BIRMINGHAM, United Kingdom —
Women cricketers say they would “love to go to
LA” to chase Olympic glory after a strikingly successful debut at the
Commonwealth Games.
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Australia beat
India by nine runs in Sunday’s final in front of a big, noisy crowd at
Edgbaston to underline their status as the world’s best team.
New Zealand
earlier hammered host nation England by eight wickets to take the bronze medal.
Women’s cricket
was on the Commonwealth Games program for the first time in Birmingham and had
the spotlight to itself, with no matching men’s tournament.
It is no secret
that cricket chiefs want to get the Twenty20 game — the version played in
Birmingham — on the list of Olympic sports, even as early as the Los Angeles
Games in 2028, although that is a long shot.
International
Cricket Council chief executive Geoff Allardice said the Commonwealths had been
a “fantastic 10 days of competition” in front of packed-out crowds, describing
it as a “superb advert for the women’s game”.
England captain
Nat Sciver agreed that the tournament in Birmingham had been a huge shot in the
arm for the women’s game.
“This
Commonwealth Games has been an incredible experience and I think the crowds
have shown that people really love coming to watch whatever team it is,” she
said.
“Having that new
audience from the Commonwealth Games where everyone’s happy to go and watch any
sport is something really special and something that can only help women’s
cricket.
“I’d love for
cricket to be in an Olympics.”
Australia’s Ash
Gardner, who took three wickets in Sunday’s final, would also relish the chance
to play on the biggest sporting stage.
“Being involved in a few
world cups myself and now the Commonwealth Games, it was something that us
cricketers probably never thought that we’d ever be involved in but we’re
certainly pretty pleased coming away with a gold medal,” she said.
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