Then, Australia will then not play on home soil until they host New Zealand for ODIs in March, in what looms as a sign of things to come for the world’s No.1-ranked team. Under the current ICC schedule, there will be no WBBL or international women’s cricket during the school holidays in Australia for at least the next three years.
This summer has been impacted by the ICC moving the inaugural Champions’ Trophy from its original June-July slot to February. But multiple players have also expressed concerns to AAP over India being able to claim the January window for its lucrative WPL, fearing it will only expand into a larger window. This year it runs January 14 to February 7.
They are concerned the national team are at risk of being out of sight and out of mind, stunting momentum after another T20 World Cup win. One push is for more home matches to be scheduled in December around the Christmas window, with Australia to tour Sri Lanka through that period this year.
“We’re not getting crowds, it’s not marketed well. There is no big-ticket item where people go ‘the Australian women’s team play here [at this time] every year’,” Mooney said. “We want to be relatable athletes. And if we’re not front and centre of the summer it makes it pretty difficult when it’s meant to be a summer sport. We don’t need to compete with the men. They play the day-night Test at some point. We can have T20s before that. Or we can play night T20s when there is a men’s Test on.”
“It would also help see fans come through,” Molineux said. “I completely understand that the schedules are getting bigger and busier.”
