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Post by leedsgull on Aug 9, 2016 16:45:47 GMT
Clare Connor was interviewed during todays match at Guildford in the Super League. She said that the tournament was proving to be a great success with crowds averaging 1,000. Is this really good? As one of the matches had a crowd of 2,500 the rest have not been so well supported. It should also be borne in mind that entrance fees are minimal and that it is school holiday time when plenty of people are looking for cheap attractions to attend. To my mind gates of 1,000 do not represent success.
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Post by leedsgull on Aug 15, 2016 6:47:22 GMT
Yesterday was a rare lovely summers day in Leeds so I went to Headingley to watch my second Kia super league fixture. Despite what you may read on Cricinfo of "thousands flocking to watch" that has certainly not been the case at Headingley. Yesterday less than 300 turned up to watch a splendid if one sided match. I really would like to know what percentage of their marketing budget Yorkshire allocated to it's female team.
Yorkshire batted first and were initially promising with Lauren Winfield particularly aggressive. However Anya Shrubsole's opening wicket maiden was a warning of far worse to come for the home team. Only Beth Mooney with a fifty could prosper after Winfield's dismissal. The final over was unique to me and possibly unequalled in that Shrubsole bowled a 4 wicket maiden with no hat trick! Yorkshire were all out for 119.
Western Storm were a will drilled team, superbly led by England captain Heather Knight. Yorkshire have a couple of notable individuals and a lot of players making up the numbers. The Storm reply was decisive. Led by the female Chris Gayle, Stephani Taylor and New Zealander Rachel Priest they cruised past 100 before both throwing their wickets away. There were two more late wickets before sanity returned and a comfortable 6 wicket victory achieved with over three overs in hand. There were several 6's and many 4's hit by the destructive openers against what became a feeble attack.
I think it is interesting that the three teams based at the large counties i.e Yorkshire, Lancashire & Surrey have all failed to qualify for finals day. The hybrid teams seem more cohesive and have greater unity to me. Make of that what you will. The tournament to date has been blessed with good weather yet I suspect the public at large and even a lot of cricket fans have been blissfully unaware that it has been taking place. New dawn? |
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Post by hhsussex on Aug 15, 2016 7:17:28 GMT
Yesterday was a rare lovely summers day in Leeds so I went to Headingley to watch my second Kia super league fixture. Despite what you may read on Cricinfo of "thousands flocking to watch" that has certainly not been the case at Headingley. Yesterday less than 300 turned up to watch a splendid if one sided match. I really would like to know what percentage of their marketing budget Yorkshire allocated to it's female team.
Yorkshire batted first and were initially promising with Lauren Winfield particularly aggressive. However Anya Shrubsole's opening wicket maiden was a warning of far worse to come for the home team. Only Beth Mooney with a fifty could prosper after Winfield's dismissal. The final over was unique to me and possibly unequalled in that Shrubsole bowled a 4 wicket maiden with no hat trick! Yorkshire were all out for 119.
Western Storm were a will drilled team, superbly led by England captain Heather Knight. Yorkshire have a couple of notable individuals and a lot of players making up the numbers. The Storm reply was decisive. Led by the female Chris Gayle, Stephani Taylor and New Zealander Rachel Priest they cruised past 100 before both throwing their wickets away. There were two more late wickets before sanity returned and a comfortable 6 wicket victory achieved with over three overs in hand. There were several 6's and many 4's hit by the destructive openers against what became a feeble attack.
I think it is interesting that the three teams based at the large counties i.e Yorkshire, Lancashire & Surrey have all failed to qualify for finals day. The hybrid teams seem more cohesive and have greater unity to me. Make of that what you will. The tournament to date has been blessed with good weather yet I suspect the public at large and even a lot of cricket fans have been blissfully unaware that it has been taking place. New dawn? If it is dawn then it is lacking the spectacular aurora that would be needed to awaken many people to the concept of watching women's cricket. Your excellent reports confirm that there are some fewe really good players out there whose skills would stand out in any sphere, and a large amount of padding. If the women's game is to prosper and begin to attract bigger crowds then the latter needs to be reduced, and that is the challenge for the coaches and managers of these teams. Just giving the games a higher profile through creating a league doesn't automatically ensure quality, but perhaps it will start to pull in enthusisasts and that will give the coaches a new flow of talent to work on. I think that your point about the greater cohesion of the hybrid teams is fascinating. Could it be that because they need to create an identity they try harder, whereas the "county" sides still unconsiously feel they are just going through the motions as before? |
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Post by leedsgull on Aug 21, 2016 9:16:05 GMT
So finals day is here and I am sure a healthy crowd will fill Chemsford as they seem to support women's cricket better than most. I just hope when the dust has settled we get an honest assessment of this tournament. It takes a long time to build a new brand. With very little media exposure I believe that it has gone largely unnoticed. Acknowledge the truth and do not make wild claims of how successful it has been would be my plea to Clare Connor.
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Post by hhsussex on Aug 21, 2016 15:32:15 GMT
Legside Lizzy Tweeting:
I am at KSL finals day where Elysse Perry is showing her class for the Lightning. My guess around 2000 watching.
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Post by leedsgull on Aug 21, 2016 16:49:26 GMT
I listened to the whole days play on the radio. In between matches both Clare Connor and Chris Adams were interviewed. Worth seeking out on iplayer. Chris spoke about what it is like to have a daughter playing at this level. He is obviously very involved in women's cricket so perhaps he could find employment there? Clare said that when they discussed this venture they compared it with the launch of the women's football super league. In their first season apparently the average crowd was 550 so she is delighted that the 15 group games averaged 1030 per game. It will be the same format next year with a separate 50 over competition to allow for preparation for the world cup.
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Post by leedsgull on Oct 13, 2016 5:50:57 GMT
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