How England's victory could benefit women's cricket

  • July 25th, 2017
  • Camilla Chapman

After a thrilling final at Lords on Sunday, England were crowned world champions, beating India by nine runs to claim the Women's World Cup. In front of a packed crowd with a terrific atmosphere, England staged a remarkable comeback to bowl India out, to cap off a wonderful tournament. Now that the dust has settled, we take a look at how England's victory - and the tournament on a whole - could benefit the women's game to reach new heights.

In the UK, England's success has the potential to drive participation numbers up for women's cricket, which there are many promising signs. The final at the home of Cricket - Lords - was played in front of a sell out crowd of 26,500, making it the largest ever attendance for a ICC Women's world match. The news of England's success was all over the front pages of national newspapers and many of England's heroes could become household names, such as fast bowler Anya Shrubsole, who took the best figures in a World Cup final with 6-46.

This is a time when women's sport has an increased focus, with their football colleagues also currently playing in the European Championships and the ladies Rugby team will be looking to defend their World Cup title in Ireland next month. The tournament could pave the way for many more women and girls to take up cricket, with the Women's Super League also due to start next month, which could also see an increase in attendance after England's success.

Women's cricket worldwide could also benefit from the thrilling tournament that was hosted. Over 50m people watched the group stages across the world on television and huge numbers expected to have watched the final. Yet in some countries abroad, there is lack of a professional women's league, like the Super League in the UK. In 2013 when the last World Cup was held in India, matches were played in near empty stadiums, in a stark contrast to the packed out Lords. Now could be the turning point for women's cricket to improve in participation numbers worldwide, ready for the next generation of female cricketers.

England captain Heather Knight hailed the sold-out final as a 'watershed moment', a moment that she and her team-mates thought would never happen. Anya Shrubsole's father shared a picture of his nine-year old daughter at Lord's, who said that she wanted to play there, in a World Cup final. Shrubsole herself said that you may have a dream, but you 'never know that it's going to happen. For that dream to be a reality is just amazing.'

Well keep dreaming ladies because dreams can come true.