CBP Ep. 1: Memories of T20 World Cup 2020 with Melanie Jones

International Women’s Day 2020. The world was waiting with bated breath in anticipation of what was to be one of the biggest, if not the biggest, game in women’s sport. The final of the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2020 was to take place at the Melbourne Cricket Ground and the organisers had floated a #FillTheMCG campaign to try and bring in a record crowd of over 91,000 people. The final figure was 86,174, but the game was a spectacle - women's cricket had scaled a new peak.

Unfortunately, like most other sports, women's cricket didn’t get a chance to capitalize on the high. The increase in cases of COVID-19 meant that instead of expanding, things began to shrink to the extent that we are all confined to the walls of our homes. Cricket tours have been postponed, sporting events cancelled – Wimbledon has been cancelled only for the first time since World War II – and the world has somewhat come to a standstill.

It is then that we thought of bringing back old memories and revisiting some ‘happy’ times in the first episode of our new podcast, Clean Bowled Podcast.

We got in touch with Melanie Jones, who, having once played in front of an enormous crowd – she featured in the final of the 1997 Women’s World Cup at Eden Garden in Kolkata with about 80,000 people in attendance – was also there on the ‘big night’ at the MCG as part of the commentary team. The current director of Cricket Australia was only too happy to talk to Women's CricZone about the successful competition that Australia hosted. She also picked some of her memorable moments from this tournament, while sharing her experiences and expectations in the build-up to the competition.

Psst… We also let you know why the name Clean Bowled Podcast!

Happy listening!

https://open.spotify.com/episode/42v77i1csEaXx8upLnpzYW?si=ZAX9qQ_zQPqg4AB3yL4HoQ