England’s male cricketers could be replaced with women’s team after winter of disasters
Joe Root’s side, which slumped to defeats in Ashes and West Indies, to be usurped at Lord’s by women, who have shown 'a greater will to win'
ByAl O'Florip1 April 2022 • 6:00am
England women's national cricket team are one match away from winning the World Cup CREDIT: Kai Schwoerer
One of England’s cricket teams is just
one match away from winning a World Cup, while the other has suffered nothing short of humiliation during a winter of disasters.
Now England’s male cricketers could pay the ultimate price, with a radical plan to replace them with the women’s team should Heather Knight captain her side to victory this weekend.
The game’s administrators are close to running out of patience with the men’s team following
defeats in the Ashes series and in the West Indies, and there is growing support for the controversial plan to replace them with the women’s team.
“Let’s be honest, the men’s team have been completely useless on tour this winter, while the women have shown more hunger and a greater will to win,” said one senior figure involved in the process.
“The men’s side look exhausted and short of ideas. Maybe a rest will do them good.”
Women's team show remarkable resilience
England’s women have shown remarkable resilience in the
Women’s World Cup tournament in New Zealand, coming close to elimination after losing their first three matches, before a remarkable turnaround saw them win five matches on the bounce.
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They will face their toughest test yet when they play Australia in the final on Sunday, but they now have the added incentive of replacing the men for the summer Test series against New Zealand, which starts at Lord’s in June, if they win the coveted trophy.
England captain Joe Root CREDIT: Gareth Copley
Mothballing the men’s side would have the added advantage of giving the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) more time to decide on the future of men’s captain Joe Root and on whether to reboot the side with new coaching staff.
If the plan to replace the men’s side with their female counterparts goes ahead, opinion is divided over what should happen to the male players in the medium term.
One school of thought is that they should sit out a test series before all 11 are allowed back onto the pitch, but other respected voices in the game believe each position in the team should be awarded on merit, meaning the likes of Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow battling it out with female stars like batter Danni Wyatt and spin bowler Sophie Ecclestone to get back in the side.
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Not everyone is impressed, however. England fan Olaf Pirlo described the plan as “a joke”.
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