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W<\/span>omen\u2019s cricket is growing faster than the men\u2019s game in many areas of the world, according to the International Cricket Council<\/a> chief executive, Sanjog Gupta, who has defended his organisation\u2019s reliance on the Indian market for driving expansion.<\/p>\n The first women\u2019s Test to be played at Lord\u2019s begins on Friday between England and India, five days after the ground staged the final of a record\u2011breaking T20 World Cup<\/a> in front of a sellout crowd. Gupta, however, is just as excited by the sport\u2019s potential in new markets.<\/p>\n \u201cCricket is assuming cultural significance among women in certain countries like Brazil where football is really big,\u201d he says. \u201cWomen gravitate towards cricket as a means of finding their own identity, and a platform for belonging.<\/p>\n \u201cThe fact it\u2019s a team sport and that it intrinsically entails social connections lends itself to driving a sense of belonging for a community which feels a little cut off from certain facets of their culture.<\/p>\n \u201cIn emerging markets, women\u2019s cricket is playing the leading role in driving participation and also the elevation of performance standards. You see that the ranking of the women\u2019s teams in these countries is higher than the ranking of the men\u2019s teams. It\u2019s perhaps easier for a women\u2019s team ranked 25 or 30 in the world to climb quickly, so it\u2019s a virtuous circle.\u201d<\/p>\n After expanding the T20 World Cup to 12 teams for the first time this summer, the competition will grow to 16 in 2030. The first Champions Trophy will take place in Sri Lanka next year, with the women\u2019s game mirroring the men\u2019s four-year global tournament cycle for the first time.<\/p>\n Given the Women\u2019s T20 World Cup was played alongside the men\u2019s competition, with their games serving as curtain-raisers to the main event, as recently as 2016, the pace of change has been remarkable.<\/p>\n While Australia\u2019s comfortable seven-wicket victory against England in the final last Sunday denied the hosts another seminal moment to match their 50\u2011over World Cup win<\/a> against India<\/a> at Lord\u2019s in 2017, by any metric the tournament can be judged a success, despite clashing with the men\u2019s football World Cup and the Ben Stokes drama that overshadowed the men\u2019s home Test series defeat by New Zealand.<\/p>\nQuick Guide<\/span><\/p>\n
Beaumont to bid farewell<\/h4>\n