Cricket Scotland on Thursday announced that it will offer paid contracts to players in its international women's team for the first time. The decision will take the game towards professionalism in line with the board's bid to make cricket the most inclusive and welcoming sport in Scotland.

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The women's team is currently at the 14th spot in the ICC's T20I rankings. However, they missed out on qualification for February's T20 World Cup in South Africa.

"This builds on the move to pay equal match fees to the men's and women's players introduced in 2021 and will enable a number of players to devote more time to training and practice and is a start to putting the women's game onto a fully professional footing."

Cricket Scotland said in a statement

Notably, Scottish cricket was plunged into crisis earlier this year after the publication of a damning report into institutional racism within the sport. In order to tackle them, a number of measures were announced on Thursday. The board hopes "will underpin long-term success for the international teams and deliver a more sustainable governing body in the years ahead".

Cricket Scotland will recruit a new head of communications, an EDI (equality, diversity, and inclusion) manager, and a 'conduct in sport' manager. It will not renew the contracts of seven staff within the strength and conditioning, physiotherapy, and support services provider.

"The changes are required to refocus the governing body's priorities and to establish a strong financial base from which to launch an ambitious new strategy for the sport in the coming months," the statement said.

"We have a great opportunity to take the sport confidently forward." - Gordon Arthur

Gordon Arthur, the board's interim chief executive, will stay in post until November 2023 on a fixed-term contract "to ensure stability and continuity during this period of substantial restructuring".

"We need to reset and rebuild to ensure that we are in the strongest possible position to deliver real and meaningful change across Scottish cricket. This won't be without challenges but we have a great opportunity to take the sport confidently forward in the years ahead."

said Gordon Arthur, board's interim chief executive

Anjan Luthra, who was appointed as chair last month, said: "This is a watershed moment for the sport of cricket in Scotland. The investment announced today into the women's game is an important building block in our desire to make cricket in Scotland a fully inclusive sport where there is no place for racism, discrimination, or inequalities.

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"We have an opportunity to create a bold new vision for our Scottish cricket. We are committed to doing so by driving positive change at every level within our sport.

At the same time, we are rebuilding capacity within the governing body and addressing the weaknesses and failings identified through the Changing the Boundaries report. So, that we build a first-class governing body for Scottish cricket," he added.

BCCI announced the player list for the upcoming WPL 2025 Auction. 120 players are on the list, among which 91 are Indian and 29 overseas cricketers, including 3 from Associate Nations.

The Women's Premier League (WPL) Auction 2025 will take place on 15th December 2024 in Bengaluru. The are 82 Indian uncapped players and 8 uncapped overseas players in the auction list.

With most of the franchises holding their core group of players, 19 slots will be up for grabs, with 5 slots reserved for overseas players.

Only 3 players were listed in the bracket of the highest base price of INR 50 lakhs while 28 players will be auctioned starting with their base price of INR 30 lakhs. 

West Indian all-rounder Deandra Dottin, England batter Heather Knight, and South African wicket-keeper batter Lizelle Lee will enter the auction with the highest base price of INR 50 lakhs.

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In the first set of 20 marquee players, Australia's Darcie Brown and Kim Garth, England's Lauren Bell and Sarah Glenn and India's Sneh Rana can go for big bucks during the WPL 2025 auction.

From the Cricket Association of Bengal, only two players have been able to make it to the list. Priyanka Bala, who was already with the Mumbai Indians squad, has found herself on the list. Along with her, young all-rounder Sushmita Ganguly will also be auctioned with a base price of INR 10 lakhs.

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Breakdown of 120 players in the WPL auction list

WPL 2025 Reatined players' list

Full list of players listed for the WPL 2025 Auction

Bengal defeated Himachal Pradesh by 21 runs in the second semi-finals of the Senior Women's T20 Trophy 2024 on Sunday at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. Bengal all-rounder Mita Paul was adjudged player of the match for her 1 wicket and 29 runs with the bat.

Batting first, Bengal struggled early, losing Dhara Gujjar on duck in the first over. But, Richa Ghosh, the Indian wicket-keeper batter promoted as the opener, made sure she built a partnership with vice-captain Tanushree Sarkar for the second wicket.

Richa departed after adding 31 from 28 balls but Tanushree battled in the middle to build another partnership for Bengal, this time with Mita Paul. Tanushree, who made her return to the Bengal team after representing Railways last few years, perished after scoring a run-a-ball 36.

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Mita Paul tried to take the inning deep but lost her wicket after scoring 30-ball 29. But, it was youngster Sasthi Mondal, whose 11 from 5 balls gave Bengal the finish they were looking for. Bengal finished their first inning on 134/6, giving Himachal a tough task to chase down the total under the lights at Wankhede. 

With a batting lineup consisting of international players like captain Sushma Verma and Harleen Deol, Himachal looked like the team which can chase down Bengal's total. However, Titas Sadhu struck early for Bengal as she removed Sushma Verma in the fourth over. Off-spinner Sushmita Ganguly then clean bowled Nikita Chauhan, to hand Bengal the momentum. 

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Though Himachal were trying to build a partnership and take the game deep, Bengal captain Saika Ishaque dismissed Sonal Thakur and Monika Devi in the same over to give Bengal the advantage. Despite a valiant effort from S M Singh (32 from 22 balls), Himachal fell short of the total by 21 runs. Saika Ishaque and Titas Sadhu took two wickets each for Bengal.

In the other semi-final, Mumbai defeated Uttarakhand by 31 runs to enter the final. Bengal and Mumbai will face each other in the final on 12th November at Wankhede Stadium from 4.30 pm IST.

Indian Women's Cricket team have failed yet another time in the ICC tournament as they crashed out from the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2024 from the group stage.

But, it was not the first time India failed to do well in an ICC tournament. In fact, the Indian Women's team never won an ICC trophy since their existence. But, what are the reasons for that?

Read Also  | India's performance in every Women's T20 World Cup 

Problems and Solutions

Sportz Point came up with all the reasons for India's failure and the probable solutions.

• Fewer matches before the T20 World Cup 2024.
• Basic game awareness.
• Poor running between the wickets
• Deepti Sharma's lack of performance as an all-rounder.
• Shafali Verma and Richa Ghosh's inability to perform against big teams.

Solutions to those issues -

• More power hitters from the grassroots. 
• Smriti Mandhana as the captain, keeping Harmanpreet Kaur as the batter.
• Changes in the mindsets of the coaches in domestic tournaments.
• More pace bowling all-rounders.
• Players who want to dominate the opponent. 

After a huge 82-run against the curredent Asian Champions Sri Lanka, the Women in Blue have given themselves a chance to qualify for the semi-finals of ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2024. India suffered a huge defeat against New Zealand in their first match of the tournament and had to climb up the ladder with big wins in the next two games.

Though the win against Sri Lanka only bettered their chances of qualifying for the final four, they are not guaranteed a spot till now. India need to beat the defending champions Australia in the final group match on Sunday to not worry about the NRR. Here's how India can qualify for the semi-finals of the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2024.

1. India beat Australia while Pakistan and New Zealand lose one game each

The easiest way for India to qualify would be to beat the mighty Australians and hope both Pakistan and New Zealand lose at least one of their two remaining matches. In that case, India will qualify without even worrying about the NRR.

Read Also | ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2024: AUS-W vs PAK-W match preview; head to head; when and where to watch 

2. Australia lose both of their games

Another way for India to qualify without the NRR in action is the unlikely event of Australia losing their remaining games and India and Pakistan. In that case, India will qualify along with Pakistan or New Zealand fighting for the second spot.

3. India beat Australia, but Pakistan and New Zealand win 

If India beat Australia and Pakistan and New Zealand win their games, in that case, three teams will be in six points and everything then will go to NRR. India then will have to make sure they are beating Australia by a good margin because New Zealand with better NRR can sneak in to grab the second spot.

As per ESPNCricinfo, if India win by 1 run against Australia, then New Zealand will have to win by a combined margin of 38 runs from both games. If India win by 10-runs, then the margin would go up to 48 runs approximately. 

Read Also | India's performance in every Women's T20 World Cup

4. If India lose to Australia

There would still be a chance for India to qualify even if they lose against the defending champions. In that case, they will have to make sure they lose by the smallest of margins and then hope both Pakistan and New Zealand lose at least one of their remaining matches.

Read Also | Harmanpreet Kaur in T20 Women's World Cup: A Name for Milestones and Challenges 

Everything will then come down to NRR and India's 82-run win against Sri Lanka might come in handy during that situation. However, since New Zealand will be playing the final game of the group, they will have a clear idea about the NRR.

Games left in Group A

• 11 October 2024 | 7.30 pm IST | Australia Women vs Pakistan Women
• 12 October 2024 | 3.30 pm IST | New Zealand Women vs Sri Lanka Women
• 13 October 2024 | 7.30 pm IST | India Women vs Australia Women
• 14 October 2024 | 7.30 pm IST | Pakistan Women vs New Zealand Women

Semi-final schedule

• A1 vs B2 - 17 October 2024 | 7.30 pm IST
• A2 vs B1 - 18 October 2024 | 7.30 pm IST

The ICC has rebuked the Indian star pacer Arundhuti Reddy on Monday after giving an aggressive send-off to the Pakistani Nida Dar at Dubai in the group stage match against Pakistan during the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2024

Arundhati Reddy 🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/VWZcrNHfmW

— Suresh Kumar (@SureshK84102899) October 6, 2024

On Sunday, Reddy took three wickets of the total 6 wickets taken by India. However, she failed to suppress her emotions after Dar's wicket in the 20th over, gesturing her towards the pavilion.

The ICC has issued a statement, "Reddy was found to have breached Article 2.5 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, which relates to 'using language, actions, or gestures which disparage or which could provoke an aggressive reaction from a batter upon his/her dismissal during an international match."

The statement added, "In addition to this, one demerit point has been added to Reddy's disciplinary record, for whom it was the first offence in a 24-month period."

Reddy has also admitted the offence, accepting the sanction. 

ICC rules

ICC condemned the celebration as a violation of their Code of Conduct, breaching the regulations mentioned in Article 2.5. this article prohibits aggression-provoking actions or gestures.

Level 1 breaches carry a minimum penalty of an official reprimand, a maximum penalty costing 50 per cent of a player's match fee, and one or two demerit points.

If the player reaches four or more demerit points within the period of 24 months, they are converted into suspension points, and the player will be banned.

Reddy will undergo his first disciplinary offense in a 24-month period.