Women's cricket showpiece can co-exist with football WC, says ICC chief

LONDON, JUNE 13: International Cricket Council chief executive Sanjog Gupta, insists the Women's T20 World Cup can "co-exist" with the football World Cup.

England opened the cricket showpiece on home soil with an 87-run rout of Sri Lanka on Friday in front of 14,865 fans at Edgbaston.

England's female football and rugby teams enjoyed public acclaim for their success at the European Championships and Rugby World Cup in recent years.

But their cricketing counterparts are going for glory at a time when the sporting landscape is being dominated by the men's football World Cup in North America.

Gupta says ticket sales for the three-week event reaching around 220,000 before a ball had been bowled, by far a tournament record, suggests the women's event can hold public interest.

"We genuinely see this event as a seminal moment for the sport," Gupta said. "I think the World Cups can co-exist. We've not seen any impact on ticket sales.

"If anything, the ticket sales have been stronger than ever, which is why we're at a point where we've sold more tickets than any previous edition of the Women's T20 World Cup.

"Our attendance numbers are tracking in the manner that we expected them to and the projections are for them to touch 300,000. If the weather holds up then we will have a fantastic tournament which will stand in its own right.

"We've seen tremendous acceleration in the growth of women's cricket to an extent where we now believe this event could potentially be one of the two biggest women's sporting events ever. It is not in any way being played in the shadow of the FIFA Men's World Cup."    �"AFP