Cricket

A novel idea of free childcare at all Cricket World Cup matches in NZ next year – and mums actually playing in the tournament – shows how far the women’s game has progressed, says an ex-White Ferns captain. 

Former White Ferns captain Aimee Watkins knows the struggle of balancing cricket with career and family.  

At the age of 28, she decided it was time to move on with her life and retire after playing 141 internationals. A decision she was almost forced to make. 

Watkins wanted to start a family with husband, Jamie (who’s now the head coach of the Central Hinds), and knew that meant she couldn’t carry on with cricket. 

While family wasn’t the only reason Watkins finished playing in 2011 – a chronic knee injury plaguing her final years as New Zealand captain – she never considered juggling motherhood with cricket.  

“There was never any talk of it and in my mind, when you want to have kids, that’s sort of it,” says Watkins, recalling how there were never any discussions about players having children.  

But things have changed markedly in 10 years. Watkins’ vice-captain, Amy Satterthwaite, is still in the White Ferns side, with an almost two-year-old daughter. 

And in another innovation for the game, at all 31 games of the upcoming ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup, being played throughout the country in March and April, there will be free childcare for every family who walks in the gate. 

“Absolutely 100 percent it’s something that I would have liked to have had available in my day,” says Watkins, who now has two daughters aged eight and six.  

“Even just at local games at Pukekura Park in New Plymouth, I’ve thought ‘Oh I can’t really take them along’ because even a T20 is still four hours, where you’ve got to entertain them.  

“Cricket is for everyone, families are welcome. The kids can be involved or not – they can watch or sit there and do colouring-in with someone else. But it’s great to have families all at the ground.” 

The novel pop-up childcare idea comes out of a collaboration between the CWC22 organising team and in-home education provider PORSE. 

It’s part of a bigger plan by Andrea Nelson, the CEO of CWC22, to make this cricket tournament family-friendly and different from other world sporting events. 

In 2011, as Watkins finished playing, the New Zealand Cricket Players Association started working with the women’s teams, a change that has gone on to benefit many White Ferns players.  

“That’s clearly a pathway a lot of women want to take, having a family,” says Watkins. 

“So recognising that, drawing something up and seeing what happened overseas and in other sports to make it work, it was a game changer. Obviously for people like Amy Satterthwaite recently, and who knows who else in the future.” 

Watkins remembers where the state of women’s cricket was in her playing days, starting at Central Districts when she was only 16.  

The Central Hinds would be given leftover gear from the Stags men’s team, and would train in XL men’s shirts. It left Watkins and her teammates feeling undervalued. 

The journey New Zealand Cricket have been on to support the women’s game is massive, and Watkins credits their work alongside the associations for the progress made since she played. 

Some things have stayed the same, though. Watkins still holds the New Zealand record for the most ODI wickets, taking 92 across her 10-year international career. 

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The concept of free childcare came out of a conversation Nelson had with PORSE founders Rahul and Bhavini Doshii at a Phoenix football game. 

‘We were discussing the [Cricket World Cup] tournament and what we were trying to achieve, and how our message was about attracting a new audience,” Nelson says. “PORSE are totally committed to celebrating working parents, so it’s a perfect alignment with what we’re trying to do.” 

They successfully trialled the idea at home games for the Blues rugby side, encouraging young families to come to Eden Park, but this is the first large-scale event they’ve worked with.  

“It’s such a great statement of what we’re all about,” Nelson says. “We want to make people think differently, try something new. It will create a really fun family atmosphere for everyone – whether they’re cricket fans, or about to become cricket fans.”  

When Nelson first took on the CEO role, one of the first people she spoke to was Sarah Styles, then head of female engagement at Cricket Australia (she’s now the director of the Office for Women in Sport and Recreation in Victoria).  

Nelson asked her how they’d managed to attract big crowds to the Women’s Big Bash League, and how AFL did the same for their women’s league.   

“There were two things I took out of it. One was the importance of having advocates in the community – which is what our Champions programme is all about,” Nelson says. 

So far 1870 New Zealand community ‘Champions’ have signed up to help spread the word about CWC22.  “You’ve got to have people sharing it in the community, telling people to go,” says Nelson. 

“The other thing was to create an atmosphere that’s different. We have more to come – there’s some pretty cool family friendly and unusual things we plan to do for our spectators. Eight hours of cricket is a long day if you’re new to the sport, so we’re trying to break it up, so it feels like a festival.”  

“It’s only possible when you have corporate support. Any event can’t do something like this on their own. What’s great is that we’re all on the same waka trying to achieve the same thing and it genuinely makes a difference.” 

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The vision of CWC22 is ‘to own the moment and lead the change’.  

“It’s ironic that the moment we’re owning is the reopening of international sport in New Zealand, and the change we’re leading is a bit different to the one we thought we’d be leading,” Nelson says. 

The global pandemic took its first swipe at the World Cup in August last year, forcing the ICC to delay the event by a year.  

It continues to cause hassles. The qualifying tournament in Zimbabwe last month, to determine the final three nations for the World Cup, was called off early when travel restrictions were imposed after the new Omicron variant of Covid-19 was found in southern Africa. 

The three spots were decided by ICC rankings – and filled by Bangladesh, Pakistan and the West Indies.  

One of those teams will play the White Ferns in the opening match at Bay Oval in Tauranga on March 4. The draw has still to be completed.  

For all the problems Covid has caused the organisers, it’s also had a positive spin.  

“It’s helped us to become one team – with the government, with the ICC, with New Zealand Cricket,” Nelson says. “I’ve never worked on an event where so many people have become invested in it becoming a success. Because it’s more than just the event itself – it’s what it signifies, as the first of the three World Cups coming to New Zealand.” 

The extra year to prepare for the tournament has been priceless, too, Nelson says. 

“Of course, it’s not how you’d choose to stage a global event. There are constraints and you end up spending your time doing a lot of contingency plans, often in the knowledge the things you’re planning for may never happen. It just keeps changing,” she says. 

“But we are making the best of what we have, and we’re really grateful for the position we’re in. It’s grass banks, it’s outdoors, it’s summer. As an Aucklander, I know I’d be very comfortable sitting on the grass banks at Hamilton’s Seddon Park and watching one-day cricket.” 

Nelson is proud of what her team has already achieved – the $2m upgrade to gender-neutral changing rooms at all of the grounds, the nationwide education programme available in Te Reo, and the integration of Te Reo in cricket.  

“And the leaders we are growing in our team – who’ve been through an experience that no one else has before. They will be such an asset to New Zealand sports events in the future,” she says. 

With the first team, India, arriving in January to play the White Ferns, the focus is now on getting people to the games. So far they’ve sold over 26,500 tickets.  

Regardless of the traffic light stages New Zealand will be in come March, the event will still take place. What changes is the crowds.  

“If there can’t be crowds, there can’t be crowds. That’s the risk the event is carrying,” Nelson says. “But we want to fill the stadiums and show the world. If we’re unable to do that because of a public health measure, we will roll with that. 

“You’ve got to roll with the punches, and remember that at the end of the day you’re trying to do something that’s really good. You’re trying to create a fantastic event that’s also a showcase of something really important – women in sport, equity, and the global growth of the game and New Zealand’s part in that.”