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Melbourne Renegades star Harmanpreet Kaur has backed Cricket Australia’s decision to have standalone Women’s Big Bash League matches at major stadiums this weekend, declaring there should be more in future seasons.
Margot Harley, the WBBL’s head strategist, insists having two matches on Friday at Adelaide Oval, a derby between the Renegades and Stars at the MCG on Saturday night, and two matches at the SCG on Sunday will fire the competition into a “new trajectory”.
Indian great Harmanpreet Kaur outside the MCG, where the Melbourne Renegades will play the Melbourne Stars.Credit: Wayne Taylor
Kaur, the Indian skipper and batting genius, regularly played before crowds of between 9000 and 13,000 in the inaugural Women’s Premier League in India in March, with all matches held in Mumbai, although about 25,000 were on hand for the final when Kaur’s Mumbai Indians defeated Meg Lanning’s Delhi Capitals.
Having fine-tuned preparations ahead of facing the Stars, Kaur said on Friday that she hoped for more matches at major venues.
“It is important for the game of cricket to grow,” she said.
“The bigger venues – you can accommodate people. Since it’s a weekend, we hope a lot of people come and support the game.”
On the big stage: Indian and Melbourne Renegades star Harmanpreet Kaur says the decision to stage standalone WBBL matches at major venues this weekend is a good call.Credit: AP
Kaur said she also hoped the Renegades would continue to attract strong Indian support.
“We have got a lot of support from Indians in the previous games. We are hoping for a larger crowd at the MCG,” she said.
CA refused to disclose attendance expectations, adamant that crowd figures were only one measurement of success for the sport.
Kaur knows all about playing before a big crowd at the MCG, having led India in their losing Twenty20 World Cup final to Australia in 2020 before 86,174 fans – an Australian record for a women’s sporting event. This will be her first time back at the venue.
“It was not a good day,” Kaur said when reflecting on that famous day just before the pandemic struck.
The big sell for Saturday’s game has been impacted by both sides sitting at the bottom of the WBBL ladder and being out of finals contention, not to mention the absence of Stars captain Lanning, who has taken a personal break.
However, Harley said the stadium series would help attract a new audience.
“The role of venues in sport is really important, and the stadium games provide us with an opportunity to reach new audiences, they sit alongside our local venues. But these three venues in particular give us an opportunity to target and expose the WBBL to individuals that may not have ever come and seen a match before,” she said.
“These three venues are really synonymous with world-class cricket, and we know we have a world-class league in the WBBL, and we’re really looking forward to making history this weekend in more ways than one.”
Harley said CA’s new strategy is to target families and multicultural communities who follow international players across the women’s and men’s league.
“They’re passionate cricket supporters, and we want them to be part of the WBBL community,” she said.
Kaur has enjoyed a solid campaign, with a team-high 320 runs at 29 (strike rate 106), and has kept her emotions in check.
The usually unflappable veteran was suspended for two matches after a heated series against Bangladesh in Dhaka in July, having smashed her stumps in displeasure after being adjudged caught at slip. She later called the umpiring “pathetic”.
Kaur has maintained she has no regrets over the incident.
“We do reflect on it, but it was in the moment … it is gone,” Kaur said.
The Stars won by four runs when the teams met at the CitiPower Centre a fortnight ago. In spinner Sophie Day and rising Australian all-rounder Annabel Sutherland, the latter replacing Lanning as captain, the Stars had the competition’s two leading wicket-takers heading into this round.
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