The ICC T20 Women’s World Cup starts this Friday night in Sydney with the opening match between Australia and India at the Sydney Showground at 7pm.
If I had to describe the way the T20 World Cup organising committee have approached this tournament and its organisation, I would use the word bold for a variety of reasons.
For the first time, the men’s and women’s tournaments are being held as stand-alone. That has given the women’s tournament the opportunity to capture the imagination of the general public and the build-up has been larger than anything I have seen before in the women’s game. Ellyse Perry is on the side of buses, cities are draped in flags and there has been plenty of advertising on television, in newspapers and online.
But what is even bolder is the goal to have a sell-out crowd for the final at the MCG on 8 March. The final coincides with International Women’s Day and the target is to make history and set a new world record for the highest attendance for a women’s sporting event. The current record is 90,185 and was set in 1999 in a FIFA Women’s World Cup final between the United States and China in California.
Over 90,000 people at the final is a big ask and unsurprisingly plenty have asked whether this is possible, especially if Australia does not make the final.
Despite having had an incredible two-year period, with the team winning an away Ashes series in June last year, breaking a world record for consecutive number of ODI wins and international accolades for the likes of Ellyse Perry and Alyssa Healy, making the final is not a guarantee.
(AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)
T20 is the soap opera of cricket and almost anything can happen. All it takes is for a couple of batters to have a bad day or for one player on the opposition to have a break-out performance and the game can hang in the balance. During the WBBL we saw plenty of international talent, including the likes of Sophie Devine, Dane van Niekerk, Chloe Tryon, Amy Jones and Nat Sciver and their home countries will be hoping their positive form continues into the tournament.
Indeed, it’s not cause for concern, but in the most recent tri-series between India, England and Australia, the Aussies suffered shock losses to both opponents on their way to the trophy.
This tournament is going to be a competitive one and no team has a spot in the final guaranteed. But even if Australia doesn’t make the final, there is still an opportunity to shoot for the stars with this big goal of filling the MCG. And if Australia do make the final, there’s even more of a reason to push the agenda.
My other observation, though, is that fear of failure should not stop us from dreaming big. If we fail, so what? I applaud the organising committee for dreaming big and challenging the Australian public to get behind this tournament.
If 85,000 people attend the final, that isn’t failure. That is still a sensational crowd and worthy support for women’s cricket, which has been a game changer in Australia in the revolution when it comes to women’s sport. The success of the tournament will not be judged on the crowd at that final game, although it would be spectacular to break that world record.
(Photo by Daniel Pockett – CA/Cricket Australia via Getty Images)
Additionally, there has been some cynicism about whether the organising committee believe they can achieve the world on the back of the game itself.
When it was announced that Katy Perry would be the entertainment for the evening, some suggested that a game of women’s cricket would not be enough to generate the crowd and so a big announcement like Katy Perry was needed.
The reasoning being that even if people aren’t interested in cricket, they will potentially be willing to pay $20 for an adult ticket and $5 for a kids ticket to see Katy Perry.
I don’t subscribe to this cynical view. Having an international act like Katy Perry is not a detriment.
I’ve never had a similar conversation when it comes to the entertainment booked for an NRL grand final or an AFL grand final. In fact, I recall both codes making comments about their grand final entertainment over the years, hoping that their announcement would entice more people. When booking international acts like the Killers and Macklemore, both codes were hoping to drive attendance to their respective grand finals.
How is Katy Perry for this event any different? Particularly when the evening is about more than just cricket. Given it is International Women’s Day, this is a day about gender equality, and the broader the conversation, the better.
Even if some people are in attendance simply for Katy Perry, I have enough confidence in the strength of women’s cricket to know that they will enjoy a great spectacle and perhaps some of the people in attendance will become new fans of the game.
It’s time to get behind this World Cup and to be bold. The women’s game has gone from strength to strength in Australia thanks to some bold decision-making by the likes of Cricket NSW and Cricket Australia.
It’s time to take this bold approach to the international stage as well.
Nick
Roar Guru
Good read Mary. I'd like to think that getting Katy Perry to sign on wasn't for the crowd or the world record, but to affirm that the T20 Womens World Cup is a big international event, and deserves a big international singer to boot - irrespective of the two finalists. The reality is that this world record can only be broke if Australia make the final. If they don't, then the organisers still have the opportunity to present to the cricketing world that the tournament is a big deal, and someone like Katy Perry will rubber stamp that. It's good. It's a heck of a lot better than (with absolutely no disrespect to the following) Darryl Braithwaite at Moonee Valley, or Paul Kelly at the AFL etc. Big international events, call for big international singers. Well done to the organisers for securing Katy Perry. Believe me, both the NRL and AFL would be singing from the rooftops if they could have got her to perform.
Nick
Roar Guru
Yeah, agree on that. TV was the reason for sure.
Nick
Roar Guru
Never looking at the big picture are you. It's not just the attendance...it's the TV figures too. And yes, guarantee that millions tuned into the half time entertainment because J-Lo and Shakira were on this year. Particularly the latter...how to get another 30-40 millions in Latin America tuned in? Put Shakira on.
Nick
Roar Guru
Lionel Hutz would be very proud of you right now.
Nick
Roar Guru
Baum posed an argument but massively ignored the flipside... Was J-Lo signed up to the superbowl because the superbowl organisers had insufficient confidence in the game? Of course not. J-Lo signed up precisely because it's a high quality product with a HUGE TV audience. I'd think to think the world cup organisers know they have a high quality product and want to affirm that by getting a superstar like Katy Perry. This is not the type of event where we wheel out Darryl Braithwaite for a rendition of Horses, or Paul Kelly for Dumb Things (no offence to either). I'm surprised Baum chose not to view it from that angle. Big (or events aspiring to be big) international events should always be backed up by big international singers.
Maximus Insight
Guest
"Then booking international acts like the Killers and Macklemore, both codes were hoping to drive attendance to their respective grand finals." Sorry that is a very strange claim to make about the AFL Grand Final. There have not been public tickets sold for an AFL Grand Final this century. It is hard to buy a ticket from a scalper for under $1,000 and they can go for several times that if two big teams are playing Perhaps the idea that the Killers might pull some extra TV viewers?
shifty
Roar Rookie
Television audiences and attending spectators are two different things and this article is talking about getting more people to attend. Specifically referring the AFL halftime show being designed to get more people to attend the match. I'm simply saying that's a load of bollocks and the AFL grand final is a sell out regardless of who is the "entertainment".
Marty
Roar Rookie
My apologies, however I still think you have characterised the article very unfairly. Baum wasn’t cynically suggesting that Katy Perry was required to get people through the door. Quite the opposite, in an article that spoke in really positive terms about women’s cricket and women’s sport in general he was suggesting that having Katy Perry on equal billing actually detracts from the cricketers themselves. How that can be described as ‘cynical’ is beyond me.
JOHN ALLAN
Guest
Entertainment at a major sporting event attracts interesting discussion. I don't follow American sport however wonder how many go primarily for the half time performance?
Chris Kettlewell
Roar Guru
It's not really. They charge what they can charge. They feel they still have a good chance to fill the ground at those expensive prices for the men's WC. But to this point Women's sport doesn't attract the same crowds and ticket prices have to be lower. It's really no different to the fact that it's much, much cheaper to take the family to a BBL game than to any men's international cricket. There's always a supply and demand thing that leads to ticket prices being set. I still think that men's ticket prices are overpriced. When they start complaining that people aren't turning up to watch matches, well, looking at their ticket prices could be a good place to start. But if they believe they can sell out a stadium despite sky high ticket prices then they will try to do that.
RT
Roar Rookie
I am sure they will still keep the riff raff out of the Dining Room and Long Room for you.
Dwanye
Roar Rookie
That price difference to me is shocking. Are they making that much money fro the tickets sales? plus the over priced food and drink.
The real SC
Roar Rookie
Looking forward to the GF at the MCG. The crowd numbers will no doubt surpass last year's AFLW GF and I would expect Channel 9's ratings to break records. If Australia goes into the final, It will surely be shown on 9HD.
Flexis
Roar Rookie
And wouldn’t it be a great outcome to make the press in the US and entice them to get the record back.
Gee
Roar Rookie
They could invite Meatloaf back to do his entire playlist and the G would still be packed for the GF.
Samtwocantoo
Guest
Just offering an opinion, but typically, you see it as “picking a fight”. I rest my case !
Brian
Guest
There will be more at the MCG on March 8th to watch Kate Perry then there were that famous night to watch the mens shot put.
matth
Roar Guru
Boy I hope the Australian team makes that final. We sometimes in this country forget that every other team is trying just as hard to peak for these tournaments. The main objective here is to grow the sport. If Katy Perry gets a few more eyeballs on TV or people in the ground, then objective achieved. A few of those who otherwise may not have watched the cricket might have a look and decide it’s for them. Objective achieved. Katy Perry would see this as ‘on-brand’ for her, being a Women’s event on International Women’s Day. It will get her on the news, possibly back in the States as well as here.
matth
Roar Guru
They do it more to garner further publicity in non-AFL areas. they are quite rightly using their showpiece event to reach new people. If a gun half time guest helps that, then they achieve their goal. It's the same here by the way. For every 100 girls who don;t follow cricket but show up or tune in just to see Katy Perry, a few might end up liking the cricket.
matth
Roar Guru
And a worthy title.