Jahanara Alam calls for reduction in ground sizes to make women’s cricket more entertaining

Jahanara Alam, the Bangladesh women’s fast bowler, reckons that reducing the size of the boundaries can help women’s cricket become more interesting. She feels that the size of balls and pitches shouldn’t be altered. Lately, Jemimah Rodrigues and New Zealand’s Sophie Devine pledged their support for innovations during the fourth instalment of the 100% cricket webinar series.

They discussed on several ideas, which could be tried out on trial and error basis. Devine said that the ICC shouldn’t alter the pitch size and rather, decrease the size of the cricket leather. However, Jahanara said that it will make the game go in favour of the batting team.

“I think to make women’s cricket a little more entertaining, if the balls get small and the size of the wicket gets reduced, it will go in favour of the batsman,” Jahanara was quoted as saying in Daily Sun.

Spectators actually go to the field to see fours-sixes: Jahanara Alam

The 27-year-old also quipped that bowlers shouldn’t be asked to change their run-up. As per the Khulna-born, doing the same could disturb the rhythm of a fast bowler in a significant way. She called for the boundary to be reduced from 65 yards to 55 yards.

“The ICC has already made new rules for bowlers; the paper works are already done. In the meantime, there is a discussion about the fact that pace bowlers cannot go straight through the follow-through. Experts have commented that it will be very tough for pace bowlers as they had so many years of practice. So, it will be very tough for the bowlers,” she stated.

“If the boundary line is reduced, like we play in 65 yards maximum time. So, if we have 55 yards then it will be more entertaining, fours-sixes will be more as the spectators actually go to the field to see fours-sixes, rather than wickets going down,” Jahanara added.

Jahanara last played for Bangladesh in the T20 World Cup earlier this year. She played three matches and unfortunately, couldn’t pick up a single wicket. Last year, she was also a part of the Velocity, led by India’s Mithali Raj, in the Women’s T20 Challenge that took place along with the IPL.