Women's cricket won't grow if franchise cricket isn't prioritised: Goswami

Women’s cricket finds itself in a problem of plenty, with there being a growing clash between the international calendar and the franchise league schedule. Over the last year, several Australian cricketers pulled out of The Hundred to be well-rested for the Women’s Ashes, which was set to be played later in the year. 

Not just that, a similar occurrence happened in India as well, when England skipper Heather Knight preferred international duties (vs New Zealand) over representing Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) women, who eventually went on to become Women’s Premier League (WPL) champions. 

Someone who has seen the enormous growth of women’s cricket, and in particular, franchise cricket, from close quarters is none other than India’s all-time great Jhulan Goswami. The former Indian pacer added that the calendar clash is a big ‘challenge’ for women’s cricket. 

"It's a big challenge [calendar clashes] for women's cricket," Goswami told ESPNCricinfo on their podcast, ‘Powerplay’. 

"Earlier we saw these things happen for men's cricket but never expected it to happen for women's cricket, but that's happening. And I'm happy to see that. The ICC needs to take care, franchise cricket is the future of women's cricket. And that's the growth of women's cricket globally. You have to give priority to every franchise league; otherwise, cricket will not grow,” she added. 

Pointing out how many quality cricketers were produced thanks to these leagues, Goswami wanted the International Cricket Council (ICC) to examine the bilateral cricketing schedule closely. 

"See how many quality cricketers were produced by franchise cricket in the last few years, starting with WBBL as well as the Hundred, WCPL, WPL," Goswami said. 

"A lot of youngsters they've provided every year so you have to give priority to those windows and after that you have to have bilateral series. If you have your bilateral series and franchise leagues clashing then you will lose out on quality cricketers. And if you don't have quality cricketers then your tournament is not going to be successful. In women's cricket we don't have a lot of options, a few quality cricketers we have in the world,” she added.

Goswami, who has 255 WODI wickets to her name, added that it is franchise leagues which will aid and help the growth of women’s cricket. 

“If they're occupied in bilateral series, then the volume of the [T20] tournaments is going to go down. We should make sure that when the premier league [franchise] tournaments are going on, give them certain windows and after that you have the bilateral series. It will help women's cricket's growth also. That is my personal view."

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