The Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley, delivered a powerful address at the opening ceremony of the CARICOM Regional Cricket Conference. She highlighted the strong connection between the sport of cricket and the Caribbean region.
The ceremony was held at the Hyatt Regency in Trinidad on Thursday under the banner Reinvigorating West Indies Cricket.
During her speech, she called out the international community for removing discrimination between males and females in the field of cricket and said, “I offer now publicly again, that Kensington Oval, that iconic ground could be a location where we break new ground again in history by having a mixed gender game.”
PM Mottley recognizes that in the Olympics, there will be mixed-gender relays soon, which is why the Caribbean region should not wait on others to lead them, but they can resume the leadership and ensure that just as the game has evolved from tests to 50 over to T20 to the increase in women’s cricket, that ultimately that will soon be the next step.
She further noted that Barbados will host the finals of the Cricket World Cup, which is a significant development for the region as a whole.
The Prime Minister stated that as the smallest nation in the world to now host three global sporting events, with cricket being the third largest global event only after the Olympics and football, it is important for everyone to understand that the mission must be the nurturing of a DNA of excellence that is allowed to spread beyond the boundary in to every aspect of our lives as Caribbean people.
The Barbadian leader also expressed her happiness over the fact that finally it is not just males but both females and males who will be persons with Caribbean roots to represent the region at the international field.
While stressing the need for removing discriminatory practices between both the genders in the world of cricket, PM Mia Mottley said, “Start the journey of removing the discriminatory practices between both the genders, practices that go as far as the quality of the coverage and the camera covering the game.”
“This means that it becomes less alluring to those who may not be fully engaged purely because when you look at IPL and you look at the women playing cricket in many other jurisdictions, it just doesn’t even look the same,” quoted the Prime Minister of Barbados.
She added that that cannot be a metaphor for own development and the fact and the obligation of removing the discrimination that exists between male and female cricket is critical.
Monica Walker is a journalist at WIC News who is dedicated to uncovering the truth. Her writing covers a wide range of topics, from breaking news to human-interest stories. Contact Monica at contact@wicnews.com
