top end,’’ it said.

Prize money for the 2022 Women’s Cricket World Cup hosted by New Zealand is $5.5 million (NZD). Prize money for the 2019 Men’s Cricket World Cup was approximately $14 million (NZD).