This month women’s cricket news has been nothing short of exciting on the global stage! The Inaugural Women’s
Premier League made a fantastic showing, The Hundred followed the action with their auction,
Fairbreak Invitational 2023 is all set to host their 3rd year or competition, and here at home we look at
how preparations for the Americas are continuing.
The much-awaited Inaugural Women’s Premier League (WPL) was finally launched by the BCCI
this month, and it did not disappoint! We saw 5 star-studded teams spar off over an action-packed
3 weeks, with Mumbai Indians winning the first-ever WPL. In true Indian fashion, the tournament was
a huge success in achieving the awareness, growth, and marketability of women’s cricket. The WPL had
all the pomp and show of the IPL, the crowds were fantastic and most importantly the coverage was
on point for the global audience. After this year’s success, there is potential for more teams and a longer format for next year, but time will tell!
A short trip from India to England brought us to the action of The Hundred! Both the men’s and
women’s player auctions happened simultaneously. While the payday wasn’t quite as large as the WPL
was for the women, it has still come a long way. This year’s competition will showcase players from
various cricketing countries and is sure to be as exciting as WPL.
Fairbreak Invitational 2023 officially announced their squads for this year’s competition. The tournament
is due to be held in Hong Kong next month over the span of 2 weeks in which 6 teams made up of
players from all around the world will host head-to-head. This initiative opens doors for women globally to
be able to participate alongside big-name players as well as expose them to a higher level of competition and coaching that wouldn’t necessarily be available to them at home. Last year’s
competition had Canadian captain Divya Saxena representing us and hopefully, we can see another Canadian player there in the editions to come.
Travelling back home after so much happening around the world, our preparations are still ongoing but slow. There are provincial training sessions that the Cricket Council of Ontario
hosts on the weekends with a decent turnout, however the national training still seems to be struggling for commitment. The America’s Qualifiers due to be held in Florida this year are fast approaching and let’s hope Canada is all set in time for a successful tournament.