Diana Edulji not in favor of new innovations in women's cricket

Diana Edulji, former Indian cricketer, doesn’t like the idea of using smaller balls or shortening the pitches in the women's game. These were some of the ideas discussed by Sophie Devine, New Zealand captain, and Jemimah Rodrigues, India's batter, during ICC's ‘100 % Innovations’ session with former Australia cricketer turned commentator Mel Jones.



“It’s always good to have a little trial and error and see what works,” said Devine, while talking about the use of a smaller and lighter ball. “I’m probably a big fan of looking at a smaller ball, but keeping the pitch the same size, where I think pacers are going to be able to bowl quicker, spinners are going be able to turn the ball more. Hopefully, the ball should fly a bit further as well whereas still keeping the traditional length of the pitch.”



Edulji, who captained India in 22 international matches, was skeptical about these innovations, though.



“Right from the inception we played with a five-ounce ball and men played with five-and-a-half-ounce ball,” she told BDCricTime. “There is no need to play with a smaller ball, the actual talent will be lost.”



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Rodrigues was open to the idea of having a shorter pitch to make the game more exciting. “But, yeah, I mean, we can also be open to (a shorter pitch), try it out,” she said.



“If that is going to help the game improve and take it to the next level, then why not? You know, kind of get a thought to it, think about it, because at the end of it, we want to promote the game. We want to get more people to watch the game and more people to even join the game.”



Edulji expressed her reservations about the idea of shortening the length of the pitch.



“Shortening the pitch is also not a good idea,” said Edulji. “The players should improve on their talent and strength to make the game interesting. We should not tamper with the basics.”