Big run for Aussie women
5th world title win witnessed by 86,174 fans, the biggest crowd for a women's cricket game
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American singer Katy Perry performing on stage with the Australian cricket team after the Women's T20 World Cup final on International Women's Day. Tennis legend Billie Jean King was among the MCG crowd, which fell short of the 90,185 who turned up for the 1999 Women's World Cup final in the United States.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
MELBOURNE • Each game of the Women's Twenty20 (T20) World Cup had been leading to this - the attempted world-record crowd for a women's sporting event at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) for yesterday's final between Australia and India.
While the 86,174-strong attendance fell short of the 90,185 who turned up for the 1999 Fifa Women's World Cup final in the United States, those who were present felt the showpiece event had become more than just a game of cricket, but rather a defining moment for women's sport.
"It's a game changer," retired Australian batting great Alex Blackwell told broadcaster ABC.
"It sets the standard or the bar as high as possible for the next sporting event - men or women - in this country that you would fill the stadium wherever that might be."
The record crowd - the most for a women's cricket game - saw a rampant Australia emphatically sweep to their fifth women's T20 World Cup title, crushing India by 85 runs.
Alyssa Healy smashed a quick-fire 75 and Beth Mooney an unbeaten 78 as the defending champions plundered an ominous 184 for four - the highest score in a women's T20 final.
India could only manage 99 all out to end a 17-day tournament that reinforced Australia's dominance of the sport, having now won five of the seven World Cups.
The blockbuster showdown between the world's top-ranked team and fast-improving India was billed as the biggest in women's cricket history.
A #FilltheMCG social media marketing campaign was launched to help bring the sport to a new generation and fans responded, despite fears about the deadly coronavirus epidemic that has seen other global sporting events cancelled or played behind closed doors.
The number of young girls in the stands, helped by the lure of pop star Katy Perry, who performed before and after the final, could also inspire the next generation of Healys and Mooneys .
Even Australia skipper Meg Lanning was left stunned by the turnout.
"I'm just really proud of the group and staff. We've had everything thrown at us through this tournament," she said at the trophy ceremony.
"There were definitely some tough times there but we stuck together as a group. It's been massive, 86,000 people at the MCG - I never thought I'd see that."
The importance of that visibility cannot be overstated.
The momentum around the Australian women's team has grown, and crowds and television audiences have expanded alongside it.
It is likely even the tournament organisers did not envisage this shift when they first announced their goal, but the final should not be the end point of this journey.
This is why Cricket Australia will continue to take the lead when it comes to being the biggest proponent of women's cricket.
The country's governing body chipped in an extra US$600,000 (S$827,000) to cover the shortfall between what the 2016 finalists in the men's edition earned and the US$1 million prize the women's team took home.
Cricket Australia chief executive Kevin Roberts said: "It's a really important signal for gender equality. It happens in tennis Grand Slams, so why shouldn't it happen in cricket World Cups?
"We strongly believe in gender equality in any measure, and prize money parity is a key element of that.
"It's something we're committed to and excited for what it could mean for our players."
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, THE GUARDIAN
