Introduction

Abstract

Women’s cricket is a global game that has had an international governing body since 1958. There are an increasing number of global competitions and at present the women’s game is represented in the same national and global organisations as men’s cricket, although this has not always been the case. Recently ten countries participated in the women’s T20 World Cup in Bangladesh, and some female cricketers were paid to represent their countries. International tournaments and bilateral competitions are increasing and international cricket is now a year-round operation. This suggests that women cricketers are a visible, albeit marginal, part of the global game. In the introduction to Women’s Cricket and Global Processes: The Emergence and Development of Women’s Cricket as a Global Game, I start by drawing on three recent examples that highlight the changes in women’s cricket as a global game, thus charting out the aims of the book and the key theoretical perspective that underpins the analysis of women’s cricket as a global game.