The number of women's and girls’ cricket teams in England and Wales has grown by a fifth over the last year as the ECB continues to ramp up its efforts to equalise the game.
Only months after the body set itself the target of tripling the number of girls’ teams in the country to 6,000 by 2026, a new impact report has found more than 700 new teams were set up in 2023, while the number of fixtures played by women’s teams also increased by 22 per cent.
Earlier this year, a report by the Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket issued a scathing assessment of the sport’s attitude towards women’s cricket, which it said was treated as “subordinate to the men’s game”, while female participants “routinely experience sexism and misogyny”.
“The historical ecosystem hasn’t been there to support the women’s game so we need to re-engineer that and do it really quickly,” ECB chief executive Richard Gould said on Tuesday. “I see it as a huge opportunity when you’re trying to grow a game. Why wouldn’t you want to make sure every club in the country has both men and women, boys and girls playing?”
At elite level, the women’s game once again shattered all manner of attendance and viewership records this year, with 122,000 people attending England games, up from 51,000 in 2022, while more than 310,000 fans watched women’s matches in the Hundred.
Talks over the future of that competition are continuing behind the scenes, with Gould suggesting there will be “another two or three months of discussions” before a final decision is reached, but it is expected that the ECB will open up its teams for private investment, with the strength of the women’s tournament seen as part of the lure.
“In terms of investment coming into the Hundred, coming into cricket, when you look at the number of tickets sold this summer, for the Ashes for men and women, investment follows interest,” Gould said. “I think there is huge recognition that this is an investment opportunity as well as an opportunity to correct decades where we’ve abandoned women in our sport. I think it’s a perfect coming together over the next five to ten years.
“Broadcasters and sponsors want to be connected to a game where there is genuine equality.”
In August, the ECB raised match fees for England’s female players to match their male counterparts and while financial restraints mean the body has so far been unable to meet several other ICEC recommendations around equal pay - most notably in terms of central contracts - Gould reiterated his commitment to building a fairer game.
“[We’re] trying to set examples in terms of priority that is placed,” he added. “When you see what we’ve been trying to do with match fees for example, it’s there to demonstrate to talented girls that if you want to be a professional cricket is the choice of sport.
“It’s going to cost money but what else would we be spending it on? For me, it's the greatest investment you could possibly make. Up until ten years ago, it was not seen as accessible or open to half the population. How nuts is that?”
