A lack of foresight on the part of the T20 Women’s World Cup organisers could see Australia, the favourite, miss out on a berth in the final.
The semi-finals are slated for Thursday, 5 March, and pit Australia against South Africa, while England take on India in the second game. The tournament rules mean that if the games are washed out, then the teams that finished on top of their groups will go through – meaning India and South Africa will do battle at the MCG on Sunday 8 March.
Exactly why the ICC did not allocate an additional day in the event of rain getting in the way – Sydney is known for rainy weather at this time of the year – is anybody’s guess. On Tuesday, the match between Thailand and Pakistan was washed out, after the Thais had made 3-150 in their 20 overs.
The other game on Tuesday saw no play at all, with South Africa and the West Indies twiddling their thumbs in the pavilion right through the day.
Earlier this year, we had the BBL final being ruined by rain in the same city – Sydney.
(AAP Image/Scott Barbour)
So should we really be surprised at this lack of planning? Despite a great deal of lip service being paid to the women’s game, there’s been little to show in practical terms. The matches have been pushed to a second, or at times, a third channel on the host broadcaster. Some have not been shown in Australia on free-to-air. This, in case you have forgotten, is a World Cup.
And even though there are plenty of women who know the game well enough to serve as commentators, we have ex-cricketers like Ian Bishop and Nasser Hussain mansplaining the proceedings to all and sundry.
TV channels are famous for having second-level commentators – who sit in the studio and watch and then offer their words of wisdom – but even at this level, there is one woman and two men. This is a show put on by women and it has been a grand spectacle. Why not give them a little more of a presence?
If anything, the women commentators cannot be worse than the men. Why is there this reluctance to delegate authority, this feeling that women can only operate under the wise leadership of men? It is so 1950s.
The entire tournament has been sold with one pitch: come to the MCG on 8 March and make up the biggest crowd so that you can cheer Australia as they win the final. What of the other nine teams, some of whom have performed well above the level they were expected to reach?
Only two teams – Thailand and Bangladesh – have failed to win a game. That itself is a notable statistic. Many of these teams come from countries where women are basically second-class citizens.
Buy, hey, we men need to show them how it’s done, right?
Gharner
Roar Rookie
Yeah I remember the three finals (sometimes Melbourne would have both 2nd and 3rd). Perhaps I'm confusing the 'if required' status of the 3rd final with a reserve day.
TRhing-me
Roar Rookie
The matches may have been out of the 1950s but the magnanimous behaviour of the Australian women wasn’t. To me they were a bunch of yobbos with the hoop-la and carry on. One thing we can blame our schools for in this day and age is the lack of grace being shown as victors. The Australian women may have won the semi-final against a country where cricket bats and gear are few and far between but South Africa won the day for putting up with the unfortunate weather and its disruptions. Not that that is going to count on the scoreboard.
Naughty's Headband
Roar Rookie
The lack of planning has nothing to do with it being women playing - there's no patriarchal conspiracy here. The mens world cups are equally fraught with poor planning; do you not remember the final that finished in the dark? No, sexism isn't the problem, crickets inability to organise tournaments is the problem.
Paul
Roar Guru
I must have started to write at least 3 or 4 posts, before I left my comment, Jeff. Yours certainly sums up my feelings.
JamesH
Roar Guru
I could almost understand it if they wanted to use their shiny new stadium. But they played at the WACA.
Chris Kettlewell
Roar Guru
I'm assuming you are referring to the old "World Series Cup" that was the ODI standard in Australia for years. (If not, no idea what tri-series you could be referring to). They didn't have reserve days for finals, they just played a best of 3 finals series. One in Sydney, one in Melbourne, and then would alternate where the third would be played if required. So unless you had three separately scheduled matches all washed out, all was good.
Marty
Roar Rookie
Umm… the majority of games from the men’s World Cup weren’t televised on free to air either. Those decisions are made by commercial television stations based on ratings, so maybe your outrage should be directed at them. Or are you suggesting that until every game is telecast live into prime time it’s a clear indication of CA’s archaic treatment of women’s cricket? Yep, sounds reasonable.
Cari
Roar Rookie
Shame, but at least South Africa got on to give it a go but the English girls never got a chance to bat or bowled a single ball before being slung out. The powers had plenty of time to switch the venue torrential rain was forecast days before but they did nothing. I don’t usually moan about rules but that was frankly diabolical.
Jeff
Roar Rookie
And yet, even the "forecasted" hindsight was incorrect. Congrats to Australia for making the final.
Jeff
Roar Rookie
I don't know where to start with this article, so I won't.
TragicallySupportive
Roar Rookie
Thanks for the clarification. I’m still not sure it applies to this situation, regardless.
Brian
Guest
Yes but the mens t20 does not which is the equivalent here does not
Flexis
Roar Rookie
Can understand logistically they wanted to play a condensed tournament out of one main city. But last time I checked Adelaide and Brisbane were closer to Sydney than Perth. So it just didn’t make sense.
JGK
Roar Guru
Well it's just stopped raining in Sydney now so the second semi final could still be played. I think they have until 8.45 or so to get on.
Harry Selassie
Roar Rookie
What a farce. Or yet another example of the ICC bolloxing up a tournament.
johnb
Guest
An uncalled for application of logic by Gharner there. Not the sort of thing that goes down well on the Roar. What the author perhaps was trying to get at was that Bangladesh looked competitive at times (they really should have beaten NZ, or anyone really, after bowling them out for 91; they ended up as close to beating India as Australia did) and even the absolute minnows Thailand had their moments (well placed against Pakistan when the rain came; having England 2 for very few early on).
chris petersen
Guest
I to think it is ridiculous not to be able to move the Semi Finals very disappointing for all involved when you win a world cup you want to know you are the best team on the day unfortunately the 2 best teams will not be in the final because of rain What happens in Melbourne if it rains is it a toss o' Coin to see the winner
Diamond Jackie
Roar Rookie
Simply put, if you are putting both your semi finals on one day, you MUST have a spare day up your sleeve. That day could have been Friday or even Saturday (final Sunday). There is a very good chance we have zero semi finals leading into a final. It is a monumental mistake by the organisers... and not just because Australia may not make it.
elvis
Roar Rookie
That’s the pick up of the year so far!
Gharner
Roar Rookie
Not sure about ICC tournaments, but I'm almost certain the Aus tri-series regularly featured reserve days for finals.