ICC pleased as punch over women's cricket's growth

Bengaluru, October 9: The International Cricket Council (ICC) said on Monday (October 9) that the interest in women's cricket has seen a major surge over the past couple of years - evidenced by the scale of impact this summer's ICC Women's Cricket World Cup has had on fans and participants.

The first study of its kind on women's cricket among sports fans across Australia, England, India, New Zealand and South Africa was commissioned to mark the start of the ICC Women's Championship and shows a huge boost to the women's game.

Conducted by Nielsen Sports, the objective of the research was to investigate awareness of the Women's World Cup, perceptions towards the women's game and key motivators to getting involved.

A total of 93% of the people surveyed felt that it was the best standard of women's cricket they had ever seen with 91% finding the matches exciting to watch on television.

As many as 82% followed the event more than any other women's cricket event previously and overall 67% of respondents said they would now take a greater interest in the women's game following the World Cup.

ICC Chief Executive David Richardson said: "The research confirms our belief in the potential for the growth of women's cricket.

"It is heartening to see that almost 70% of those questioned have said they'll now take a greater interest in the women's game and more so that half of their children felt inspired to try the game or play more cricket."

The ICC Women's Championship will be played in the same format as the inaugural edition which was held from 2014-16, with all eight sides - Australia, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka and the Windies - taking on each other in a series of three ODIs on a home or away basis.

India captain Mithali Raj said: "It's heartening to see the success of the ICC Women's World Cup and the popularity of women's cricket in India. That so many people followed our progress at the World Cup proves that there is an appetite for women's cricket in India and it will only grow in the coming years."