No. It's not that I'm sexist, it's just that they aren't as good as the males and will detract from the spectacle. It's also a duty of care issue.

No. It's not that I'm sexist, it's just that they aren't as good as the males and will detract from the spectacle. It's also a duty of care issue.

Former Test skipper Steve Waugh said it was time to consider adding one female player to each Big Bash League T20 team's roster based on the success – and ability - of Australia's elite women's cricketers.

Waugh admitted the idea might seem to some as “out there” but, to the enthusiastic applause of members of the champion NSW Breakers women's team, he nevertheless suggested allowing for the likes of Alex Blackwell, who was presented with the Belinda Clark Medal as the state's best female cricketer on Thursday, fast bowler Ellyse Perry and wicket keeper Alyssa Healy, the opportunity to match it with the men in the modified version of the game.

I think it's about time where we could have one female player per Big Bash side.

“I think it's about time where we could have one female player per Big Bash side,” Waugh said. “Going forward, I can't see why the girls can't have representation in the Big Bash.


“It's a bit out there, that thought, but I think it might be time.”

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There was a similar suggestion in 1994 after Western Australia's Zoe Goss scored 29 in a charity game at the Sydney Cricket Ground, a match which included Greg Chappell, Dennis Lillee, Jeff Thomson, Sunil Gavaskar, David Hookes, David Gower, Michael Holding, Joel Garner, Barry Richards and Graeme Pollock.

However, her effort to dismiss West Indies great Brian Lara for 23, who, before the Bradman XI-World XI game had completed the year of his life with a Test and first-class record score of 375 against England and 501 for Warwickshire in English county, struck a blow for every female cricketer around the world.


Goss had Lara caught behind – and stumped, for good measure - by wicket-keeper Steve Rixon and her success was the catalyst for the organisers of the ING Cup to consider including a female to each state's one day team. However, the plan was eventually scuttled because the idea of a woman facing up to Brett Lee's express deliveries was considered too great a risk.

Blackwell, later described Waugh's view as “wonderful” because it proved women's cricket had earned respect. The NSW skipper, ranked among the world's best players, said there was no doubt Australia's top female cricketers would welcome the challenge to play in the Big Bash League.

Waugh also advised the beleaguered national selectors to “pick and stick” with their players despite the 4-0 Test series loss to India, saying there was similarities to the era which preceded Australia's golden reign.

He offered Shane Watson his vote of confidence as the all-rounder's role in Test cricket was being scrutinised by the selectors.

“I think we're just going to have to have patience with the current team,” he said. “It reminds me a lot of 1985-86 when I first came into the Australian side. It took us a couple of years to know how to win .. . 13 Test matches before I played in a winning Test side; 26 Tests before I scored a century.

“So, we've got to have patience in the side; believe in who we've got . . . we have to pick and stick for a while.”

Waugh, who presented 19-year-old rookie fast bowler Gurinder Sandhu with the medal named in his honour for the best NSW player, added England weren't invincible

“I think England aren't as good as they think they are,” he said. ”I honestly think we can win the Ashes. We've got the bowlers to take 20 wickets . . . if that's the case you can win any Test match. It just needs a couple of the batsmen to find a bit of form.

“Shane Watson, I think, has the potential to be a really great Test batsman, if he can step up to the mark along with Michael Clarke and some of the younger guys . . . I like the look of Phil Hughes, he's got something deep within him that makes him a long-term Test player; we've got Dave Warner. There's enough talent there, we just need some confidence in that line-up and if we follow on from the damage the bowlers are going to do I think we can win the Ashes.”

Poll: Do you support women playing in the Big Bash League?
Yes
81%
No
19%
Total votes: 3191.Poll closed 30 Mar, 2013