Faster, better, richer: How women's cricket has changed since the 2017 World Cup

“Would you ask a male cricketer that?” Mithali Raj, India Women captain, had shot back at a reporter who wanted to know who her favourite male player was, on the eve of the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2017. Five years later, as the next edition of the Women’s World Cup comes around, the likelihood is high of Raj being asked the same questions by the media. The tone-deaf ones: “Who is your favourite male cricketer?” And the gendered ones, which presume the women, not administrators, bear the burden of deciding the future of the sport: “What will a win mean for women’s cricket in India?” “How will you inspire young girls?” “Should we have a women’s IPL?” Because the more things change, the more they remain the same. For the past 22 years of her career, going into her sixth 50-over World Cup and third as captain, Raj has been fielding versions of the same. And through that, the situation for the Indian team remains identical: Runners-up twice, they are still waiting for their maiden title. And that win could boost women’s cricket in the country, inspire girls and — finally, finally! — spark the long-pending women’s IPL. But this isn’t a story of the unchanged melodies. This is about the paradigm shifts that have happened in women’s cricket in just half a decade. Women’s cricket at the 2022 World Cup will be vastly different from — and superior to — the sport in the 2017 edition. In these five years, women’s cricket has enjoyed a rich growth spurt to become faster, more professional and more commercially lucrative. And, like the rest of us, the sport too has been changed by the pandemic. The numbers “The impacts of the 2017 World Cup have obviously changed the way we play,” Meg Lanning, Australia captain, said ahead of the 2022 tournament. Since their exit in the semi-final last time at the hands of India, the favourites for the title this year have dug deep. They pioneered a new wave of ODI cricket, characterised by attacking opening batting, a brisk run-rate in the middle, tall, fast bowlers, and an ability to quickly adapt when things don’t go to plan. This template has carried them to a record 26 unbeaten games in a row. [caption id=“attachment_9995931” align=“alignnone” width=“640”]  Australia have dominated the women’s game since the 2017 World Cup, going on a 26-match unbeaten run in ODIs that was broken only last year. Twitter@CricketAus[/caption] While Australia are now at the pinnacle of the advances in women’s cricket batting, they aren’t the only ones batting better. With the proliferation of domestic T20 leagues, the ODI game worldwide has benefitted. Overall, for all teams, scoring has become faster and batters more powerful. Where the average run-rate in the 2013–17 cycle was 4.16, teams now get their runs at 4.51 per over. (Australia score at an incredible 5.44, as per ESPN stats.) Where 1.24 sixes were hit every match in the previous cycle, this has more than doubled to 2.75 sixes per match in 2017–22. The average first innings total is also up, and with teams chasing down taller totals than ever, the average winning first-innings score is close to 270. Teams are aiming to score above 250 this World Cup. And history means little as new records are chased down. The money The winner at the 2022 World Cup will take home prize money of $1.32 million, double the amount England won in 2017. The ICC announced an increase of 75 per cent in the “overall prize money pot”. While this is still a fraction of what the men’s winners get, it reflects another big change of the past five years: There is more money than ever in women’s sport. When they played the 2017 World Cup, India’s cricketers earned either INR 15 lakh or 10 lakh annually. In 2018, this was increased by almost 230 per cent to INR 50 lakh, 20 lakh and 10 lakh. In addition, big-name sponsors are signing up them up or featuring women’s cricket in ads in an acknowledgement of the commercial viability of women’s sport. [caption id=“attachment_10423331” align=“alignnone” width=“640”]  The captains pose with the trophy ahead of the 2022 Women’s World Cup. The winner of this edition will pocket a prize money of $1.32 million. Image credit: Twitter/@cricketworldcup[/caption] Since Lord’s was sold out for the 2017 final, the 2020 edition of the Women’s T20 Challenge and the 2020 Women’s T20 World Cup have broken audience figures on TV and digital platforms. Even as more women’s matches are broadcast or livestreamed, there’s an ever-growing appetite for more women’s sport. For example, The Hundred, launched in England in 2021 with an intent to platform more women, combined with women’s football in the country to draw record viewership for women’s sport. Significantly for administrators of sport and marketers, many of the new audience were first-time sports viewers and didn’t watch men’s sport. New attitudes The pandemic exposed the biases that women’s sport operates in; while authorities endeavoured to urgently get men’s cricket back, the same entrepreneurial spark was missing in organising women’s events. It meant the quality of sport suffered and the momentum built was lost. India Women, after making it to the 2020 T20 World Cup final, had to wait almost a year before they played their next cricket match. Some other Asian boards showed even less alacrity. But when it did take place, women’s cricket too adopted a more thoughtful approach to its players, with mental health conversations taking centre stage. “Any time you tour in COVID is really tough. It can be tricky to focus on cricket,” said Heather Knight, England captain, after her quarantine stint in New Zealand before the World Cup. “We’ve talked about being open and being honest about how we feel. As a side, it’s making sure (we’re) looking after people and being tolerant of things, if someone is having a bad day.” The uncertainties of COVID mean that a team will be allowed to take the field at the World Cup with only nine members, with non-playing female staff roped in to make the numbers. That rule change might perfectly encapsulate how this tournament will be different. “With everything that’s gone on in the last two years, it’s really nice to get a world event back on, after all the sacrifices and all the bubbles and the extra things you have to go through,” said Knight. “Everyone’s trying to just enjoy the tournament, embrace the cricket and put on a good show for everyone.” Karunya Keshav is a freelance journalist and co-author of The Fire Burns Blue — A history of women’s cricket in India Click here to read profiles of all Indian players _Click here for our full coverage of the 2022 Women's World Cup_ Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News ,  India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.