The West Indies Women's cricket team suffered an embarrassing eight-wicket defeat to Australia in the first One Day International (ODI) at the Allan Border Field in Brisbane.
The Caribbean women were ignominiously bowled out for 83 runs in 27.3 overs, one of their lowest-ever ODI scores. Amidst the carnage, Aaliyah Alleyne showed promise, standing tall amidst the falling wickets.
She managed to score an impressive 35 runs from just 39 deliveries, including seven boundaries. Her innings was a lone bright spot in what was otherwise a gloomy day for the West Indies Women.
The Australians, however, were on top of their game with Kim Garth leading the bowling attack. Her outstanding figures of 5.3-2-8-3 made her a major headache for the West Indies batting line-up. Not far behind, Ash Gardner also showcased her talent by taking two wickets for just 17 runs in her 5 overs.
Chasing a low score, the Australian team made quick work of the target.
Player of the Match, Captain Alyssa Healy, took charge and scored a brisk 38 off 36 balls, inclusive of seven boundaries. Veteran player Ellyse Perry provided a steady hand with 20 not out, while Beth Mooney added six runs not out to the tally.
The West Indies bowlers found little success, but Karishma Ramharack managed to shine with figures of 3-0-13-1, followed closely by Cherry-Ann Fraser who claimed a wicket at the expense of 28 runs in her 5 overs.
Head Coach Shane Deitz acknowledged the team's shortcomings, but he emphasized the learning curve the youngsters are on.
"We sent some youngsters out to give them the opportunity and they did their best," said Deitz, "They’re learning international cricket, but they’ve got a lot to learn. I'm confident that with time and exposure against world-class teams like Australia, they'll mature into formidable players."
Deitz also touched upon the team's strategy and expressed satisfaction with some aspects of their game. He appreciated how the players "moved into the ball and attacked it."
The absence of star player Hayley Matthews was felt during the match, but Deitz reassured fans, saying, "We decided to give her the time to heal and be ready for the next game. We'll monitor her closely."
With this game in the rearview, the focus now shifts to Melbourne's Junction Oval, which is all set to host the remaining two ODIs on Thursday, October 12, and Saturday, October 14.
Hingst wants Ballon d'Or to move away from 'superstar' preference after Putellas nomination
World Cup winner Ariane Hingst believes the Ballon d'Or Feminin must reconsider who merits the global award in order to do "justice to the great football players".
Former Germany international Hingst, speaking at the Thinking Football Summit organised by Liga Portugal, could not fathom the reasoning behind including the likes of injury-hit Alexia Putellas as a nominee.
The 30-player list was announced at the start of September, with the winner revealed later in October, as Aitana Bonmati heads to the award ceremony in Paris as the favourite.
Spain's Nations League success saw five of their players nominated, including Bonmati, while the United States women's national team also had as many nominees after their Olympic success in the French capital.
Hingst, winner of FIFA's top international competition in 2003 and 2007, believes the Ballon d'Or needs to look further than "superstars", however.
"It's always interesting to see the nominees of these Ballon d'Ors," Hingst said to Stats Perform. "I think the problem is that you only have the big picture when you have a big tournament going on.
"We had the Olympics, but you see all kinds of sports, so you can't just follow the football, so it's hard to follow.
"What frustrates me the most is, and don't get me wrong, the likes of Alexia Putellas, [she is] a great, great player, but she's been injured for such a long time and is on the list to be the best of this season.
"This can't be right and I don't think that it does justice to the great football players we have out there if Putellas is on this list as well.
"We need to get away from the superstars and just recognise the season that has been played."
Though wanting to stray away from the "superstar" tag for Ballon d'Or selection, Hingst reserved special praise for Chelsea and Australia forward Sam Kerr.
"The interesting part is, that I always had a problem with just this one big superstar because soccer is a team sport and it took me some time to realise that you need those superstars," Hingst added.
"Definitely, Sam Kerr is one of them. It took some time for us in Germany to recognise her as much. She became really big when she was in America, an absolute superstar.
"Now then going to England and it's just tremendous. You need those figures because they are idols. Girls are talking about, 'I want to be Sam Kerr', the boys are talking about her, so you need those big names.
"For example, now you have Alex Morgan just retiring from the women's game. She was one of those superstars as well. [Megan] Rapinoe from America also retired. So who's the next?"
Jordan joins TKR for remainder of 2024 CPL season; Sowter joins Amazon Warriors as temporary replacement for Tahir
England international Chris Jordan will join the Trinbago Knight Riders for the remainder of the 2024 season.
The experienced all-rounder will replace USA international Ali Khan who was forced to withdraw from the tournament due to injury.
Jordan previously represented the Knight Riders in the 2019 edition of the CPL, taking seven wickets in five matches.
The Guyana Amazon Warriors have signed leg spinner Nathan Sowter as a temporary replacement for Imran Tahir who is currently recovering from injury and is expected to be unavailable for around 10 days.
A new era: Women's T20 World Cup champions to receive equal prize money as male counterparts
The upcoming Women’s T20 World Cup will be the first ICC event where women will receive the same prize money as their male counterparts, marking a significant milestone in the sport’s history.
This decision was taken at the ICC Annual Conference in July last year, when the ICC Board took the step of reaching its prize money equity target seven years ahead of its schedule of 2030, making cricket the only major team sport to have equal prize money for its men’s and women’s World Cup events.
For the upcoming October 3-20 tournament, which will now be staged in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the winners of the tournament will receive US$2.34 million, a massive, 134 per cent increase on the $1 million awarded to Australia when they clinched the title in South Africa last year. The runners-up will receive US$1.17 million, up from $500,000, while the two losing semi-finalists will earn US$675,000, up from $210,000, with the overall prize pot totalling US$7,958,080, a massive increase on the US$2.45 million dished out last year.
This move is in line with the ICC’s strategy to prioritise the women’s game and accelerate its growth by 2032. Teams will now receive equal prize money for the equivalent finishing position at comparable events as well as the same amount for winning a match at those events. The ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024 event prize money is only higher on account of 10 additional teams participating and 32 more matches played.
Each win during the group stages will see teams take home US$31,154, while the six teams who fail to reach the semi-finals will share a pool of US$1.35 million depending on their finishing positions.
In comparison, the equivalent pool for the six teams in 2023 was US$180,000, shared equally. Teams who finish third or fourth in their group will take US$270,000 each, while the teams who finish fifth in their group will both receive US$135,000.
All 10 participating teams are assured of US$112,500.
The increase in prize money for this year's ICC Women’s T20 World Cup comes in line with the prize pot for the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2022, also increasing to US$3.5 million in total.
The ICC Women’s T20 World Cup will get going on October 3, with Bangladesh taking on Scotland at Sharjah Cricket Stadium.
There has been a minor change to the schedule for the double-header on Saturday, October 5, in Sharjah, with Australia now facing Sri Lanka in the curtain-raiser and Bangladesh will lock horns with England in the feature encounter. A total of 10 teams will play 23 matches in Dubai and Sharjah to decide the 2024 champions.
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