Following their elimination from the Women’s World T20 tournament in the Caribbean, Pakistan and Ireland have agreed that more cricket will lead to better performances across the sport.
Pakistan’s captain, Javeria Khan said she was proud of the way the girls performed and accepted that they have played better cricket throughout the world cup. Matches have been played in Guyana, Antigua and St Lucia.
“The kind of cricket these girls played, they are not given the kind of exposure and they have played better cricket throughout the world cup and we made mistakes but we grow as a unit with more matches we play but this team was good in this world cup”, Khan stated, while pointing out “our issue was batting but this tournament we initially were not able to score 100 runs but this time we were able to improve”.
Similarly, Ireland’s Isobel Joyce stated that the team is not yet considered professional, pointing out that it is difficult to go train in the mornings, work a full day then train again in the night. She explained that the girls basically live around each other and train together a lot. She stated that the foundations are there for the team to become professional.
Despite that, they still managed to come out and put up a fight, qualifying for the tournament.
Khan stated her side was “expressive” but said “if someone has less exposure and we get into these kinds of (pressure) situations we don’t know what to do”. She suggested that “with more matches like these we get better so every girl should be proud.”
A similar sentiment was shared by Joyce “If you look at the top Indian players, they play against top bowlers all the time. They have a plan against Ellyse Perry, against all the top bowlers, because they’ve played them a number of times each year.”
However, their match against India was the first encounter in the T20 format. She added that the girls were relishing the chance to bowl to world class players, saying “We can’t formulate plans on the ground, we have to be playing these people more often, if you look at the top Indian players they play against top bowling all the time, they have a plan…because they play the top players a number of times each year, I haven’t played against any of those bowlers in a couple of years. I’m trying to think on my feet, and suddenly it’s four or five balls into a spell and a new bowler comes on. That’s really where the difficulty lies personally. It’s not the nerves.”
While it is a huge occasion for the girls, the former captain pointed out that this is not where they wanted to be but rather play big matches day in and day out.
Khan, though she could not say if Pakistan has plans for a female T20 league, said she welcomes the suggestion and is open to it, even making a pitch for Pakistan women to be included in other leagues around the world.
“I am not sure about a Pakistan league but it would be good to get more exposure for the girls, leagues like in India, England and so if we go and play and get our own it will help us because when we play a team they will see the level and of course improvement will happen…I would urge every country if we are not having our Pakistan league they should consider Pakistan players so we grow at a better pace.”
Similarly, Joyce mentioned that if an Indian Premier League or another female league comes into existence, her side will also welcome it since it will provide more exposure and matches for the girls.
“If we had players going to overseas competitions, if an IPL starts up or something like that the girls are ready to go all in” Joyce said.
