Smaller balls, shorter pitches, women’s Ashes model discussed during 100% Innovation webinar

On June 10, a webinar was organized by the International Cricket Council (ICC), during which innovation in women’s cricket was discussed. Under the umbrella of 100% Innovation programme, the webinar was organized which saw New Zealand skipper Sophie Devine and India batter Jemimah Rodrigues talking about the possible changes that can be made to women’s cricket to make it more exciting. Former Australia cricketer Melanie Jones was the moderator.

Though there is no doubt that the popularity of men’s cricket is enormous, women’s cricket is slowly but steadily gaining pace. In order to garner more eye balls for the women’s game and make their cricket more interesting, the ICC organized a webinar where possible innovations were discussed.  Few of the points that came up were shorter pitches, smaller balls, and multi-format series on the lines of women’s Ashes.

During the webinar, Sophie Devine advocated the use of a smaller, lighter ball in the women's game that would help the girls to play aggressive cricket. “I'm a bigger fan of looking at a smaller ball but keeping the pitch the same size. That way, I reckon bowlers are going to be able to bowl the ball quicker, spinners are going to be able to turn the ball more. Hopefully, the ball should fly a bit further as well, whereas you're still keeping the traditional length of the pitch. It's a very interesting one,” she said.

Under current regulations, the ball used in women's cricket is marginally smaller and lighter than that used in the men's cricket. According to the laws of the game and the ICC regulations, the ball should weigh 140-151g with a circumference of 21.0-22.5cm in women’s cricket, juxtaposed to 155.9-163g and 22.4-22.9cm respectively in men’s cricket.

Jemimah Rodrigues, on the other hand, reckoned that using a pitch shorter than 22 yards could help to attract more fans to the women's game. “You've got to accept the fact that there are slight differences between the men’s game and women’s game. But we can also be open to trying it out. If that is going to help the game improve and take it to the next level, then why not? At the end of the day, we want to promote the game. We want to get more people to watch the game and join the game. It’s a good idea, and you can be open to it,” she stated.

Both Rodrigues and Devine mentioned that they were fans of women's Ashes which is played across all three formats (Test, ODI, T20) and suggested that the format should be emulated by other boards.

In addition, both the players came out in support of the possibility of starting a women's Champions League T20 in which the winners of each country’s franchise competition will lock horns against each other for the ultimate championship.

“It would definitely be interesting to see a Big Bash team, an IPL team, a Super Smash team combine and playing. It’s not just about internationals playing, it’s also the domestic players from that particular team. It would be very interesting to see these teams clash, and you'd definitely have a lot of entertainment as well as a lot of good games and a lot more learning for the players,” Rodrigues said.

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