By BIPIN DANI
The male and the female cricketers who score runs on the field will no longer be called batsmen or batswomen but the common term batters will be used for them.
The change has been proposed by the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), which governs the laws of cricket in the world.
India’s former Test cricketer Diana Edulji has welcomed the move.
“I was expecting this long back. It matches with the other terminologies bowler n fielder etc. Batter/Batters is the right word to use”, she said.
Incidentally, Edulji was also a member of the Supreme Court appointee administrator for the Indian cricket board.
“Now all commentators should also use this word immediately as both men are playing in the IPL and women are playing bilateral matches all over”, Edulji, who played 20 Tests and 34 ODIs for the women’s team, added.
India’s another ex-player of the women’s team Purnima Rau goes one step further and suggests the other male-specific terminology of the game should also be changed.
“If one word batter is changed then effort should also be made to change everything else into a gender neutral word like 12th man, third man,
nightwatchman etc”.
“The end result is when we play this wonderful game we derive as much pleasure as the male counterparts”, Rau, who coached the women’s team, argued.
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