Women’s Cricket Set To Soar To New Heights

India won a historic World Cup (Photo by Pankaj Nangia/Getty Images)

Getty Images

When inspirational skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, her legend deepening with every step, sprinted across the Mumbai ground to dethrone Australia and signal a tilting of power in women’s cricket.

It was inevitable that the momentum from India’s semi-final victory for the ages would sweep into the final against South Africa and, by the end of a momentous tournament, Harmpanpreet lifted the trophy high into the sky in front of giddy compatriots.

Women’s cricket, which had found it hard to penetrate cultural differences in South Asia, will never be the same again.

With India’s heroes having become icons in their cricket mad homeland of a billion, the popularity of women’s cricket will soar and there is hope the game can start to seriously develop, particularly in other rather reticent South Asian countries.

Women’s cricket is also seen as the growth engine for the sport, with the incredible rise of Thailand – a country with no British roots – where investment has seen their women’s team rise to 11th in the Twenty20 world rankings.

The development has helped cricket be included in next month’s Southeast Asian Games, in several cities in Thailand, including Bangkok.

ForbesCricket Included In 2025 Southeast Asian GamesBy Tristan Lavalette

Thailand’s incredible success story underlines the possibilities of the women’s game, especially in non-traditional cricket countries.

Many countries – such as Brazil and Germany – have strategically looked at the women as the real growth area, where it is possible to lift up the rankings in comparison to the men’s.

“Women’s cricket is growing, it’s a flagship for us,”Deutscher Cricket Bund president Severin Weiss told me recently. “We have a strong pool of under-19 girls taking up cricket. I think it’s fair enough to say that we are the only country behind the high performing Associates to have a dedicated girls team.”

With genuine hope the Olympics can be in the future increased from six teams to perhaps 12, it has provided a real carrot for these smaller countries to start developing cricket – especially the women’s.

Olympic status can unlock valuable government and corporate funding, a game-changer for the sport.

“When I used to tell people that cricket is the biggest sport in the world, they would respond by asking why cricket isn’t in the Olympics,” Cricket Brasil president Matt Featherstone said, with women’s team is entirely made up of locals and enjoying professional status.

“The Olympic funding has been a game-changer and so the support of the Brazil Olympic Committee gives us a lot of credibility.

“There’s some fantastic things that are coming and I think it’s only going to get better.”

With the glow still evident in the aftermath of such a defining World Cup, the International Cricket Council has agreed to expand the tournament from eight to 10 teams.

A new women’s emerging Nations Trophy, involving eight emerging teams, starts on November 20 with the first event being hosted by Bangkok, once again underlining Thailand’s growing heft in the sport.

Thailand, the Netherlands, Papua New Guinea, the United Arab Emirates, Scotland, Namibia, Tanzania and Uganda.

The governing body has reaffirmed its “commitment to the growth” of women’s cricket and announced significant metrics of the World Cup to underline its increasing popularity.

It was only just over a decade ago when the women’s World Cup in India was played in front of empty grandstands, with very little media exposure.

“Nearly 300,000 fans watched the event in stadia breaking the record for tournament attendance for any women’s Cricket event,” the ICC said.

“The tournament also witnessed viewership growth and new records being set for on-screen audiences across the world with nearly 500 million viewers in India.

“The ICC heralded the success of ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025 in India as testament to its long-standing faith in the Women’s game.”