LEFT ARM OVER
NEIL MANTHORP: Women’s cricket can change world for the better
"In the women’s game there is every reason to believe the game can empower women and educate men towards a much better world"
It has been a quiet week of satisfied reflection for SA’s Test cricketers and one of frustrated but proud reflection for the women’s team which came agonisingly close to reaching Sunday’s final at Lord’s after losing to hosts England by just two wickets with a couple of balls to spare.
Many regular cricket watchers had never seen a women’s match before this tournament and many of the game’s stars had spent up to a decade in relative obscurity before suddenly becoming household names – at least in cricketing homes.
The women’s game in SA has taken greater strides in a shorter space of time than in any other nation, mostly thanks to the sponsorship of Momentum which enabled the top six players to be retained on full-time, professional contracts just more than three years ago. They soon realised that it was counterintuitive if not counterproductive to have half a professional team and quickly doubled the number of contracts. For the first time, the country’s best players were able to concentrate on improving their fitness and skills without worrying how they were going to earn, beg or borrow their next rent cheque. If the effect on aspirant women cricketers in SA has been significant, on India’s female population it would be astronomic. Kolkatta Knight Riders captain and former national opener, Gautam Gambhir, went so far as to say that victory in Sunday’s sold-out final at Lord’s would have a greater impact on the country than the men’s World Cup triumph in 2011. Sadly for India, but gloriously...
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