Sydney Cricket Ground to have first statue of female cricketer

ANI, Mar 8, 2021, 9:58 AM IST

Source: Twitter/ICC

Cricket Australia has formed “Recognition of Women in Cricket Working Group,” and as a major first step, the NSW Government’s stadium authority Venues NSW has committed to housing the first sculpture of a women’s cricketer at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

Compared to the 73 known statues or sculptures of male cricketers across Australia, this sculpture will be the first of its type for a female cricketer. This move comes as a means to addressing gender imbalance on this International Women’s Day.

Nick Hockley, Cricket Australia’s Interim CEO said in an official statement,”  Just as this year’s International Women’s Day theme promotes ‘choose to challenge’, we are committed to challenging ourselves to continue to address gender inequality across our game. Precisely one year ago to the day, we were celebrating a ground-breaking moment when 86,174 fans packed out the MCG for the final of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup.”

He further added, “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. This is a historic moment for the game with Venues NSW today committing to the first sculpture of a female cricketer at the Sydney Cricket Ground, and we can’t thank Kerrie and her team enough for their leadership,”

Along with this, Cricket Australia has commissioned a piece of artwork with the Melbourne Cricket Club which will depict the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup final. Award-winning artist Vincent Fantauzzo will be painting the artwork and the artwork will begin to redress the imbalance of artwork that depicts women’s sport on the ground.

The piece will be showcased within the level 2 corridors of the MCC Members’ Reserve where it will feature as a regular of the MCG Tour route, meaning more than 40,000 school children each year will learn the powerful story of the T20 World Cup Final. Initial Members of the Recognition of Women in Cricket Working Group: Nick Hockley, Angela Pippos, Christina Matthews, Kerrie Mather, Kirsty Henshall, Kristene Reynolds, Lisa Sthalekar, Rachael Haynes, and Rina Hore.

(Curated with inputs from ANI)