ICC to Discontinue Women's Test Cricket, Terms it Commercially Unviable

International Cricket Council (ICC) has decided to discontinue Test cricket for women’s as the world cricket body subsequently declared it as commercially unviable.

Although the women’s game started gaining much popularity of late, ICC feels the standard of women’s Test cricket is not yet attractive enough.

ICC women’s committee will ratify the proposal on Thursday (April 26), the last day of its ongoing meeting in Kolkata. However, the idea was first floated in June last year (2017).

After deliberations, the women’s committee comprising former cricketers Shubhangi Kulkarni, Belinda Clark and Betty Timmer gave the nod to scrapping women’s Tests.

ICC chairman Shashank Manohar and CEO Dave Richardson are also available owing to the committee.

England and Australia oppose the decision:

Women’s teams of England and Australia wrote to the ICC informing their disagreement but didn’t convince many. The rest rarely play Test cricket.

“Ever since India started paying attention to women’s cricket, it’s getting better. But the standard of women’s Tests isn’t the same as other formats,” sources said.

However, this will come as a huge blow for women’s cricket as a whole.

In a time when ICC is restructuring the men’s Test cricket, they should have done though of popularising the women’s game as well.

Meanwhile, the first women’s Test match was played by England women and Australia women in December 1934.

The three-day contest held in Brisbane saw England eventually won the game by nine wickets.

Ashes Test series is the most notable competition in Women’s Test cricket where England and Australia square off against each other.

Most recently, Australia thrashed England to win the Ashes series.

However, with the final decision yet to be taken, there is a still ray of hope.

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