Refund for those who saw women play in the Hundred

CRICKET’S controversial new tournament – The Hundred – became embroiled in a sexism row last night after more than 13,000 fans at Lord’s were offered a full refund despite having seen an entire women’s match.

Tickets are sold as double-headers: a women’s match then a men’s match. When yesterday’s men’s match – a local derby between London Spirit and the Oval Invincibles – was rained off without a ball being bowled, it triggered the clause for a full repayment to fans.

The England and Wales Cricket Board said last night that the refund arrangements had been set up “before we moved to double-header fixtures” and promised that they would now reassess their policy. “With the women’s competition securing amazing support from fans,” the spokesperson said, “we need to consider if our current approach is now the appropriate one.”

The broadcaster and MCC member Isabelle Duncan – whose book Skirting the Boundary is a history of women’s cricket – described the ticket rules last night as a “blunder”.

“The Hundred was supposed to be the chance for women’s cricket to be placed on an equal footing,” she said. “But this reflects badly on the England and Wales Cricket Board, and it sends out the wrong message, because it is implying that women’s cricket has no financial value.

“Last week we heard about the massive salary gap between the male and female players, and now this. You might say that it’s a technicality, but somebody at the ECB should have seen this one coming.”

The Hundred opened last week with a women’s match between the Oval Invincibles and the Manchester Originals, which drew over 7,300 fans. Yesterday’s match almost doubled that figure, the biggest crowd recorded for a modern domestic women’s match.