TThe last time the head coach of England, Charlotte Edwards, flew to India for a 50-over World Cup, during her match days in 2013 she picked up a suitcase full of ketchup. It was a different world: the teams flew the economy, no side had professional contracts and there was no team of dietitians to attract an eyebrow at Edwards’s spice of your choice.
The World Cup 2025, which starts on Tuesday in Guwahati and ends with the final on November 2, might as well take place on another planet. The dizzying changes in cricket for women in the last 12 years may best be summarized due to the growth in the tournament prize money. In 2013 it was $ 200,000; This time it is $ 13.88 million. The Eagle-Eyed will spot that this is more than the total prize pool of $ 10 million for the most recent 50-over men’s World Cup-a big explanation of the International Cricket Council (ICC) about the value of the women’s game.
Cricket world cups in India are always a big event. This one in the aftermath of the launch of 2023 of the successful India Women’s Premier League should be a chance to show how far we have come since the last trip from Edwards. Note the word “would”. The forces that seem to be to do their best to spare that opportunity.
In August, the ICC announced a wholesaler to the schedule for safety reasons, including moving a semi -final and (possibly) the final from Bengaluru to Navi Mumbai. All Pakistan games (including the semi-final and final, were allowed to qualify) take place in Sri Lanka because of the deteriorating political situation in India-Pakistan.
When are tickets for sale for this showstopper event? Less than a month ago. Bizarre enough, more seems to be done to promote next year’s T20 World Cup in England and Wales than to scream about the 50-over that starts this week.
In all chaos for traveling fans, the players fight with a Round-Robin schedule of five cities that leave little time for peace and recovery. Of the eight teams, Pakistan (who have never reached the knockout phase of a world cup) has a considerable advantage, since they will be located in Colombo for the duration.
Australia, the ruling champions, are the next best, with only three internal flights and 5,194 km to struggle with the group phases. On the other side of the spectrum, New Zealand will yield almost 9,000 km of traveling while the Crisross team will deliver between locations in Mumbai, Guwahati, Indore, Visakhapatnam and Colombo. England has to manage 7,000 km: Edwards needs a lot of ketchup.
The England campaign starts on Friday against South Africa in Guwahati. Even it is possible that this is the first World Cup for the new coach-capincy duo of Edwards and Nat Sciver brunt, the semi-final must certainly be a minimal expectation.
The newest blow to the trust of the audience in England came when the 33-year-old sailor and popular podcaster Kate Cross lost her contract in England, while the head coach chooses to concentrate on the next generation of EM Arlott and Lauren Filer. Whether it was the right call was lost in the outpouring of sympathy towards Cross and clearly showed that this is a team that still has to win hearts and spirits after the axis that insists in January and a shaky 2-1 defeat against India in the one-day international series in July.
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The pressure will come when England slips into one of their early fixtures – after South Africa they play Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Pakistan. A carefree defeat could change their subsequent games against the big guns of India and Australia into must-wins.
Those two teams were last seen in a record-aggregate ODI in Delhi when Australia scored 412 and India was at the moving distance to pursue it, ending at 369. On the same day, England brought a victory in their unofficial warm-up against New Zealand only reached Van people.
As always, the hope of England will rest strongly on scivering brunt. The signs are good: she reached an undefeated century in the warm-up on Thursday against India and after she could not bowling for months and also sent four overs. But Australia is stimulated by the return of Alyssa Healy of an injury, and the World No 1-Battleman, the Smriti Mandhana of India, has the form of her career and has just scored hundreds against Australia afterwards.
It is difficult to predict something other than a final of India v Australia, on November 2. Regarding the prospect of an India victory, to secure a first world title on a home floor? That can really be a game check.
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