Women get Bash at Ten broadcast

Fusion tackle champs in T20 final

WOMEN’S cricket has been given a big endorsement as the new force in Australian sport, with broadcaster Network Ten deciding to upgrade Saturday week’s WBBL Melbourne derby from ONE to its main free-to-air channel.

Ten claims a major factor behind the landmark promotion it has given the MCG game is its steadfast belief that Melbourne Stars and Australian captain Meg Lanning is one of the country’s most genuine sporting luminaries, male or female.

The WBBL already swamped the A-League soccer 3-1 in a stunning ratings result, to highlight its potential, and now that a marquee fixture has been moved to Ten’s primary channel, women’s cricket has a golden opportunity.

Ten Big Bash League (BBL) boss David Barham lauded the ICC’s premier women’s cricketer Lanning as a superstar with the broad appeal to take the game to the masses.

“She’s the best women’s cricketer in the world and it’s a good chance for everyone to have a look and see how good Meg Lanning is,’’ he said.

‘‘That was a factor in our decision.

“She’s an Australian sportsperson that everyone knows and if we’ve got a chance to showcase any elite sportsperson, female or male, we’ll take it.

“A lot of people will enjoy watching Meg Lanning bat.

“I think this is worth a shot.”

Already, the number of women’s matches broadcast live could grow considerably next season, and if Lanning’s THE Far North Fusion continue to prepare for next Tuesday’s Twenty20 Country Challenge final against rival North Queensland Monsoons at the Gabba.

Eight teams competed in the pool games of the fourth Country Challenge at Mackay’s Harrup Park in October with the Fusion and Monsoons each qualifying for the much anticipated final.

The fixture will played as a curtain raiser to the Big Bash game between Brisbane Heat and Hobart Hurricanes.

“The Country Challenge is a great opportunity for cricketers from across Queensland to Stars and the Renegades hit it out of the park at the MCG, the sky is the limit as far as Cricket Australia (CA) and Ten are concerned.

Barham said the network will throw everything at its Saturday week broadcast starting at 1.40pm.

Top personality Mel McLaughlin will host and provide sideline interviews, and Mel Jones, Lisa Sthalekar and Andrew Maher will commentate.

The men’s Melbourne derby will follow on a bumper day of sport for Ten.

Last weekend the WBBL clash between the Heat and Strikers on ONE pulled a national average audience of 250,000 – three times the size of the A-League’s average.

The Sixers v Scorchers match also had a national average of 183,000.

On the primary channel, Barham hopes the numbers will rise even higher.

“The numbers have been really good and we want to have a look and see what happens,” he said.

“… there’s only one way to find out.

“The quality of the coverage has an impact on what people think of the players without a shadow of a doubt and (making the broadcast as professional as the men’s BBL) is a subtle thing but something we see as really important.”

CA split the broadcast costs with Ten 50-50 in its bid to encourage as many young women and girls as possible to pick up a bat and ball. come together with their teams and compete against one another,” Queensland cricket legend and Fusion mentor Jimmy Maher told The Cairns Post.

“It’s also wonderful for the Bulls Masters to get involved and mentor a team from their hometown or the regions where they grew up.

“The North Qld Monsoons are the defending Country Challenge champions, which will make the final even more thrilling as the Fusion look to cause an upset.”

The Country Challenge final gets under way on Tuesday from 12.45pm.