Going through previews for Day 4 of the recently concluded Ashes Test match in Canberra, one could not help but notice that most journalists had predicted a draw. No one could have blamed Australia, who were already ahead in the multi-format Ashes, if they had batted all day.
But Meg Lanning decided to throw England a challenge. She asked them to chase 257 runs in 48 overs. And Heather Knight took it up. England went for it, sized control, conceded control, and eventually finished on 245/9 to provide one of the greatest Test matches of all time.
Despite the cricketers having played at the rate of roughly one Test match a year over their careers.
In a four-day Test match. With a chunk of Day 3 lost to rain. Without a proper red-ball cricket tournament in place in the domestic circuit.
Consider a scenario where the County Championship and the Sheffield Shield are both discontinued for a few years. Every match is played with the white ball, with field restrictions, bowlers trying to contain, batters trying to accelerate.
Then, suddenly, they are asked to play a Test match.
Since it is a four-day match, chances of a draw are high, particularly with rain predictions.
And if it is a dull draw – as it often is – it will not be great advertisement for the format.
So, the cricketers, devoid of any actual practice in the format, are expected to perform right away and produce attractive cricket.
One wonders whether their male counterparts – who are guaranteed five Test matches despite the recent one-sided nature of the Ashes in Australia – would have accepted such conditions.
Especially if they have no idea when they will play any red-ball cricket – let alone Test cricket – next.
But that has always been the case for women’s cricket. The cricketers are expected not only to win matches but also to attract crowds.
India Women might have reached the final of the most recent editions of both the World Cup and the T20 World Cup, but that has not resulted in BCCI launching the Women’s IPL. Worse, the Women’s T20 Challenge – a ridiculously short tournament in the first place – has been discontinued without a formal reason.
All this, because it is assumed (but not established) that the Women’s IPL would not attract crowd, despite the success of the Women’s Hundred or the Super League in England or the Women’s Big Bash League in Australia, or the remarkable crowd during the Women’s T20 Challenge matches in Jaipur.
The fact that the Ranji Trophy will finally be played in 2021/22 comes as great news, for the cricketers as well as anyone professionally involved with Indian domestic cricket, with or without contracts.
While that came as a relief, the fact that there was no corresponding announcement regarding resumption of women’s domestic cricket went largely unnoticed.
Test cricket, domestic cricket, and the IPL represent different levels and brands of cricket. However, when it comes to discrimination between genders, the administrators keep competing with each other.
And in each case, there is exactly one gender that needs to prove its popularity before playing.
The women, just like their male counterparts, are supposed to win matches. For that, they can play boring cricket if needed. It is not their job to make the cricket attractive enough to crowds.
That is a job for the boards and administrators, something they have been failing miserably at, without visible repercussions.