Surrey made an announcement on the official website that has somehow escaped my attention for all of 24 hours, apparently Phil 'The Power' Taylor and one of his darts-playing colleagues will be playing some sort of exhibition match involving fans and a cash prize.
But that's not what I'm writing about here. No, what I'm writing about is the announcement, included in the very same article, that Surrey's players will be accompanied as they walk to the wicket by 'walk on girls'. Yes, you read that right.
As Rory Hamilton-Brown and Steven Davies walk to the wicket on Monday night, and for that matter every other batsman, they will be joined by a woman, for no discernible reason - other than to 'add a touch of glamour' as the official site so delicately puts it. Is it just for the banter? Just to keep their mind occupied during that walk of, oh I don't know, a minute at the most?
I'm not even annoyed at the pointlessness of it all, that is a given, what I'm annoyed about is how old fashioned and utterly out of date this idea is. Unless the idea is some sort of extension of the mascots, i.e. young cricketers or cricket fans get an opportunity to meet their heroes (in which case why isn't it 'walk on girls and boys'?) then it is a deeply sexist and backwards step.
What do the Surrey Ladies team make of this? Barely two years after England's women's team won the World Cup and the World Twenty20, what do the young girls in the age group sides think of it all? Is their role at the club to be reduced to merely escorting their male counterparts to the wicket? At a time when cricket needs to be broadening its appeal, this has the potential to do precisely the opposite.
There is still time for the club to do the right thing and nip this idea in the bud. I'm sure the skipper and Davies can manage without company, and if any of the other lads feel lonely on the walk to the wicket, well there'll be 11 blokes from Essex out there to talk to. I would urge the club in the strongest terms not to do this, we can all pretend this never happened.
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28 comments:
Will Davies walk on with a bloke? Just a thought...
Bit like the grid girls in F1 eh?
Good question, 'walk on girls' suggests not, but who knows, it's so mindless I've no idea what they have planned!!
Well said, Josh, totally agree with everything you have written. We were talking tonight about how to express our feelings and displeasure to the club and ask them to reconsider.
No point to this, can't imagine what the female club players think, feel it is a considerable lapse of judgement to think the Surrey or Essex cricket followers want this.
Will be retweeting an excellent blog post.
Yeah just like the grid girls, and just as offensive and pointless!
Thanks Lynn, no one seems best pleased about this (except Schofield quoted on the site - who knows how much input he actually had on that quote!). Hopefully they will reconsider.
Bloody awful and quite a surprise, given the very 21st Century approach that the club thankfully downplayed the Steven Davies non-story over the summer.
I really thought that we had a modern, forward thinking club. This just stinks of boozed up old boys in blazers in the Long Room with G & T's.
Absolutely right, the contrast with the Davies story is quite stark, it's crazy.
This is just a terrible idea. What's the point of all the kid-orientated, family stuff if they then do this kind of thing.
Hadn't thought about Davies. That makes it even more tacky and tasteless which you wouldn't have thought would be possible. I wonder if the management have had training on the 2010 Equality Act. Does making a gay gay parade around with a sexy walk on girl violate his dignity, degrade or humiliate him more than it does a straight player?
Are they just going to loiter near the dugouts, ready for a wicket to fall? Because that will be weird and awkward. And if they wear high heels might damage the playing surface.
The whole thing is just stupid, so badly thought through, who knows what they're going to do between wickets, and will they just wander back to the dugouts once they've chaperoned the player to the middle?! Good point about the playing surface!
As a marketing and PR professional and cricket fan, I think this idea is misguided to say the least! I am very pleased that men are also against this as it is very easy to brand women as 'jealous' or overly feminist over things like this, when really it has very little to do with that. It is for me more about the fact that the club is insulting everyone's intelligence by thinking this adds anything to the experience of T20. Let the cricket do the talking.
I've never been a huge fan of T20 cheerleaders, but as long as they are out of the way (in far too many grounds they are right in the way and obstructing the view of those people who have paid to watch the cricket) I can just ignore them, or see it as a bit of harmless fun. This is different. This is too far. As a club that gets many things so right, I am shocked that Surrey has misjudged this so badly. Besides the message that women are just there to be pretty and 'provide the glamour' as the website so eloquently puts it, there is just no point to it! It adds nothing. It's ridiculous and awkward. So the girl walks out, turns around and walks back on her own? All its going to do is be embarrassing for everyone involved, and more than likely slow things down.
After the disaster with the bar queues and running out of beer last week, this is another own goal for the club in my opinion. It has PR nightmare written all over it.
All joking about us dressing up in frocks aside, I'm more than a little unimpressed with Surrey. I don't know whether this is a drive to get cricket to be more like football or what, but I'm not a football fan, I'm a CRICKET fan - that's why I have a CRICKET CLUB membership. So:
(1) This insults the intelligence of the male fans. Heeeey, are you bored by this (incredibly short, very fast-paced) game? Look! Boobies!
(2) It insults the players. These are skilled sportsmen - we are there to see them play. If people want to get "a touch of glamour" they should go to a fashion show. If all they want is to ogle some girl's figure, they can do it for free on a Friday night in London and not let all of the dull cricket stuff get in the way.
(3) It insults the female fans. And the gay male fans for that matter. Maybe the assumption is that we have the players to gawp at and the poor mens need some eye candy. In which case, see above.
(4) It insults the hell out of me. I've had a sort of bemused attitude from some people when I turn up to games on my own. Shocker! Women do come to the cricket when they haven't even been dragged along by husbands / boyfriends. While I can laugh it off from other members, I DO NOT expect it from my club. If they think so little of women, maybe they're not interested in having this woman's membership fee next year.
The darts looked like a pretty bad idea - but this is appalling. I was intending going - but I wont be now. I am a Surrey member.
Anyone know if this is a one off or are they intending to do it at the Glamorgan game on friday - if so I'll change my plans and not go to that as well.
Gemma - I've always disliked the cheerleaders too, just a bit unnecessary but at least they are displaying some kind of talent I suppose, this is a whole step or three further. Glad to see a PR professional agrees that this is stupid!
Alternate - hi there! Good point about this offending men as well, and I didn't mention it in the blog but quite apart from the message this is sending to the young girls teams, what about the message its sending to the boys teams too!
Ben - the website seems to suggest its to debut on Monday, all a bit confused if you ask me, don't know!
Hi Josh, a bit late off the blocks with my reply -too busy seething to be coherent!
I would love to know which dinosaur got his head out of the ££ trough long enough to think up this little doozy!
I would love to know what Surrey's Women's team think of this! Will they be provided with 'walk on Chippendales' at their matches?
I have been so thrilled with the positive start to this season's games. The general attitude and the pleasing results have brought much needed credibility back to the club.....and then THIS!
I would declare myself speechless, but......yeah.....
ShanghaiBelle
It's a very poor idea, but I'm not so insulted that I won't be going.
Has anyone got a better email to use to complain than enquiries@surreycricket.com?
Tim
ShanghaiBelle - I don't blame you for seething! The club are generally pretty good on this kind of stuff, no idea where this idea came from.
Tim - if you're a member perhaps worth going through the membership email address membership@surreycricket.com, may elicit a quicker response?
Maybe they will be well dressed with sponsor logo's (flatties,sensible outfits).....OK, its still exploiation but maybe it brings more oney to the game. Maybe there are some people out there who don't watch cricket today who like the idea! Are you all saying its never appropriate? What planet are you living on.....go complain about bras for sub-teens or the exploitation of girls of all ages in everyday and every media or the inappropriate images and videos that sell music, don't knock the club until you've seen what they come up with.
This is a blog about Surrey Cricket....why would I post about music videos?! I said quite clearly in the post that if this is an extension of the mascots scheme then fair enough, but nothing has come from the club to suggest that is the case. And am I saying its never appropriate for women to simply escort the players to the middle just to 'add a touch of glamour'? Yes I absolutely am.
While there are young women out there prepared to take the Jobs (and lets face it there isn't that much choice around for work)and be paid a working wage who is it has the right to dictate what they can and can't do. Its also a bit reactionary, nothing stands still, without change there would be no 20/20, no sponsorship, no floodlit cricket, no IPL and the stuffy old MCC types would still be dictating where the game goes......or worse County Cricket may not even have survived except for Sunday matches on the Green.
I don't really understand your point, twenty20, floodlights, sponsorship...these are all things which have significance to cricket, the sporting side, do you think the introduction of cheerleaders has had a material impact on the development of world cricket? Really? Are you suggesting that the introduction of 'walk on' girls is part of the development of the game? It has nothing to do with the sport! If anything this is the opposite anyway, its not cricket modernising, its cricket regressing. And as for your point about telling people what to do, I'm not, I have no truck with the 'walk on girls' themselves, whoever they are they've done nothing wrong, my issue is with the club, of which I am a paying member, hence I have every right to voice my opinion on what they do.
Fair point about the sporting side.......equally the walk-ons are not really a sporting issue either (excepting the possible impact on the playing surface)....but then they haven't said they will accompany them to the crease,maybe its just from the clubhouse to the boundary.....and maybe they'll carry the bat while he puts on his gloves, no harm in that unless they are improperly atired.
Then why not just make it for youngsters? Like additional mascots? I just don't like the image that 'glamour' girls would project. I just have a fundamental problem with the message that women are there to help the big strapping men out in their sporting endeavours, this sort of proposal projects that image. And for the record I sincerely doubt that there is any malicious intent from anyone at the club on this, I just think its not very well thought through.
The 'walk on girls' have apparently been cancelled, good stuff. Only a fool never changes his (or her!) mind!
I think it reflects well on the club to have made this decision, it would have been easier for them to have just done it once and forgotten about it.
If a restaurant handles a complaint very well I end up feeling more positive towards it than if they hadn't made the mistake in the first place - but perhaps I'm just strange.
As an American, I was embarrassed by the actions of the Badminton World Federation's deputy President Paisan Rangsikitpho. He promoted changing women's uniforms so the players would seem more like women and so more people would watch them. I was rallied by the UK sports minister's strong stand for women's rights. He condemned the "regressive and damaging" attempt to sex up the sport of Badminton. Hugh Robertson, speak up for cricket as well!
A reader from across the Pond, wow! Agree with your comment, although I wasn't aware of the situation in badminton. This isn't something which comes up often any more in cricket to be honest, which is why it was so shocking in the first place. Still, the right decision was reached in the end!
wow I cannot believe I am reading this right, is that really true?? I thought we had a more open minded club, shame on them really
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