Photo Credit: ICC
ICC Women’s Cricket manager Snehal Pradhan hopes bringing High Performance Managers of women’s cricket teams together in South Africa will help drive up standards on and off the field.
High Performance Managers, women’s cricket coordinators and Operations staff from all 16 Women’s ODI playing nations met in Cape Town for a High Performance Managers Meet Up on Thursday 9 February to share best practices and discuss the development of female Match Officials. The meeting was attended in person by representatives who were in Cape Town for the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2023, and representatives of other countries joined virtually.
“It was extremely valuable to have the people responsible for administering women’s cricket in the 16 ODI playing countries in the same room,” said Pradhan.
“It was a good opportunity for the community to reconnect, and for some new people to meet their counterparts.
“We hope that sharing of best practices between members will help improve the standard of international cricket and therefore the health of the game overall.
“This isn’t just about the 10 countries who are participating in the ICC Women’s World Cup, which is why it was a very conscious decision not to restrict this meet up to members who are participating here but to expand it to members who are Women’s ODI playing nations.”
Attendees from across the game discussed a wide range of topics, all with the aim ofenabling communication and sharing of best practices.
“We had three presentations on best practices from Australia, Ireland and South Africa on various topics surrounding the women’s game from high performance and legacy impact of the World Cup to professionalisation and contracting structures,” she added.
“That was something we hope was very valuable for the entire group as we had a wide range of members who are at different stages in their journeys..
“To be able to openly share best practices was something that was really appreciated..”
The ICC Women’s T20 World Cup’s landmark achievement in being wholly officiated by women was one Pradhan sought to celebrate and capitalise on..
“It’s something that the ICC is really proud of, to be able to deliver a tournament completely overseen by female match officials,” said Pradhan.
“We need to congratulate all the member countries who have nurtured these female match officials.
“This was an opportunity to re-emphasise that things are just going to get better from here and we hope to engage with all countries to continue to develop more female match officials, and provide them with more opportunities.
