Cricket has always been accused of being a bit 'stuffy' and pompous. Not too surprising, when you consider that the MCC banned female membership there for 212 years, and commentators as ridiculously posh and upper-class like Henry Blofeld hardly help the image of the game in this respect.
However, the new Wisden Almanack (the cricketing bible) has today announced it's annual five Wisden Cricketers of the Year. They are James Anderson, Dale Benkenstein, Mark Boucher, Neil McKenzie and Claire Taylor.
Yes, that's right, Claire Taylor is a woman. She was the player of the tournament in the recent Woman's World Cup, and was an integral part in the team retaining the Ashes in Australia. Some people might shout "political correctness!" over this, but I disagree, Taylor is a worthy recipient. Hell, it's not as if the men's team has anything to shout about at the moment.
Will women's cricket suddenly explode in popularity because of this? No, probably not. But it's nice to know that they have been represented in some way by a respected cricket publication.
I'm not going to shout 'political correctness' but I might shout 'fad.' Would she have got this honour if the West Indies had gone more favourably? If the women win the ashes again will another player be represented because they feel they may have accustomed readers to it? How many more years will it take cricket (not only its famous publication but its governing body/ies) to recognise another female cricketer?
ReplyDeleteShe's made 18 international innings in the past 12 months, opening the batting on each occasion, and has scored only scored one hundred.
ReplyDeleteHer individual performances do not stand up to scrutiny, and as such her selection can only be viewed as a symbolic one. She was selected as a representative of 'the women's game' rather than a representative of 'cricketing excellence'.
Betty Wilson should have been one. After all, becoming the first cricketer, male or female, to score a hundred AND take ten wickets in the same Test. She took 7-7 in the first innings, including the first hat-trick in a women's Test match, scored a century before polishing England off with 4-9. Presumably she then went home to prepare a five course meal and iron hubby's slippers before he came home exhausted from work to read the newspaper in front of the fire. (Sigh!) What a woman!
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