While there is great cricket in the Women’s Big Bash League, networks and newspapers often have their staff elsewhere
Jarrod Kimber07-Jan-2017I don’t know who Lea Tahuhu is. I can tell you that Meg Lanning is a freak. That I love watching Suzie Bates’ captaincy. That Eshani Kaushalya is a legend in my house. And that I would happily watch Mithali Raj cover drive on an endless gif for three consecutive days.But I haven’t covered women’s cricket in almost five years. I look at the bits that are televised. I went to two full matches of at the 2016 World T20, and half of another after being locked out of the ground. I saw a fair bit of the first weekend of the WBBL that was on TV. And I follow scorecards and series results.So while I should know more, and do know a bit, I don’t know who Tahuhu is. But here she is at the Docklands, and the keeper is a long way back. The boundary may not be long, but the keeper is incredibly close to it. And to the third man and fine leg. One ball in and I get it; Tahuhu is fast; she is as fast as any women’s bowler I have seen live. She’s Katherine Brunt in her heydey fast.The first ball takes an edge, and even with the fine third man, it’s four. Other balls are pining through to the keeper; there is a ripping bouncer – that is called a wide – and the ball hits the bat hard a few times. Tahuhu takes 1 for 19 from four. She bowls them straight up, in control from the start, and then drops the mic, and walks into the outfield where her contributions are occasional rocket throws, including an off-balance one for a last ball run-out.Only hardcore fans might have seen moments like these•Getty ImagesOn the big screen, Tahuhu asks a trivia question, “Which country do I represent, England, South Africa and New Zealand?” Because despite the fact she is probably as quick as bowler in women’s cricket right now, only goes for 4.05 runs an over in ODIs, and averages 18 in T20s, her own team don’t think she is famous enough for people to know where she comes from.The World Cup this year will be Tahuhu’s third major tournament. And most probably, her breakout one. The problem is, so few women cricketers have broken out and are known by fans of the men’s game. But because of this league, and the KSL in England, players like Tahuhu can start to play as professionals. Tahuhu has played in both leagues. She deserves to be a professional cricketer, and if she keeps bowling like this, she will be for a while. However, for women’s cricketers to be better paid, they have to be more well known.And the WBBL is trying. The early weekend, shown live on one of the few cricketless weekends of the year, was a brilliant idea. The problem has been most games since that one haven’t been shown live, or at all. They were on Cricket Australia’s website, which is handy for hardcore fans. But the casual fans aren’t going to be lured there, or, really, even know that it exists. The WBBL has to be in the heat of summer, but during that period, Channel 10 and the newspapers have cricket writers at other grounds.While there are good signs – the queue outside the ground waiting for the stadium to open was very promising, even if the big crowd didn’t follow for the game itself – there was also a missed opportunity.With the Test finishing early today, and Channel 10 cameras already set up for the BBL game tonight, it would have been a perfect time to show some WBBL. Sadly, logistics made it impossible.So only hardcore fans would have seen Kris Britt’s lazy run-out. Not to mention, all the other great things, like Danielle Wyatt slapping the ball straight down the ground, Emma Kearney and her windmill wrong-footed action, Sophie Molineux’s incredible timing, Natalie Sciver’s classy innings, and former World T20 final star, and not to mention the best Australian player – and one of the best in the world – Lanning. By the end of the game, even the Renegades men were down on the boundary sitting down to watch their team nervously win what should have been an easy win.Even if Channel 10 had decided to put the game on once the Test had ended, the TV audience would have still missed out on Tahuhu. And as far as women’s cricket has come, that is still the problem: we just don’t see enough.And Tahuhu is worth seeing. Her ball to Lanning was angled in, straightened, and took the top of off, at pace. It looked great on the jumbotron screens hanging from the roof. It would have looked even better on TV screens around the country.
