Test Match Special - Will rain wash away England's World Cup dream?

Episode Date: March 4, 2020

With rain forecast in Sydney, the two Women's T20 World Cup semi finals are in serious doubt and England could be eliminated without a ball bowled. Henry Moeran is joined by England stars Kate Cross and Alex Hartley, plus BBC Sport's Amy Lofthouse to discuss what it all means.

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the Women's T20 World Cup. Hello and welcome to Sydney. The group stages are done and it's almost time for the semifinals played on Thursday here at the Sydney Cricket Ground. So many things to discuss as we look ahead to England versus India and Australia versus South Africa. Can England overcome the unbeaten Indian side? Will Australia cope without Elise Perry?

But perhaps most importantly, how is that weather looking? It's currently dry at the SCG. It has been raining earlier today. The forecast tomorrow isn't great. and there's the real possibility that one or both of the semifinals will be washed out. To discuss what it all means in the various permutations, I'm joined by Amy Loftouse from the BBC Sport website and perhaps the most influential Mancunian duo since the Gallagher's.

World Cup winner, Alex Hartley and Kate Cross, who is part of the England squad for this tournament, but you've just hobbled round to the media centre from the England dressing room wearing this enormous moon boot because ahead of England's last game, you took a bit of a tumble in the warm up. Tell us how you are, Crossy. Yeah, I'm actually okay.

It's a better diagnosis than we first thought. I mean, the conversation that I was having with Al while I was in the hospital suggested that I was never playing cricket again. I think the shock of it, to be honest, because I heard, as I landed on the advertising board, I heard a big crack. And so I think, you know,

my worst-case scenario immediately came through to my head and thought that I'd broken my leg. But it turns out that I've just damaged a couple of the ligates. It turns out she just snapped a sense of humour. so she's all right. We had a great time getting updates while we were on commentary and they gave pictures and, you know, gas and air. So they gave me the green whistle,

which I think is quite a popular form of drug over here. So you suck on this green whistle and it automatically puts the drugs into your system. But I don't remember sending some of the stuff that I was sending to Hartley. I obviously had to be very careful about what I said because I didn't want to annoy you by saying too much. I know, so I just kept saying she's fine, she's giving me a thumbs up, she's on gas and air.

And thankfully, it is better. than we thought. And so you won't be playing in this tournament. No. So it's probably looking like four to six weeks until I'm back playing cricket, which will be just in time for the county season. I should point out here in the commentary box, just as we started this podcast,

I nearly leapt out of my chair because suddenly from nowhere from below us, a huge squeegee doing the windows has appeared to clean the, there it is again, to clean the windows ahead of tomorrow's game, which is very nice that we'll be able to see out, but it needs to give me a bit of a fright. When I was a kid, I actually always wanted to be a window cleaner.

I just think, do you know, I think it's really satisfying when they get the second brush and they're just like, I'm doing the waving motion with my hand, you can't see you, but he's using it now. I just think it looks really satisfying. Here we go, down it. Do you see what I think? It's good, isn't it? I really wanted to have a go at that.

It's a shame this isn't filmed, isn't it? I fear we may be going off topic. So, let's talk a little bit about what it all means, this weather. The forecast, Amy, first of all, it's not great for tomorrow, and it's worth us going through the various situations that take place, because if either or both of the games are washed out, then the team that finished top in the group

that plays in that game will go through to the finals so that the group winners were India and South Africa. So it would be India in the game against England that would go through and South Africa for the match against Australia. The forecast at the moment, what's the latest on that? I mean, the weather looks appalling, quite frankly. I think we're supposed to have a bit of clearness

between about 12 and 5, but the evening game looks quite bad. They've had thunderstorms forecast as well. and they've got to squeeze in so each team has to bat for 10 over to constitute a game. Which is up from the five that normally is the ruling, isn't it? So that might be an issue because

I mean the worst thing that would happen would be would get one game going and then one game cancelled or we'd get half a game half the first game, none of the second game. It's not ideal. There's no reserve day in place. We've had a statement from the ICC saying that the ICCT20 World Cups are short, sharp events

where reserve days are factored in for the final allowing for any other reserve days would have extended the length of the event which isn't feasible. There is a clear and fair alternative should there be no playing any of the semi-finals with the winner of the group progressing.

Hold on a minute. Friday. They're not playing the final on Friday. That's a day you could have a reserve day, isn't it? Or you could do it in Saturday when we're in Melbourne, where there's also happens to be a ground in Melbourne that's got a roof on it

where there are no events. But, you know, reserve days are expensive. Just the amount of equipment that you have to take, you from game to game. It is, it costs a lot of money. It's also worth pointing out that the men's T20 also has the same regulations. So were it to rain in a semi-finals in October, currently there is no reserve day for the men either. Of course, that 50 over World Cup in England last summer, the semi-final between India and New Zealand, that went to a rain

reserve day. Had it not had one, it wouldn't have been New Zealand in the finals. So, oh, did you hear that? That was the squeak of the window. That was my own boot. Kate, from an England point of view, it's so frustrating, isn't it? Just sitting and waiting and seeing. Yeah, it is. But again, the weather has been pretty poor, obviously. But we've turned up to training today thinking we're not going to get outside. And I can see the girls out there now doing their ground field and doing the boundary catching.

So I think the possibility of us playing, obviously, it's out of our hands. But ultimately, we didn't finish top of the group. Yeah, I think if England had played their best cricket, they'd be top of the group. And the girls know that. Everybody knows that. We as England fans know that. They didn't start the tournament well. And, you know, the people that have played the best cricket are at the top.

And in my opinion, if it does rain, they deserve to be in the final. A tournament that is played over, as you say, short and sharp, it may be. But it is played over several weeks across a vast continent. And then because it rains, you don't have the semi-finals potentially. Is that good enough? I mean, it's not. it's the same rules for everywhere and everyone, all T20 World Cups.

It's the same, you know, happened in Antigua or wherever the last World Cup was in the West Indies. There was loads of rain about, and there was no reserve days. England ended up having a game against Sri Lanka rained out, so then they had to win every single game to get through to the finals. It's just how it is. But you wouldn't get that saying the FA Cup in football, if the semi-final, oh, sorry, we couldn't quite play the game on that.

It is the most cricket thing in the world. to have knockouts cancelled because of a bit of rain. And also, it does mean that Australia can now never complain about coming over to England again and getting rained off because they could potentially be rained out of their own home tournament. Oh, how good would that be? Alex, you can't say that. Sorry, sorry.

I should say, though, here at the SCG, the moment that England walked out for training, you know those boards that go right around the ground, the electronic boards that say boundary or six or whatever or wicket, as soon as England walked out, flashing up in green and, gold, Australia win. Congratulations Australia. Coincidence? No, definitely not. They're having England on there, aren't they? But that's typical Aussies. I mean, the scoreboard currently says 8 for 442, which seems optimistic. I mean, especially if we're only getting 10 overs aside, it's going to be a lively.

Good 10 overs. It's going to be a lively day. So, no potential reserve day. Let's have a quick listen from the England camp then. Heather Knight, the England skipper, has been having her say on the matter. Yeah, I guess it's the elephant in the room, isn't it? It's hard not to think about the weather. But for us, it's about making sure we keep our preparation exactly the same as it has been. We're prepared to play. And I think we're just excited. It's been nice to stay in the same city, actually, after a game.

So that's been good. We've enjoyed a day off in Sydney and then a day training. And obviously, we're training again today. And, yeah, just looking forward to another knockout stage. I don't know what the plans are if there's any contingency. It doesn't sound like it. It would be nice if we could maybe play in Sydney or I don't know if obviously that's feasible, probably not.

But look, it is what it is. There's nothing we can do about it. The reserve day, it would be useful to have, obviously, in this situation. And it's a shame for the tournament as a general, because it's been a great tournament. And if both semifinals are lost, it'll be a real sort of sad time for the tournament. Obviously, we'd be gutted if that did happen. But I guess it's our own fault for losing that game

against South Africa. We didn't top our group, and we've only got ourselves to blame, if that does happen. It's not a great look for the world game, is it? And I know that it's not necessarily, it's not an issue about men's cricket, women's cricket, because you say it's the same regulation for the tournament later on this year.

That may change, of course, but it's not based on, you know, the length of time the tournament is because of the women's game. But it's not a great look for the sport, is it? It's not. And I can understand it in a way, because obviously we can't, you can't predict the weather. We didn't know we were going to, you know,

one of the tournament organizers was saying it was the driest march they had on record last year. so it's just maybe it's unlucky that we've rocked up and it's now banging it down constantly but it's quite a farcical ending and it's disappointing because it's been a good competitive tournament and I think to have

the four best teams four of the best players in the world are in those teams to have them not even face a ball to decide who goes to a final it's really disappointing I mean there is a chance we might get both games on well yeah that is what we shouldn't we shouldn't take it as red that it will rain

yeah we're being so negative about it we might actually see some cricket so we can hope absolutely um and just on the issue of the weather and the rain cricket Australia and they've tried to ask the ICC if they can have a rain reserve they put in the ICC have said no and coming back cricket Australia said fair enough we've you know we have tried but to be doing this now surely this we've spoken to people in the press box today who have said it is the rainiest month of the year in Sydney March consistently every year that is when you get the most rainfall it's not like you couldn't have seen this as a potential issue.

No, and we've been looking at the forecast as well for a couple of weeks, and this week was always looking a little bit dodgy. But I don't really know what they can do, because it would be so expensive to have. I mean, the ICC are in a better position than anyone else to be able to fund a reserve day, but it's, you know, the impact it has on the players, the people who are at the ground, the, you know,

we have to take into account TV rights, radio rights, stuff like that. It is a bit of a kerfuffle to have one at such short notice. One might argue that it's more of a kerfuffle not to have the games taking place at all. And as a look, it's more damaging than the effect financially and organizational of them having to have a reserve. But again, you can't, we couldn't know this was going to happen. You can't actually predict that it is going to bang it down with rain for three days. And one of those days will beat the semi-final. Of course, it is due to be sunny on Friday.

But anyway, we may get cricket on Thursday. Let's not be too doom and gloom about it all. First of all, Kate, England's your side against India in the semi-final. As an opponent, how does India look, do you think? I think going back to the Tri-Series that we had a couple of weeks ago, they were pretty hit and miss. And it almost felt like you didn't know which India was going to turn up. And that's, I think, what you have to be really careful of in tournament cricket

because the world-class team could turn up or the team that we beat quite heavily in the Tri-Series could turn up. but they have they've played their best cricket in this tournament so far so I think we are fully aware of that they're the only team that is actually fully unbeaten that have played all four games so yeah I think personally I would prefer to play Australia in a semi-final than Australia in a final I think World Cups I don't mean this is one of my first World Cup so this is a new thing for me but I think the adrenaline and the occasion sometimes gets to people and I wonder if we're probably better prepared for that than some teams that are in the

finals. I'm not sure. Al, what would you say? I agree with Crossie. I would much prefer to see England play Australia in a semi-final purely for the fact that there's a bit of stigma around this whole England, Australia and over the last four years, England have been like, oh, it's Australia, they're really good, blah, blah, blah. So I think a semi-final wouldn't necessarily have as much pressure on it. However, if you said to England, you're going to play India in a World Cup semi-final. final, do you want it or not? I'm pretty sure everyone would have said yes. And like Kate said, India have played their best cricket. They've been better with the ball than they have the bat, and we've got a world-class bowling attack. So if we can keep them down to 12, 1.20, 130. We're

definitely in the game. Shafali Verma will be one of the big obstacles for England. 16 years old has scored so many runs in this competition. How would you bowl at her? She wouldn't. She got a boot on. Yeah. Yeah, pretty poorly. at the minute. I think, I mean, she's an exceptional talent, isn't she? She's been exciting for us to watch, let alone, you know, if you're an Indian fan. And to say she's only 16, that's pretty frightening. But I think the thing that I've noticed is that you can tell that she's still a 16-year-old at the minute. She's not had that big score. She's not quite won

India a game yet. She's always got them off to a good start. But I think the worrying thing for us is when her and Smitty start firing, because Smitty's probably not had her best tournament yet either. So I imagine in a couple of years' time that they could be a serious force to be reckoned with. Looking at that top order though, that is where the real firepower is for India, isn't it? Yeah, it really is. They've got a fantastic opening partnership. And we said on the previous podcast, I didn't think anybody would ever be as good as Mandana. But Verme has come along. She's so young. She's so powerful. Hits it 360. And then obviously you've got Harmon-Preet core coming in at four and five wherever she fancies on the day. And she hasn't had to be.

her best tournament. She's been pretty average by her standards over the last 18 months. She hasn't had a score above 50 since 2018 World Cup. So she'll be, you know, ready. You just don't want all three of them to turn up on the same day because it could be a very, very long bowling inns for England. The thing that I've noticed, though, about them is that you can see that Smitty and Harmon aren't under as much pressure now that you've got someone like a Verma who's hitting really well at the top of the order. So you can sense that Harmon and Smitty actually don't, they don't, they've never been in that situation where they've not felt the pressure of, you know, if they're one down early, that Harmon has to stay in there.

And we see it at the, we've seen it in the KSL for the last four years, how Harmon has to adapt really quickly to situations, because she's so heavily relied on to score runs. So I think this will be great for her career as well, because she's now not under as much pressure. Sheffali Verma across the tournament, just give the stats, because they are impressive. Only faced 100 deliveries, a strike rate of 161, so therefore 161 runs across four innings with an average of over 14. 16 years old. I know just 16 years old as well, Alex, what were you doing when you'd just turned 16? If you were in Magalaf, weren't you? Yeah, I think I was a bit of a party girl at 16, so I definitely wasn't playing international cricket,

that's for sure. And I know you weren't, Amy, unless there's something about your past that you haven't revealed to us all. No, I was very studious. Thank you very much. It's 16-ish. But not scoring runs in international total. No, absolutely not. No. I do wonder if it becomes a 10-over thrash, Does that favour India more than England? Because I think they come out of the blocks a bit quicker than England do, especially with that top order. So I wonder if we do end up with rain affected. But then again, they only come out the blocks quicker than England do

because we haven't had England's top order score any runs because Danny Wyatt is probably just as good as Verma. We just haven't seen it. It'll be interesting to see how it plays out. If it plays out, we hope that we get two full games tomorrow because that's, of course, you're on a tournament that has absolute maximum credibility. the opportunity for all sides to get through to the final via the traditional means. Let's go on to the other game, Australia against South Africa.

That is the second match that will be played. It was always going to be the case of Australia got through to the semi-finals. Theirs would be the second game. So that should mean that we get a bigger crowd in. It should be a brilliant atmosphere at the SCG. You would say Australia, South Africa, Alex, first of all, is heavily in favour of Australia going into that game. Yeah, definitely. You look at the Australia team on paper.

you know, they're the strongest team in this tournament, but they haven't been. You know, they're underperforming. They're not playing their best cricket at a minute. Don't know whether the pressure of a home world cup has got to them or whether or not they've been, I don't know, just frightened by the fact they've got to fill the MCG. Something's not right within that team.

South Africa could very well upset Australia. You've played against South Africa or this England side in this tournament. We're beaten by them in the first game. They can't be underestimated, but am I wrong to say Australia would be heavy favourites? The only thing that I would disagree with, with Al is I don't think Australia are heavy sorry I agree with you in that sense that they'd not quite look like they're firing they seem to have fired more towards the back end of the tournament

but I think and genuinely believe that South Africa are the most confident team in this tournament right now because I think they started on such a high beating us in such a pressure game for them and they'd never beaten us in a World Cup before so I think in terms of confidence they just believe that they can beat anyone and going back to what I said earlier I think in tournament cricket that's so important and it can purely be about confidence some days we've seen all of these sides play amy in the competition south africa would you agree they look the most confident yeah i do i'd actually fans them to beat australia i don't Alex is right there's something not right with australia and you do

wonder that site of release perry limping off near tears against new zealand admittedly she's not had her best tournament but she's so important for them and you do wonder how much that will actually affect them because and also we've said before at least is the poster girl for this tournament. There's a massive billboard right by our hotel with Elise on it. And I just wonder how much effect that I'll have on them. It's quite alarming actually opening the curtains first thing in the morning. A 20-foot version of Elise Perry standing outside.

Kate, could it perhaps take pressure off Australia without Elise Perry? Actually, a bit of freedom that comes with not having the star name there. No, I think any team, if they lose their best player, then I think... You don't want to say it, but as a team, you do worry about it. I think if, obviously, touchwood, this doesn't happen, but if someone like Nat Siver or Heather Knight went down in our camp, then inwardly, we'd be quite worried about it, but outwardly we'd be confident saying we, you know,

we don't necessarily need them. But I think that's just kind of the almost bravado that you give to the press. But I think, in my opinion, they've not missed her with the bat because she's been batting so low down. And if anything, their batters are now starting to fire and get a bit of form going into the final stages of this tournament. but I think it's with the ball where they'll really miss them because there's just something about her

that when she has the ball in the hand you think something's going to happen and that's what big game players do. They stand up at the right times and I think that's where Lannin is, she's going to have to turn to the right people at the right times now and I think naturally as a captain, you automatically go to that player

and for us that's a Catherine Brunter and Annie Shrubbsall and if they're not on the pitch then suddenly that, you know, we saw the other day against New Zealand that was Ash Gardner that was filling that role and you just sense that something could happen if it's less of a, not less of a play, that's harsh to say about Ash Gardner, but, you know, someone who's not played that role

that frequently, because you do have an Elise Perry who does that day and day out. It's sad for the tournament, isn't it? Alex, when you see someone like that, and all this talk, and maybe it was tempting fate, the big mural that was painted in Melbourne of Katie Perry and Elise Perry side by side, and that

pressure that came with it all. It is a shame for the competition, but it's more of a shame for the player, you know, I really admire Perry and I really respect because she's had niggles throughout this whole tournament and she's gone out and given 110% every single game. Any other player in that situation with a sore hip, tight hamstring, probably wouldn't have even attacked that ball,

under-armed it back to the bowler. She's attacked the ball. You can see her hamstring's gone shot because she's flown through the air and, you know, it's just such a shame. So at least Perry out of the tournament, the word from the Australian camp is that it's a high-grade tear and she will be out of action for some time. So that's a real shame for Elise Perry.

And it's a real shame for the big crowds that is due to be coming to the MCG. 60,000 tickets already sold. The prospect of Katie Perry doing a full concert at the end of it, of course, has helped that. Good value as well, $20 for a ticket for an adult, $5 for children. Amy, whatever happens, if it's $60,000, if it's 90,000, it's going to be a brilliant occasion, is it? It will be, and they've been really smart with the pricing. I mean, $5 to take a kid to get a concert and a game of cricket in is really good value. I'm really looking forward to it.

I hope that the teams that are there have actually played to get there rather than being rained through, so to speak. But it should be, it will be good. And I think Australia have been very clever in the way they've marketed it because it's all been, you can't high from the fact it's a women's tournament. You know, everywhere we've seen, it's been pictures of women playing cricket. There's been loads of kids, all the games and stuff. They've had like, you know, they've had Perry shirts on and stuff like that.

That's been really good to see. So I think Australia had been very clever with that. It's an amazing coup having Katie Perry, one of the most famous people in the world playing at a women's cricket match. If you think about, say, 10 years ago, Kate, when you started on your journey to being an international cricketer, the thought of Katie Perry playing at a World Cup final in front of close to 100,000 people,

it would have seemed ludicrous. Yeah, no, absolutely. And I think the ICC, like Amy said, they've been really clever with how they have marketed this game. I'd love to know how much Katie Perry knows about cricket. I would like to ask her. Of course, met Geoffrey Boycott on the number of occasions because he's a huge Katie Perry fan.

Is he? I would not have for that. If you've not heard it before, let's have a listen to it, actually. Jeffrey Boycott talking about Katie Perry. I'm a good fan of pop music. I like that Katie Perry. He's a good singer. He's in Firework. That was a good record of that.

Yeah, I like the pop music. Well, I have to bow to your superiority in this field, I'm afraid. I'm not as fully conversant with those things. as I really should be. Oh, she's nice, sir. And who are your favourites in the pop world at the moment? Oh, Katie Perry, isn't that way. Mm-hmm.

Yeah, you know that she's tops for me. She just has something about a voice. The voice is good, it's clear, it's strong. Well, that's wonderful. I'm sure she'd be very pleased. I don't think I'll ever meet her, Henry. She's America. Jeffrey's a massive Katie Perry fan.

They've met each other. He went backstage at the show in Manchester. Is he flying out for Sunday's game? I don't know. I think as well, though, just going back to kind of the media attention around the final. I saw on Twitter the other day, Billy Jean King has been, I don't know whether she's coming in for the final or she's been flown in for the final. But, you know, there's big female sporting icons who are talking about this game on Sunday. So I think in terms of, like, the bigger picture and hindsight will be a wonderful thing in a couple of weeks' time.

but it's going to be a massive day in the women's sporting calendar, not just cricket, but in everyone. Because I think if other sports see that this can be done, and we're not going to know how many people are going to be there, but even just the thought of it being close to 50,000 people, that's breaking a record itself, I'm pretty sure. So I think it's just going to be heavily talked about for a long time. I can't even imagine what it would be like playing in front of 10,000 people.

Alex, you were there at Lords in 2017. You've both played in the doubleheaders at Old Trafford, where you do get the bigger crowds coming in us. Does it make a difference once it gets beyond a certain number or is it, if it's over 5,000, it doesn't make any odds, really? I think the biggest crowd I've played in front of was in Assam last year with the T20s against India. And that was a really remote part of, I mean, yours will be completely different now

because you obviously played in the 50 overwork cup. But I think it's just the noise more than anything. Because when you've got a crowd like that, they are genuine fans of the game. And they're not, India were cheering. us and it was quite funny they just loved good cricket and so i think you just hear the noise more than anything but i think you do just get to a point as well where you when you're in the zone i know that's really cliche saying but when you're in that you know that really pressure moment

you are only thinking about you and your skill and you're not you kind of learn to cut all that noise out i think from my point of view 2017 woke up the crowd kept coming in and i was like i've never seen anything like this but actually when i got out onto the pitch you don't notice because all you are focused on is your team and you're doing your job for the team. The only thing that's completely different is you can't hear a word the captain saying to you. So she's waving at me at a fine leg and I'm like, what do you want?

And she's like, you're a bowling next and you can't hear what she's saying. And that's just completely alien to what you're used to. Yeah, completely alien. But like the men, they're used to that all the time that happens at county cricket. I think the big difference for me was when we played more televised games because I think that was my when I felt more pressure was when the TV was on you

because you knew that anything that you did was going to get replayed six or seven times, and if it was bad or good, regardless, it was going to get re-shown. And I think when you've got a big crowd watching you, they obviously just see what happens and then that's it. But I remember being really aware of myself, my composure, even just things like you don't want to be seen to be like picking your nose or anything like that, just because things like that get picked up. So I think you've just got to be more aware of yourself,

and then that brings a different side to the game, because I'm not saying I do pick my nose on the cricket pitch. Oh, great. Now, I'm not going to be able to watch a game of cricket now where you're playing without just watching what you're doing. Yeah. You're picking your nose. But I know what you mean.

It's that suddenly you're aware of other things. You're no longer just playing the game. Yeah, absolutely. Like, if you watch Sophie Eccleston play, I think we played a game at Chester Broughton Hall this summer. And she's like shouting, there's planes going overhead. And she's like, oh, crossy, that's an easy jet flight. I bet that's on its way to Alley County.

And, like, things like that don't happen when you're on the international arena. It's probably done so for disservice. She'll have planes. by the way, she's a massive... She wants to be a pilot when she grows up. When she grows up, she's 20. She's playing international cricket. She's got the app on her phone, hasn't it?

What you do is you point it at the sky and it tells you what plane it is, what make it is and where it's going to. She loves planes. We had a good discussion with Alex earlier in the tournament about what the requirements were to be a pilot. And Alex came up with a list of things she thought might be useful, including, well, probably decent eyes, good sense of direction.

And I love the idea that you might fly from Sydney to Perth. And the argument in the cockpit, we got to, you said it was right at Airs Rock. Yeah, it was on air as well, wasn't it? It was. Fantastic. I loved it. Right. One other issue to discuss.

And it's good news, really good news. And that's the announcement today that in the 100 competition, and you've been wearing your Manchester Originals kit today, Alex, trying that on here in Sydney of all places. But they've announced that there's going to be equal prize money, a share of the pot between the men's and the women's tournament. share of the £600,000 pound pot, which is brilliant news. And the quote from the ECB is the total prize budget of £600,000 will be split 50-50 between the men's and women's competitions and is a step towards the ECB's long-term commitment to making cricket a gender-balanced sport. Brilliant news.

It's honestly, I think that's some of the biggest news that you will hear in women's sport because other than tennis, no other tournament does that for the women's game. And that is just massive because it does show the commitment that the ECBs. are going to give to us. I secretly knew that was coming out, though, so I'm not that shocked. I'd heard that as a rumor. But I think that almost was worse, because I heard it as a rumor, and then I thought, oh, if they don't go through with this now,

then someone has then behind the scenes said, oh, no, we're not doing that, and we don't take it seriously as we think. I mean, I hope we win, because it'll more than double my wage. Because there's still a massive gap between the men's playing wages and the women's playing wages. So this is the first step to make it. not saying it should be equal because I don't agree that it should be equal because we don't get the crowds, we don't get the fans, we don't make as much money as the men. I still agree

we should get paid more and it just proves that they are taking it seriously. And it's a massive step for women's sport this and what a statement from the ECB. It is, yeah. And especially you know, over the last few years we've seen how important women's cricket has become in England from you guys winning the World Cup that really helped propel it. And I think something like this makes it seem even more viable as a career for someone because they look at it. and they know that you can make a living out of it, you get rewarded for the hard work that you put in. So it's really important.

I agree with Alex. I'd like to see the wage gap addressed a little bit more. But, you know, it's the first step, and it's a really important one. Yeah, it is. But the only thing that playing devil's advocate is this now is, could that money be put to better use? And it is a huge statement, don't get me wrong. I think it's brilliant because it is the first of its kind.

But is the wage gap a bigger? issue. And I know I'm playing devil's African. No, no, you're quite right to because there is that issue that has been much discussed. What would you spend the money on Alex? If we won. I hope a new T-shirt. I've been to America if you didn't know. Have you?

Have you? I got this T-shirt, yeah. In all seriousness, I think because I've lost my England contract and now my only income is this hundred and the domestic cricket, if I won this, it would just make my wage a little bit better and it would make my money last longer and it means I could play cricket professionally for longer, if that makes sense.

So, I mean, I hope we win, but my goal for the 100 is just to enjoy my cricket and do a little bit of work alongside because I'm going to have to earn enough money to live and see what happens. Well, more details of that story and all of the information about the funding and the prize money and one thing or another on the BBC Sport website where Amy has been writing all tournament. What delights have you got for us around the semi-finals? There's a piece on Sheffali Verma, if you're interested in a little bit more about her and her background and how she, at 16, is one of the world's best cricketers.

And there'll be a piece with Heather Knight as well after the semi-finals. However they will go. Commentary of both of those matches or of us discussing rain and covers, 345 tomorrow morning, Thursday morning will be India against England. It's an early start, I know, but it is a World Cup semi-finals. So set your alarms. Maybe you could have your phone underneath your pillow. I've done that before, listening to the cricket overnight.

And then after that, 745 South Africa against Australia. That is the second semi-final. So that is the line-up for Thursday and the semifinals of this women's T20 World Cup. Plans for the rest of the afternoon here in Sydney. We are heading down to... Pancakes on the rocks. We're going to treat Kate Cross to some food because she's injured. Anyway, enough of this, Crip.

Let's carry on. We're heading downtown. It's time to go and get some pancakes. Do tune in tomorrow morning. 3.45, India against England, Thursday morning. It's the World Cup semi-final. The TMS podcast at the Women's World T20. Here commentary of every ball of every game on 5-Life Sports Extra and BBC Sounds.

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