PCB finally empowers the women cricket team
Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) finally recognized the potential of the women cricket team as they awarded the national women team with central contracts, late Thursday.
The PCB officials and the governing body of the board met at a meeting in Lahore, at Gaddafi Stadium and discussed the prospects of women cricket in Pakistan. The body approved the proposal of giving the women cricketers’ central contracts in the meeting,
chaired by PCB Chairman http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Ijaz-Butt-c64128, along with the PCB Board of Governors (BOG). A spokesman of PCB said in a statement released on late Thursday,
“We want to encourage our female players for their outstanding performance in the Asian Games in China for winning the cricket gold and awarding central contracts would definitely help in giving financial stability to players to be more focused on the game.”
The central contracts came in the wake of the amazing journey of the team in securing the first gold medal for http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sana-Mir-c88459, created history as they won their country’s first
ever gold medal at the Asian Games event on 19th November in Guangzhou, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/China-c40996. Pakistan remained unbeaten in the debutante sport, at the multi-sport event. The Golden Girls clinched the gold medal when they beat the Bangladeshi women by 10 wickets.
The medal came at a time when the country’s men’s cricket was already in turmoil over spot fixing allegations and run away players, fleeing the country over threat claims. Nothing seemed right for the cricket crazy nation but the country’s women proved their
worth as they rose above amidst the rejections and looming death threats, to win the coveted medal.
Even though they failed to win the third place in the International Cricket Council (ICC) Women’s Cricket Twenty20 Challenge, they still managed to turn heads in a nation that is deemed to be oppressive to women. The sight of eleven women donning track suits
instead of shalwar kameez (traditional Pakistani dress for women) with their heads covered by green caps, instead of
dupattas (scarves) was indeed a sight to the sore eyes of the depressive cricket enthusiasts. The females made sure that their determination was not deterred and they continued to flex their muscles (no pun intended) on the field, while raking in accolades
off-field. The women, of course had their share of conflicts, arguments and even scandals in a society which still has a stigma of “men’s world” but the interest of the game in the women’s sector only increased.
The PCB Women’s Wing Chairperson, Shirin Javed said that there are many girls in the country hailing from small towns, who have taken up the game. She admitted that there were girls coming from far flung areas and their names were so unique, it was difficult
to pronounce. A “small town girl, making a big” story is not new to the Pakistani women cricket team, with majority of the girls hailing from small cities. The team had to face the entire backlash from their families and felt the harsh realities of training,
alongside the eagle eyes of the onlookers. Cricket in general was not being seen as a gentleman’s sport, apart from some babbling critics who still think that the game is exclusively reserved for men. Of course, the international cricket circuit had decades
of building up and the women’s cricket scene will also need a lot of time and improvement.
The PCB’s announcement to offer the players’ central contracts is a positive move but the girls need more facilities and a healthy environment to train so that they can compete in the international circuit. The success at the Asian Games and the celebration
that followed is a sign that the nation is ready for women’s cricket. They will slowly but surely accept the fact that cricket is no more a gentleman’s sport.
Tags: