Healy on WIPL, WPSL: It’s exactly where ‘the women’s game needed to go’

Says India is “such an untapped market” and “they’re going to be unbeatable in a 10-year time” with launch of Women’s IPL

“The announcements of those competitions are pretty great,” Healy said on the sidelines of Women’s ODI World Cup. “It’s exactly where we thought the women’s game needed to go. That was like the next step.

“We’ve had a really successful WBBL, and the Kia Super League went really well, now into the Hundred – there’s sort of some thriving domestic competitions [around the world], so to see the announcement of the IPL, in particular, to be able to grow the game in India is unbelievable.”

Healy has long been an advocate of a WIPL. Like several other top-drawer international cricketers from the world over, she had previously called for the roll-out of a WIPL to inject impetus into the growth of the Indian women’s national team.

Healy, who featured in the inaugural one-off exhibition game of the now four-match Women’s T20 Challenge, said: “It [India] is such an untapped market, I feel, in the women’s game.

“With that many people, surely, they’re going to be unbeatable in sort of a 10-year time. They just really needed a sort of a leg-up in that domestic set-up to showcase what these amazing women can do, so it’s really exciting.”

“”I reckon the more cricket we can play at a lower level to the domestic stuff, which is why CPL is going to be so big for us, the better.”

Hayley Matthews on WCPL

“The scheduling is going to come into play,” Healy said. “Obviously, what that looks like, I’m not 100% certain, but we’re going to have to work it out, whether or not international players are going to be available for all the domestic competitions with an increase in international cricket or whether there’s a focus on these domestic leagues – I’m not 100% certain.

“But first and foremost, it’s just great to see them being spoken about [and] hopefully, see them get off the ground and if they want a 32-33-year-old opening batter that can chirp a little bit behind the stumps, I’m available.”

“I reckon the more cricket we can play at a lower level to the domestic stuff, which is why CPL is going to be so big for us, the better, hopefully, we can get some more young girls coming through the system,” Matthews, the West Indies allrounder, said after her team’s loss to Australia in the World Cup semi-final at the Basin Reserve.

“Obviously, in this batch of players, this may be their last World Cup for a lot, not sure but at the same time, it would be really good if we could start nurturing some younger players throughout the domestic cricket season and yeah, get some more people filtering into West Indies stuff.”