Aussie envoy wishes luck to Pakistan women team

ISLAMABAD: Dr Geoffrey Shaw, Australian High Commissioner to Pakistan, met Pakistan women’s team in Karachi on Tuesday and wished them good luck ahead of the T20 Women’s World Cup in Australia.

Starting on February 21, reigning champions Australia will host 10 teams and 23 matches across six cities.

Speaking at the event, the High Commissioner said: “It is a great privilege to meet the Pakistan women’s team. I wish the team a fantastic stay in Australia. The players will receive a very warm Australian welcome. We expect some fabulous cricket.”

The high commissioner added that it will be a big year for women’s cricket in Australia.

“Australia is about to become the first cricketing nation to close gender prize money gap. At this year’s T20 World Cup, Cricket Australia will top up prize money won by the women’s team to deliver parity with their male counterparts,” Dr Shaw said.

“We are holding the final of the World Cup at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, the biggest cricket stadium in the world, with a bold ambition to set a record for attendance at women’s sporting fixture,” he added.

The current record for attendance at a women’s sporting fixture is 90,185, set at the final of the 1999 FIFA women’s world cup in the USA. “We aim to beat that,” he added. Present at the reception were players selected for the T20 World Cup, the chair of the Pakistan national women’s selection committee Urooj Mumtaz, the team’s coaches and senior members of the Pakistan Cricket Board.

The women players will depart for Australia on January 31 and will play their first match against West Indies on February 26 at Manuka Oval.