Women’s T20 World Cup ‘breaks cricket into mainstream’ but money still an issue

Success of hosts England has helped the tournament but Netherlands coach had to give up her job to guide her country

The results are in: England will play South Africa in the T20 World Cup semi-final on Thursday, after Australia face off against West Indies on Tuesday. It all came down to the double-header at Lord’s on Sunday, played in front of a crowd of 27,000, which began with South Africa limping across the line against Bangladesh despite a flurry of late wickets, and ended with India crashing out of the tournament after a six-wicket defeat against Australia.

This has been a good fortnight for women’s cricket. The tournament director, Beth Barrett-Wild, was upbeat on Sunday. “It’s been incredible,” she said of the tournament so far. “We set out on a mission to break women’s cricket into the mainstream, and over the course of the last three weeks we’ve seen record-breaking crowds. I feel like we’ve definitely delivered.”