{"id":387,"date":"2017-07-21T13:08:19","date_gmt":"2017-07-21T12:08:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/copyright.lboro.ac.uk\/research\/?p=387"},"modified":"2017-08-21T10:51:50","modified_gmt":"2017-08-21T09:51:50","slug":"women-cricketers-hit-sixes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.lboro.ac.uk\/research\/communication-culture-citizenship\/women-cricketers-hit-sixes\/","title":{"rendered":"Women cricketers hit sixes too"},"content":{"rendered":"

The England women\u2019s cricket team will be met by a sell-out crowd<\/a> of 26,500 people as they walk through the Long Room and out onto the pitch at Lord\u2019s for their World Cup final clash against India on July 23. The last time England won this competition on home soil, in 1993, the players had to receive special permission<\/a> to make the same walk through the pavilion, which did not officially open its doors to women until 1999.<\/p>\n

This record attendance for an international women\u2019s cricket game in England and Wales is testament to the game\u2019s development. But it also exceeds the expectations of many \u2013 including Lord\u2019s owners, the Marylebone Cricket Club, which required reassurance from the International Cricket Council that it would be able to fill the nation\u2019s largest cricket ground.<\/p>\n

Encouragingly, 31% of those 26,500 tickets have been sold to under 16-year-olds. This positive sign of the growing popularity of the women\u2019s game among young people was also evident in the inaugural Kia Super League \u2013 a 20-over women\u2019s tournament \u2013 in 2016: 42% of fans<\/a> attended with families.<\/p>\n

Super strength<\/h2>\n

A criticism of women\u2019s cricket has been the perception that it is less entertaining than its male counterpart. A lack of sixes and slower bowling has been attributed to an alleged lack of strength and physicality in women. This perception has not been confined to cricket \u2013 many female athletes have had to battle against the traditional notion that strength is a \u201cquintessentially masculine attribute<\/a>\u201d. This notion suggests that women are not only incapable of acts of strength, but that they should also be viewed negatively if striving to achieve them<\/a>.<\/p>\n

After England\u2019s exit from the 2013 World Cup, coach Mark Lane suggested<\/a> that part of their downfall may have been their lack of big hitters. The England squad have since channelled their efforts into improving their hitting. Alongside the already emphatic hitting ability of women players across the world, such as India\u2019s Harmanpreet Kaur who hit<\/a> seven sixes and 20 fours in her team\u2019s semi-final win over Australia, this defies both the traditional notions of strength and the subsequent perceptions of the game.<\/p>\n

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WATCH – Highlights of India's 36-run victory https:\/\/t.co\/1po8Uf13k6<\/a><\/p>\n

— vigneshwar balay (@vigneshwarbalay) July 21, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n