Is U.S. women’s cricket ready for its own league?
These are exciting times for American cricket! The ICC U19 men’s (after a gap of 14 years) and women’s (inaugural) teams have both qualified for their World Cup tournaments this year. It is only the third time the men’s team has qualified for the tournament; it is a first for the American eves. As franchise cricket has taken off worldwide, with T20 tournaments being played around the globe, the U.S. held its first edition of Major League Cricket (MLC) last summer. Women’s cricket too has started to make its presence felt. Women’s tournaments like the Big Bash League (BBL) in Australia and the Women’s Premier League (WPL) in India have become crowd-pullers. The U.S., however, is yet to have its own franchise league.
San Diego Women’s Open a success, more to come
The recently concluded San Diego Women’s Open was a huge success and is a start towards more professional franchise women’s tournaments in the U.S. It included 4 teams and 60 players from across the U.S. and Canada. San Diego hosted 10 games in three action-packed days over the President’s Day weekend, February 17-19, 2024.
Tournament director Sivakumar Kumarasamy, himself an elite coach, went all out to support the event, even getting sponsors and owners for each team. Sana Nair, the only female owner, was the Atlanta War Eagles’ boss. Businessman Jimmy Anklesaria supported the San Diego Surfriders, entrepreneur Biju Nair, who recently opened the Blazers Cricket Academy, owned the Blazers, and a conglomerate of cricket enthusiasts Adi Mopidevi, Shailesh Sharma and Swapnil Khoche teamed up to own the Spikers. While the War Eagles conducted their own internal draft, the other three teams held a public online draft for f all interested players. While last year the tournament only hosted 24 players and 2 teams, this year it grew to 4 teams with 60 players.
Many of American cricket’s top players participated in this tournament, including the captain of the U.S. national team, Sindhu Sriharsha, and vice-captain Anika Kolan. Other experienced players on the national team, including Isani Vaghela, Suhani Thadani, Yashaaditi Teki, and Gargi Bhogle, also participated in the tournament.
The Blazers won the championship in their first year in the tournament. They met the Surf Riders in the finals. Anika Kolan, Saanvi Immadi, and Chetna Prasad make key contributions to their games.
Tournament Awards:Â
- Most Valuable Player: Anika Kolan – 4 50s in the tournament and captained the Blazers to victoryÂ
- Best Wicket Keeper: Habeeba Bader – 4 dismissals
- Best Fielders: Amarpal Kaur – 6 dismissals including 3 catches and 3 runouts
- Best Bowler: Anjana Marella – 8 wickets with an economy of 6.11
- Best Batter: Isani Vaghela – 124 total runs at a strike rate of 107.3
Emerging Player Awards:
- Most Valuable Player: Akshara Anand – 4 wickets with a 3.65 economy, 2 fielding dismissals
- Best Wicket Keepers: Meghna Baishya and Siya Thakur
- Best Fielders: Simran Bhogle, and Shreyasi Mukund – 3 catches each
- Best Bowler: Rishika Sartar – 4 wickets at an economy of 4.33
- Best Batter: Sonia Dingankar – 68 runs at a strike rate of 69
Former Indian cricketer Rajinder Singh Ghai commented, “Women’s cricket is gaining popularity very rapidly in recent years in the U.S. It has been a moment of great pride and pleasure to watch young women’s cricket teams grow and perform.
Next up for the senior women’s team are three upcoming series. They will start with their first-ever ODI series against Papua New Guinea and Scotland, followed by a quadrangular T20 series against Scotland, Netherlands, and the UAE, in preparation for the Women’s World Cup Qualifiers. The qualifiers start on April 25th.
