Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), guardians of the law of cricket and the owner of the Lord’s Cricket Ground on Wednesday announced an amendment to the laws of cricket to use the gender neutral word batter or batters instead of batsman and batsmen.
These changes have been approved by the MCC Committee, following initial discussion by the Club’s specialist Laws sub-committee, reports the official site of MCC, lords.org.
MCC believes that the use of gender-neutral terminology helps reinforce cricket’s status as an inclusive game for all. The amendments are a natural evolution from work already undertaken in this area as well as an essential part of MCC’s global responsibility to the sport, the report says.
MCC has today announced amendments to the Laws of Cricket to use the gender-neutral terms “batter” and “batters”, rather than “batsman” or “batsmen”.
— Marylebone Cricket Club (@MCCOfficial) September 22, 2021
The changes are effective immediately and updates have been made to the Laws of Cricket published at lords.org/laws, with the Laws of Cricket App and printed editions to be amended accordingly at their next updates.
Jamie Cox, Assistant Secretary (Cricket and Operations) at MCC said: “MCC believes in cricket being a game for all and this move recognises the changing landscape of the game in modern times.
“Use of the term “batter” is a natural evolution in our shared cricketing language and the terminology has already been adopted by many of those involved in the sport. It is the right time for this adjustment to be recognised formally and we are delighted, as the Guardians of the Laws, to announce these changes today.”
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MCC and English cricket in general has been resistant to women cricket and did not allow any female membership in the club despite the great role of women to develop and popularize the game. For decades the people urging for gender balance had been critical to MSC and recently they are changing their stance over the issue.
It is notable that former England captain Clare Connor is set to become the first-ever female president of the MCC in its 233-year history from October 1.
