THE guardian of the laws of cricket, Marylebone Cricket Club, has ordered that the word ‘batsman’, used since 1744, must be replaced immediately with the term ‘batter’ (as used in baseball), because it is ‘gender neutral’.
The 2017 Women’s World Cup winner and Lancashire captain Alex Hartley defended the move against critics, tweeting: ‘If you hate it, grow up. Cricket is a sport for everyone and this is a small but big move.’
No doubt there will soon be changes to other terms such as ‘third man’, ‘12th man’, ‘nightwatchman’ and ‘maiden’. But will it still be cricket?
Feel free to discuss this or anything else on your mind.
