'Their loss': Women's World Cup snub sparks Channel Nine backlash

Sports Reporter

Wed, 6 Apr 2022, 5:33 pm·3-min read

Aussie cricket star Ellyse Perry (pictured left) receiving her winners medal and (pictured right) Alyssa Healy celebrating with fans. — Channel Nine has come under fire after choosing to snub the opportunity to broadcast the Women's World Cup, which the Cricket Australia boss labelled as 'odd'. (Gettyy Images)

The boss of Cricket Australia has called out broadcaster Channel Nine for choosing to snub the Women's World Cup on the free-to-air channel.

Earlier this year, Channel Nine revealed they had secured the rights to show the en's T20 World Cup in Australia and the subsequent World Cup in India next year.

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However, the broadcaster opted not to showcase the Women's World Cup being held in New Zealand.

The tournament would be shown on Fox Sports and Kayo.

Fortunately for the all-conquering Aussie team, Meg Lanning's side defeated England by 71 runs in the final.

Alyssa Healy produced one of the greatest World Cup final knocks in history after she blasted 170 to help lead Australia to victory.

And the move not to show such an important tournament sparked questions.

Back in January, final superstar Healy joined the chorus of criticism against Channel Nine's decision not to broadcast the women's cricket World Cup on free-to-air TV.

The Australian women's cricket captain Meg Lanning (pictured middle) holds the trophy with teammates Annabel Sutherland (pictured left) and Ellyse Perry (puctured right). (Photo by WILLIAM WEST/AFP via Getty Images)

Healy said: "It's a little bit of a slap in the face to say that we're not commercially viable."

Now, Cricket Australia Boss Nick Hockley has also called out Channel Nine for missing an amazing opportunity to broadcast a historic victory to a generation of cricket fans.

Cricket Australia boss hits out at Channel Nine

Speaking at an NXT conference, Hockley claimed Channel Nine made an 'odd' decision when it came to broadcasting the World Cup.

“That was an odd decision, wasn’t it? I think it was their loss,” Hockley said, according to The Age.

“Fox Sports had a dedicated channel throughout the World Cup and put it all in front of the paywall, so I think everyone could watch."

Hockley went on to claim the popularity of the tournament, and women's cricket in Australia, will soon see broadcasters change their minds in the future.

“This year was the first year the WBBL every game was broadcast. We’ve seen an increase in the number of matches televised year-on-year. Certainly, the trajectory it’s on, it’s very much changing.

“I’m confident the numbers the game is attracting, the quality of the sport itself, the fact the standards are rising is going to mean there’s more and more competition and demand for, in our context, cricket for women and girls."

The Australian women's cricket team celebrate with the trophy after winning the 2022 ICC Women's Cricket World Cup Final. (Photo by Kai Schwoerer-ICC/ICC via Getty Images)

Back In January, Healy said it was hard to accept a free-to-air broadcaster didn't want to showcase the tournament.

"It's a little bit hard to take in that regard. Not having it on free-to-air excludes a fair chunk of our population who don't want to pay or can't afford to pay for subscription TV," she added.

Rachael Haynes also called for change.

"It sends a really powerful message to see our female athletes have an opportunity to share in the spotlight," she said.

"The visibility is extremely important. I am disappointed it's not on free-to-air TV in Australia."

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