A victory for women

British women have demonstrated growing prowess in traditional male-dominated sports like cricket, rugby and football. But at the Commonwealth Games on the Australian Gold Coast, it was a game associated predominantly with female players that brought about one of the tournament’s great upsets. The England netball side defeated the red-hot favourites Australia to take the gold medal, with Helen Housby scoring in the final second to secure a 52-51 victory. Though there is growing interest in male and mixed netball, this is a sport where the performance of women stands on its own merits. In any case, they have done something which English sportsmen often struggle to do against Australia – beat them.