ICC Reaffirms the Prioritization of Women’s Health

The International Cricket Council (ICC) today reaffirmed its commitment to the health and welfare of female cricketers through its support of the Menstrual Hygiene Day.

With women’s cricket being one of the six strategic priorities identified by the ICC, the governing body has expanded its ongoing education and awareness initiatives around women’s health, with the aim to normalize conversations around topics including menstruation in team environments.

As part of the day’s awareness plan, the ICC will host a webinar featuring India batter, Jemimah Rodrigues, England Women’s U19 Performance Lead, Chris Guest and researcher, educator and advocate of women’s health, Dr Sarah Zipp, focused on breaking barriers around periods in cricket. The webinar will be attended by more than 350 players, support staff and cricket administrators from around the world.

With the aim to shed light on how female cricketers experience, manage and communicate around menstrual health, the ICC conducted a first-of-its-kind survey during the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in 2023. The survey gathered insights from 133 athletes and 65 support staff members across 10 teams.

Key findings highlighted communication gaps where 69 per cent of support staff thought players felt comfortable discussing periods with them, however, only 43 per cent of players agreed. Additionally, 33 per cent of players believed that periods negatively impacted their performance with 50 per cent of players having missed training due to symptoms. However, only 35 per cent of players reported being given the option to opt out of training when feeling unwell.

Although half of all players had attended some form of menstrual health education (mostly at school), knowledge gaps remain significant. As a result, the ICC continues its efforts to educate players participating in ICC Events and raise awareness through resources such as the latest menstrual health video.

Jemimah Rodrigues said: “I’m looking forward to the webinar. I believe that the topics of discussion are important for players, support staff and our Boards to be a part of.

“The numbers from the survey speak for themselves, we need to be more vocal about this import area of female players’ wellness.

“Gone are the days when discussions around women’s health issues was something to be nervous or ashamed of. I commend the ICC for putting so much work and intentionality into normalizing the conversations and for making it a global discussion.”

The recording of the webinar will be uploaded to the ICC Online Media Zone and the 100% Cricket website, where previous women’s health initiatives are also featured.