Women’s World Cup 2022 – Alyssa Healy from Australia at WIPL, WPSL

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Says India is “such an untapped market” and “they will be unbeatable in 10 years” with the launch of Women’s IPL

Australian wicket-keeper Alyssa Healy has welcomed plans by the BCCI and PCB to launch a Women’s IPL (WIPL) and a Women’s PSL (WPSL) respectively in the near future. While the launch of these national competitions would require significant planning to include them in the international women’s calendar, Healy said she was more impressed by the feasibility of hosting these tournaments.

“The announcements from those matches are pretty good,” said Healy on the sidelines of the women’s ODI World Cup. “It’s exactly where we thought the women’s game should go. That was the next step.

“We’ve had a really successful WBBL and the Kia Super League went really well, now in the Hundred – there are sort of thriving domestic leagues [around the world]so to see the announcement of the IPL, especially to be able to grow the game in India, is incredible.”

Healy has long been a supporter of a WIPL. Like several other international cricketers from around the world, she had previously called for the rollout of a WIPL to boost the growth of India’s women’s national team.

Healy, who appeared in the inaugural one-off exhibition game of the now four-match Women’s T20 Challenge, said: “It [India] is such an untapped market, I guess, in the women’s game.

“With so many people, they’re definitely going to be unbeatable in 10 years. They just really needed a helping hand in that home setting to show what these amazing women can do, so it’s really exciting.”

Healy and other Australians have not competed in the T20 Challenge since its inaugural edition in 2018, which is considered a precursor to an IPL-style women’s competition in India. A last minute stalemate between the BCCI and Cricket Australia leading up to the 2019 T20 Challenge had resulted in the Australians missing out on the Indian tournament.
A clash in the schedule of the three-team tournament with the WBBL the following year meant the Australians, who made up the largest contingent of foreign players in the inaugural edition, missed out for the second time in a row, drawing criticism from Healy and several other stars. of the women’s game of other teams. The BCCI did not organize the competition in 2021 for inexplicable reasons.

“I think the more cricket we can play at a lower level than the domestic stuff, and that’s why CPL will become so big for us, the better.”

Hayley Matthews on WCPL

In an interview with ESPNcricinfo in 2020, Healy had emphasized that decision-making about scheduling domestic tournaments should only be guided by what is “actually best” for women’s cricket. On Wednesday, she reiterated that the WIPL’s schedule requires a similar approach and that she would be available to play in future domestic competitions.

“Planning is going to play a part,” Healy said. “Obviously what that looks like, I’m not 100% sure, but we’ll have to find out if international players will be available for all domestic leagues with an increase in international cricket or if there’s a focus on these domestic competitions – I’m not 100% sure.

“But first of all, it’s just great to see them being talked about [and] hopefully they see them take off and if they want a 32-33 year old lead-off hitter who can chirp a bit behind the stumps, I’m available.”

The other high-profile women’s domestic tournaments starting this year are the ICC-recognized six-team FairBreak Invitational in May and the Women’s CPL (WCPL) with three teams in August-September. Hayley Matthews reflected on the need to identify and nurture young talent to provide a feeder line for the West Indian team, and said the WCPL could play a vital role in that process.

“I think the more cricket we can play at a lower level than the household stuff, and that’s why CPL will become so big for us, the better, hopefully we can get some more young girls through the system,” says Matthews. , the West Indian all-rounder, said after her team’s loss to Australia in the World Cup semi-finals in the Basin Reserve.

“Obviously for this group of players this could be their last World Cup for a lot of players I’m not sure but at the same time it would be really good if we could raise some younger players over the domestic cricket season and yes get some more people filtering for West Indian stuff.”

Annesha Ghosh is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo. @ghosh_annesha

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