Former Australia player-turned-broadcaster Lisa Sthalekar has questioned whether scheduling T20 World Cup matches for a prime time India audience has affected crowd turnout for the marquee event.
Speaking on the Wisden Women's Cricket Weekly podcast ahead of the 2026 Women’s T20 World Cup semi-finals, Sthalekar acknowledged there is "still a long way to go" in attendances for women's international events, despite the record-breaking crowd numbers at several matches during the group stage. Both of the final two days of the group stage broke the attendance record for a Women's T20 World Cup group match, wtih 21,000 packed into The Oval for England v New Zealand on Saturday, while 27,000 watched India take on Australia at Lord's on Sunday, the second match of a double-header.
"It was a great atmosphere," said Sthalekar. "I do think double-headers work, I know they work from a broadcast point of view, and the 10:30 start probably works for that certain timezone as well."
Across the group stage, more than twice the number of fans bought tickets than attended the 2017 Women's 50-over World Cup – the last ICC women's tournament hosted in England – and the competition is already the highest-selling Women's T20 World Cup of all time. Record attendances for women's games were also seen at Headingley and Old Trafford. Nevertheless, neutral games at Bristol and Southampton only saw a few thousand fans in attendance.
The first semi-final between Australia and West Indies at The Oval was also far from full in comparison to the 21,000 who game through the gates for England's final group game. The match was played at 2:30pm on Tuesday, with the time fixed in place before the tournament began to allow for a prime-time India audience. Had India qualified for the semi-final, regardless of their position in Group A, they would have played in that match. The second semi-final will be played at 6:30pm at The Oval on Thursday, and a much bigger crowd is expected.
"At the end of the day, the sport has to survive and it needs money to come in, so you’re trying to maximise your broadcast rights, which is what the ICC has done, hence why we knew [when] India were playing if they got through to the semi-final because of the better time zone." said Sthalekar. "However, I think there is an element of, if you can – and I speak to my broadcasters back home – if we can play at venues where there’s a great atmosphere, and it’s pumping and there’s a great vibe, the commentators feed off that, the players feed off that, there’s great shots of people enjoying themselves. That’s going to sell the game to be able to get more people there.
"But when you’re shooting to a blank stadium, it’s really hard to create the buzz, as much as the ground announcer and the DJ thumps out the music. It doesn’t quite match up. So there’s a balance I think. As a pure fan, you want to make sure it’s peak time and everyone can come, but as an administrator you’ve got to go, ‘we’ve got to earn money too, so how do we do that?’.
"Is it about money, or is it about growing the game? We can’t always do both. I think things will keep improving, and I think the commercial value of the women’s game is going up, so people are taking a lot more notice. We’re not front of mind yet, but we’re getting there."
The Women's T20 World Cup will conclude on Sunday at Lord's, with what is likely to be a sellout crowd.
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