History Made With First Ever Women’s Cricket Match In Saudi Arabia

A women’s match which included citizens as players of eight nations including Saudi Arabia, India, Pakistan, South Africa, Philippines, Indonesia, Sudan, and Egypt was recently organised in Saudi Arabia. This was something fresh for everyone, it promoted the social well being of the society by encouraging women to take part in a sport.

The match conducted was of 10 overs which implemented all international rules and regulations and was officiated by professional umpires.

Ms Angelene who is South African and an ardent cricket fan was leading a team of the tournament, while she felt the nostalgia of being super active in sports while back in the homeland. She mentioned that she didn’t manage to get time to play her favorite sport since she started working with KSA.

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Many players participated from different countries like Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Philippines. It was a moment for them to groom well into global cricketing conditions and to be on the history of the sport in KSA. They were allotted practice sessions in their respective workplaces, groomed by their colleagues who were from cricket playing nation.

“We were taught the rules of the game, watched many cricket matches on TV and tried practice sessions for the last two months in the build-up for the game," commented Ms Joy and Ms Maha Halwani.

Many players participated from different countries like Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Philippines. It was a moment for them to groom well into global cricketing conditions and to be on the history of the sport in KSA.

Khlood Bayazeed, a senior HR manager, who was part of the winning team expressed that she was proud of this initiative and said it's a strong message towards women empowerment. Veteran journalist Khaled al Maeena, who was the chief guest of the event, said that this was a giant step in the sporting history of Saudi Arabia. He encouraged the players to take up the sport as a serious profession and he made sure that the efforts would be acknowledged to the General Sports Authority and Ministry of entertainment.

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Senior officials from the Jeddah Cricket Association, Mr. Aijaz Khan, President and Mr. Haroon Mahfouz, Executive Secretary also attended the event. Both commented, “We have been successfully organizing tournaments in Jeddah for over two decades and throughout, we had been dreaming of this moment for a long time.”

Picture Credit: The Siasat Daily

This story was published first on Female Cricket.