Prominent names from top full-member countries will join hands with leading women cricketers from the associate nations in the first-of-its-kind Fairbreak Invitational T20 event in Dubai, starting May 1.
The tournament will see players from 35 countries featuring in what is essentially a private-funded six-team event by Fairbreak, which is a gender-equality operational firm. The competition will be played in a single round-robin format before the playoffs or the knock-outs, leading to 19 matches in 15 days.
“There’s never been a cricket tournament like it. As far as I know, there’s never been 36 [35, if the Indians don’t take part] countries involved in any team sporting event outside of an Olympic Games.”
“Over the years, we’ve identified and unearthed a lot of talent in Associate nations that you don’t get to see because there’s not the opportunity for them to play.”
Shaun Martyn, the tournament’s co-founder, told BBC ‘Stumped’.
The other co-founder for the Fairbreak event is former Australia cricketer Lisa Sthalekar. The competition was initially launched under the name of the Women’s International Cricket League in 2013, the idea being to further popularise the women’s game and raise its profile across the globe.
Till now, Sthalekar and Martyn have organised exhibition matches under the Fairbreak banner, including fixtures against Women’s Big Bash League teams. However, they are now expanding it into a multi-team league-based venture interestingly organised by Hong Kong Cricket. The Chinese city was due to host the first edition of the tournament but couldn’t after travelling restrictions were imposed amid the pandemic.
Forty players from top full-member countries, including Suzie Bates, Fatima Sana, Marizanne Kapp, Stafanie Taylor, Deandra Dottin, Sune Luus and Sophie Devine, are set to get on board for the event, with the likely addition of prominent players from England pending NOCs.
Apart from them, another set of 50 associate players are expected to register for the competition, featuring cricketers from Bhutan, Nepal, Vanuatu, Brazil and Thailand.
This will be a great opportunity for the players from emerging countries to rub shoulders with the top cricketers in the women’s game and avail as many learnings as possible over the best part of three weeks. The players will also be paid “life-changing” sums, as per Martyn, owing to their contracts signed with the tournament organisers.
The initial idea was to have players available from 36 countries, but it seems cricketers from one major full-member country will be absent. Curiously, those players are from India despite a prolonged break in the Indian side’s international commitments after their league stage exit in the ICC 50-over World Cup in New Zealand, which Australia won.
Also read 👉 CWC 2022: hosts Aussies crush England to bag another trophy
Indian stars Mithali Raj, Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana and Jemimah Rodrigues were also expected to feature in the Fairbreak event. But a cloud of great uncertainty now hovers over their participation with the competition in Dubai overlapping with BCCI’s own domestic T20 tournament that runs till May 4.
Harmanpreet, the Fairbreak organisers had announced last year, could have captained one of the six teams in their event. But that seems unlikely at this point.
To back the six teams, the organisers have roped in commercial partners and some of the big-name coaches from around the world, including former internationals in the men’s and the women’s game. The tournament is set to be live on multiple broadcast and streaming platforms.
The organisers hope that they will be able to stage the tournament on a biannual basis and host it in Hong Kong and Dubai for the following editions.
