Australia is among the sports-crazy countries in the world and now Cricket Australia (CA) is all set to take a major step in order to address a hugely debated gender inequality across the game of cricket.
There are many statues and sculptures of cricketers in Australia and the exact figure seems to be 73, but all of them belong to male cricketers and now the CA has decided to change the trend on this International Women's Day (March 8, 2021) to recognize women cricketers’ efforts in the game.
On International Women's Day, CA has on Monday has announced the formation of a “Recognition of Women in Cricket Working Group” as well as an installment of the first of a female cricketer’s memorabilia at the iconic Sydney Cricket Ground in Sydney.
The current members of the newly-established “Recognition of Women in Cricket Working Group” are Nick Hockley, Angela Pippos, Christina Matthews, Kerrie Mather, Kirsty Henshall, Kristene Reynolds, Lisa Sthalekar, Rachael Haynes, and Rina Hore.
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However, Australia has not announced whose sculpture it will be but the decision was taken for better recognition for female cricketers and to address gender inequality across the game.
Hockley, CA’s Interim CEO said in an official statement: “Just as this year's International Women's Day theme promotes 'choose to challenge', we are committed to challenging ourselves to continue to address gender inequality across our game.”
He continued, “Precisely one year ago to the day, we were celebrating a ground-breaking moment when 86,174 fans packed out the MCG for the final of the ICC Women's T20 World Cup. So many challenges have been presented since that day, and it is now more important than ever that we keep pushing for equality in cricket and keep building the momentum established before the pandemic.”
Hockley signed off by saying, “This is a historic moment for the game with Venues NSW today committing to the first sculpture of a female cricketer at the Sydney Cricket Ground, and we can't thank Kerrie and her team enough for their leadership.”
Noteworthy, the CA also has co-commissioned a piece of artwork with the Melbourne Cricket Club, which will depict the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2020 final between Australia and India.
(With ANI Inputs)
