CHENNAI: The home page of the International Cricket Council (ICC) wore an updated look on Monday. The lead headline of the page spoke volumes about the continued growth story of women's story. "Record prize money," it says, "revealed for Women's Cricket World Cup."
Above that, on the home page menu, is a small three word update on said 50-over World Cup. "REGISTER YOUR INTEREST". When you click on it, a new window opens. "Register your interest today to ensure you are the first to receive the latest news and ticketing information straight to your inbox."
Yep, with less than one month to go for the start of the pinnacle of the women's game, there's still no clarity on when ticket sales are likely to commence. To be fair to the stakeholders, this isn't a problem with how they see women's cricket. They did the same thing the last time India hosted a global cricket event (the men's equivalent in 2023). The end result was a very homogenous crowd in terms of colour, chants and, unfortunately, allegations of violence against a few foreign fans.
But it's disappointing that lessons are yet to be learned. What makes a World Cup special is the vibrancy and the colour of visiting fans. What makes a World Cup appointment viewing is the din of travelling supporters who embrace the local culture but always carry a piece of themselves from home either in the form of jerseys or the music or the food or the choice of beverage.
In March 2020, when Australia hosted India in the final in front of over 86,000 fans, the numbers suggested that women's cricket was primed for take off (it was a record for a women's cricket match). But the ICC and Cricket Australia worked towards it as they started rolling out ticket sales one year before the start of the tournament. If the stakeholders managed to do that in 2019, why haven't the stakeholders managed to do it now?
You need to give fans time to sort out their travel plans, book their holidays... in essence, give them a fair chance of bagging flight tickets, blocking hotel rooms and constructing a workable, feasible schedule. That's how overseas and locals make it to a lot of sporting events. Two years on from the last global event in India, the needle hasn't moved whatsoever. For the record, ticketing rests with the host body for all ICC events. To just drive home this point, the ECB — hosts for next year's women's T20 World Cup — have already started the ticketing process.
It is understood that the ticketing process for this year's World Cup is expected to begin over the next few days but this risks alienating a lot of fans who would have otherwise travelled the length and breadth of the country.
Tickets for the winter Tests in India?
It kind of segues into the ticket process for the four red-ball games the men's team is set to feature in against West Indies and South Africa. In the recent past, thanks to a very friendly pricing policy (tickets have been available for as low as `200), fans flocked to the stands. In last year's five-Test series against England, there was decent crowd turn out in places.
It was grand, especially when you take into considering the BCCI and state associations (they provide ground support) stuck to their policy of announcing ticket sales very late. The world's richest cricket board have acted on some shortcomings including creating a Women's Premier League. It's now time to address this issue
