We can all stop cursing the world for not liking women's cricket as much as they crave for men's cricket. According to International Cricket Council (ICC), all tickets of ICC Women's World Cup 2017, that will see India locking horns with England at Lord's, have been sold out.
No other Women's World Cup final has reported full attendance as over 26, 500 tickets have already been sold out. A lot of factors can be attributed to the massive turnout.
The 2017 season saw some exemplary performances in the history of women's cricket. Besides a lot of record breaking feats accomplished, the extensive media coverage, including all 31 games shown live for the first ever time, played a pivotal role in helping this season get the visibility it truly deserves.
Read Also: Don’t Compare Us With Male Cricketers: Mithali Raj
Online streaming of matches for the first time has led to the number of viewers crossing the 50 million mark. Among this, 50% are women while about 31% viewers are in the age-group of 16.
ICC Women’s World Cup Tournament director, Steve Elworthy, said, "We promised that this would be the best-ever ICC Women’s World Cup and I believe that the statistics – on and off the field – show that we have delivered on that pledge. The attendances have been outstanding and they have been treated to some exciting, exhilarating cricket."
Clare Connor, the chair of the ICC Women's Committee, added: "The challenge for this tournament was to ensure that we showcased the talent of the world's best cricketers, and to inspire the next generation of girls and women to engage with the game. The quality of cricket has been truly fantastic and the demographics of the crowds we've seen reveal that we have attracted thousands of girls and women to attend. Now we have to retain that level of interest to continue to build a new fan base and drive levels of participation, both in this country and around the world."
The colossal crowd that will throng Lord's lays testimony to the fact that slowly and steadily, women's sports is receiving the recognition it had been vying for.
Read Also: We Have Finally Woken Up to Women’s Cricket, Let’s Keep It Up
Follow Us/shethepeople/media/agency_attachments/iUYfaBbcMozaYLoGnoov.png)
