We all know that in the modern world, men and women are equal in all fields. Both men and women display equal power, skill, talent and dexterity in the world of sports. Womens' organizations have fought for equal winnings for both male and female tournaments, like the Tennis Grand Slams for example. Of course, it doesn't matter that men play five setters and women can't go for more than three. But, its fine, as long as they attract equal crowds. Purely due to their talent on-court. Not due to the lingerie they wear on court. Just talent. Maria Sharapova is as talented and powerful a player as Roger Federer. In fact, if Maria and Roger were to face off, the women's organizations would claim that Maria would knock the stuffing off Fedex. How about we change the format of tennis tournaments instead? In the first round, all the matches are gender-based, with a woman facing off against a man. Pure merit. May the best player win. I'm pretty sure the ladies' organizations would support that proposal.
The world has been fixated on men's cricket for a long time now. Despite the fact that women's cricket is capable of exhibiting similar depths of talent and skill as men's, it has been ignored by the cricketing boards, advertizers, and the cricket crazy population. This systemic bias against women's cricket has long led to complaints of women's cricket being treated as a second-class citizen to men's cricket, despite having similar earning potential. After all, there is nothing more watchable than 15 fully dressed women playing top quality cricket, is there?
Fortunately, BCCI has now decided to wake up to this huge untapped market. They are considering introduction of a cricket league for women on the lines of the IPL. The BCCI seems to be confident that the cricket-thirsty Indian public would pay through their noses to watch any cricketing action, as long as it is "made by BCCI".
I, for one, feel that such noble actions by the BCCI need to be encouraged. After all, the ICL is a renegade tournament, of poor quality, and does not deserve our attention. But women's sport is something else, altogether. Take, for example, the World Cup Qualifiers at Stellenbosch University held between Bermuda and South Africa. I'm sure we would all love to see more such matches. We have grown bored of batsmen hitting sixes and fours all the time, at the expense of the poor bowlers. Its time we restored balance. Its time we endorsed women's cricket.
Just look at the batsman in the photo there. She seems to be of the athletic kind, the type that could run a mile under six minutes. The stance and guard taken are perfect. A look at the scorecard reveals more aspects of professionalism in women's cricket, and why they deserve the same pay, prizes and public adulation as men. As many as three Bermudan players got off the mark. The 42 year old captain could give any test batsman a run for his money, with her determined 1 off 48 balls. The ten wides in the score of 13 that Bermuda made are proof of the fear the Bermudan batswomen generated among the South African bowlers. Also, as per the scorecard, the batsmen went to wrong ends after the break. Maybe they had a lot in their minds. Despite outwardly seeming to be unprofessional, they are actually very professional. After all, it is the effort that counts, not the end result, right?
The statement by the captain is also extremely touching. "I am extremely proud and our team is very proud to be here," she said. "Just a year and a half ago there was no women's programme so we went to Canada and qualified to come here which is an achievement in itself. In terms of women's cricket in Bermuda, it has come a long way but we still have a long way to go."
So, after a year and a half, Bermudan women have learnt how to enter a cricket field, and bowl at the gully, which would be an improvement from before, when the ball used to end up knocking umpires down after being released from the bowler's grip. They still don't know how to grip the bat, take guard, run for singles, hit fours, and bowl at the three stumps. But, considering that this is women's cricket, they don't have far to go. They might even be world champions in the next edition of the women's world cup.
Cheers to them.
PS: They "qualified" to come here from Canada. I really wonder whom they defeated to enter this qualifying round. Blind, deaf, one-limbed midgets?
The world has been fixated on men's cricket for a long time now. Despite the fact that women's cricket is capable of exhibiting similar depths of talent and skill as men's, it has been ignored by the cricketing boards, advertizers, and the cricket crazy population. This systemic bias against women's cricket has long led to complaints of women's cricket being treated as a second-class citizen to men's cricket, despite having similar earning potential. After all, there is nothing more watchable than 15 fully dressed women playing top quality cricket, is there?
Fortunately, BCCI has now decided to wake up to this huge untapped market. They are considering introduction of a cricket league for women on the lines of the IPL. The BCCI seems to be confident that the cricket-thirsty Indian public would pay through their noses to watch any cricketing action, as long as it is "made by BCCI".
I, for one, feel that such noble actions by the BCCI need to be encouraged. After all, the ICL is a renegade tournament, of poor quality, and does not deserve our attention. But women's sport is something else, altogether. Take, for example, the World Cup Qualifiers at Stellenbosch University held between Bermuda and South Africa. I'm sure we would all love to see more such matches. We have grown bored of batsmen hitting sixes and fours all the time, at the expense of the poor bowlers. Its time we restored balance. Its time we endorsed women's cricket.
Just look at the batsman in the photo there. She seems to be of the athletic kind, the type that could run a mile under six minutes. The stance and guard taken are perfect. A look at the scorecard reveals more aspects of professionalism in women's cricket, and why they deserve the same pay, prizes and public adulation as men. As many as three Bermudan players got off the mark. The 42 year old captain could give any test batsman a run for his money, with her determined 1 off 48 balls. The ten wides in the score of 13 that Bermuda made are proof of the fear the Bermudan batswomen generated among the South African bowlers. Also, as per the scorecard, the batsmen went to wrong ends after the break. Maybe they had a lot in their minds. Despite outwardly seeming to be unprofessional, they are actually very professional. After all, it is the effort that counts, not the end result, right?
The statement by the captain is also extremely touching. "I am extremely proud and our team is very proud to be here," she said. "Just a year and a half ago there was no women's programme so we went to Canada and qualified to come here which is an achievement in itself. In terms of women's cricket in Bermuda, it has come a long way but we still have a long way to go."
So, after a year and a half, Bermudan women have learnt how to enter a cricket field, and bowl at the gully, which would be an improvement from before, when the ball used to end up knocking umpires down after being released from the bowler's grip. They still don't know how to grip the bat, take guard, run for singles, hit fours, and bowl at the three stumps. But, considering that this is women's cricket, they don't have far to go. They might even be world champions in the next edition of the women's world cup.
Cheers to them.
PS: They "qualified" to come here from Canada. I really wonder whom they defeated to enter this qualifying round. Blind, deaf, one-limbed midgets?
2 comments:
About your comment on tennis, its a biological fact that women(yes including the williams sisters0) are weaker than men no matter how much they work-out and thats basically why it was 3 fr women n 5 for men basically. And no point in giving out different prize monies. but since i have the same opinion as yours about unfair 'equality' that feminists are proud of no further comments. completely agree with rest.
too strong an article, but still, makes an interestin read!
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