MAY 2001- Contents

Culture
Sufi poet-saints of 12th C

Environment
Blind dolphins -endangered

Sports
Women's Cricket in south Asia

Heritage
Heritage Awards 2000

2001 contenders

Archaeology
Gardens of the Mughals

Lifestyle
Good as Gold- contemporary jewellery in gold

Editor's Note

the craft shop

the print gallery

the-south-asian.com                               May 2001

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India was the first south Asian country to participate in international cricket. Women’s cricket in India was formalised almost thirty years ago in 1973. The Women’s Cricket Association of Sri Lanka (WCASL) was formed in 1996 and they played their first international game in the 1997 World Cup in India. Similarly, Pakistan also joined the world of Women’s Cricket in 1996 and Bangladesh will play its first World Cup in 2004. It is in south Asian countries that women’s cricket attracts the most crowds – the 1997 World Cup Final between Australia and England at Eden Gardens in Calcutta drew a crowd of 80,000 spectators.

The seventh Women’s World Cup, sponsored by CricInfo, was held in New Zealand in November/December 2000 and was the most well publicised and well covered in the history of the game. The only two south Asian nations participating in New Zealand were India and Sri Lanka – India making it to the semi-finals.

South Asian women are generally introduced to the game through their brothers or fathers – they start invariably as the ‘twelfth man’ in a family picnic game using a soft ball or a friendly neighbourhood match running short of a player or two. Very few schools for girls, if at all, have cricket on their curriculum. The closest one comes to a cricket bat in school is perhaps in a game of rounders, which again, is played only in a few schools.

With a start such as this, it is no mean feat that women from south Asian countries have made their mark in the cricket fields of the world. They have played, and still do, under constraints not faced by their male counterparts. Firstly, they have limited funds available to them; and secondly, they have few and limited facilities or opportunities to practice on grass wickets. There is a shortage of training and playing facilities. In addition, the players have had to face cultural constraints as well, especially in Pakistan. Nor do the women players have the institutional support provided to male players. Yet, they enjoy the spirit of the game and are happy to be playing cricket.

Women are now playing the game in greater numbers. By playing more often, their game has improved and they have matured as players. India, because of its longer history of women’s cricket, has its women legends - and some have been honoured with National Awards - Shantha Rangaswamy, Diana Edulji, Shubhangi Kulkarni and Sandhya Agarwal made a major contribution and influenced the game and are Arjun Award winners. Some are known for their style of play, others for their spin bowling. A few records have also been set in the process. Neetu David's 8-53 against England in 1995-96 was the record bowling effort in a Test match innings. Sandhya Agarwal made a world record by scoring 190 runs in an innings in a Test match in England in 1986. Shanta was the first Indian woman cricketer to score a century in international cricket.

Air India and the Indian Railways have supported Women’s cricket in India in a big way. Air India has, perhaps, the finest women’s cricket team in the country. Both organisations participate in the Inter-State Nationals. Apart from the Nationals, the other major women’s tournaments in India are the Rani Jhansi trophy and the Indira Priyadarshini trophy.

The WCAI received the International Women's Cricket Council (IWCC) membership in 1973 and Government recognition in 1978. The Women’s Cricket Associations in south Asia are independent bodies, unlike England, New Zealand and others who have merged with the men's association.

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