The ECB and Royal London have been everywhere this week, publicising the insurance group's sponsorship of "all" 50-over cricket in England - not just ODIs but domestic cricket too.
Royal London are sponsoring a whole array of competitions, right down to a 32-county Under-13 girls cup... which is fantastic!
But hang on... let's take a closer look at that list: men's ODIs, women's ODIs, a men's county cup, a (men's) club cup, girls cricket and boys cricket.
There seems to be something missing: the Women's County Championship!
I know, I know: nobody cares about the Women's Country Championship - the audience consists of a handful of tragics (myself included) and the family of beautiful red kites that swoop over Berkshire's Wokingham ground during matches.
(I am assured that the red kites are genuine fans; and suggestions that they just have their eye on Tammy Beaumont for a light snack are entirely wide of the mark!)
So, yes, nobody cares!
BUT...
Possibly if we GOT some decent sponsorship for the Women's County Championship, and actually GAVE it some proper publicity, people would START CARING!
Update (April 2014): In the end, it looks like Royal London are sponsoring the WCC after all. So, all's well that ends well, I guess!
I totally agree with you there. It's exactly the same as the womens international games. There was hardly any interest in them until there was some sort of backing and publicity.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking from my own experiences, the womens international games have a good following now, I recently went to watch 2 of the Ashes one dayers, one at Lords and one at Hove, and they both had a terrific turn out, Hove was virtually full.
Those red kites would make light work of Tammy Beaumont, she'd be like a tooth pick to them haha