There are a total of 73 statues of male cricketers in Australia and no statues of women cricketers, found in a survey. However, on the occasion of International Women’s Day, Cricket Australia, the cricket governing body of the nation has pledged to diminish that gap as much as possible.
The CA has formed a "Recognition of Women in Cricket Working Group", which will decide upon the planning of statues. The efforts of diminishing the gap starts with the establishment of two statues related to women cricket at the iconic Sydney Cricket Ground and Melbourne Cricket Ground.
"We are committed to challenging ourselves to continue to address gender inequality across our game," Nick Hockley, CA's interim chief executive was quoted as saying in a press release.
Talking about the success of the Women’s T20 World Cup where the final was attended by more than 87,000 fans at MCG just before the pandemic, Hockley said, "So many challenges have been presented since that day, and it is now more important than ever that we keep pushing for equality in cricket and keep building the momentum established before the pandemic."
The MCG would have a statue commemorating 2020 Women’s T20 World Cup glory, while SCG would have the first statue of an Australian women cricketer. "It's going to be a pretty incredible list to choose from," said Rachael Hynes, the vice-captain of the Australian women’s team.
"Just for a player who's been involved for a long time, it's going to be nice to walk into a stadium like the SCG and be able to walk past some of the heroes who have led the way. I'm looking forward to learning about our history and the contribution some of these female players have made," she added.