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Diversity makes London top-class venue, says sports chief
THE head of the International Cricket Council has hailed London and the UK as a “top-class” centre for sport.
Just days before the start of the Women’s World Cup, David Richardson said the capital’s diversity meant cricket had a “huge following” — and that the women’s game was “leading the way” in increasing its interest.
The former South African player said: “The beauty of playing sports in the UK, number one, is that they have a huge number of grounds that are capable of hosting international cricket.
“And another thing of course is they have the international diversity here. [It means the] India vs Pakistan match is an absolute sell-out. There is a huge fol- lowing. The facilities are top-class and there is a support for all the teams.”
Speaking about how the England Women’s team had helped raise interest, he added: “England and Australia have led the way, closely followed by New Zealand. Because of the success of those teams the likes of South Africa, India, Pakistan — they don’t want to be left out, they have upped their ante.” Talking about the future of the women’s game, he said: “The most important thing is the state of mind. [It has gone] from this is something that needs to be done for an ethical, moral point of view.
“People are realising, ‘Hold on, no, this needs to be done from a business point of view.’ We need to make sure we grow women’s cricket, we need to make sure we grow and increase the number of female fans.
“It’s not because it is the right thing to do, there is actually a good business case. We want cricket to become in 20 years’ time the world’s most favourite sport. We want women to be a part of that.” Richardson said the ICC would continue to “capitalise” on a “global trend for women’s sport generally”.