Simon Simoudis: The ICC Women’s ODI World Cup 2025 Begins

 I, Simon Simoudis, consider sport to be one of life’s best gifts. Sport can unite the unknown, and that’s what I experienced during my recent visit to the AFL finals in Melbourne. Sport can provide memorable experiences.

Today, September 30, 2025, is not just any day. The world of sports came alive. The ICC Women’s ODI World Cup started with a bang. The very first match is being conducted while I pen this blog. The opening showdown is between the home team, India, and Sri Lanka, and this is taking place at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium, Guwahati. And though I, Simon Simoudis, sitting thousands of miles apart, can already get a scent of the atmosphere. The World Cup has finally started, and with this excitement runs wild across continents.

The tournament is being held this year in India. The best host of this World Cup is India, considering its affluent cricketing past. The games will be conducted at some of the world's greatest stadiums: Kolkata's Eden Gardens, Bengaluru's M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium, and, naturally, the opening ground within Guwahati, among others. They have witnessed some historic episodes of cricket, and now the ladies will pen their pages to those tales.

The top eight of the women’s teams of women’s cricket teams were qualified to attend the tournament. The teams included India, Australia, England, New Zealand, South Africa, West Indies, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.
In the coming weeks, they will clash in 31 matches. The Mumbai finale. And the purse? A historic USD 5 million, the largest ever to be contested by women’s cricket. A reflection that their toil, their abilities, and hard work, a reality that their dignity is now being measured.

If you have been keeping up with sports, you would recognize that not too long back, ladies' games didn’t stir the enthusiasm that they should. The arenas were nearly bare, media attention was negligible, and players were not remunerated adequately. Even the government and sporting associations' backing was not effective.

But the world is transforming rapidly, and that too for the positive. Here, we have witnessed that the madness over the Matildas has increased by leaps and bounds over the years. AFLW is escalating with each season. And this trend is taking a solid shape globally. Whether it's tennis a football, or cricket, stadiums are full and their charges too are narrowing down that massive difference that prevailed between men’s and women’s games.

It is bright times ahead for female sports. Nonetheless, I, Simon Simoudis, think that we have a long way to go. My vision is to see that the difference anywhere between fees between females and males diminish. My vision is that the money should be increased, the facilities should be better, and the facilities should be available equally in schools. Schools should offer equal opportunities, not only on paper.

But we as a society need to play a large role too in elevating girls’ sports to the same plane as boys’. We need to encourage and to root. We need to get our sisters, daughters, nieces, and students to play. We need to purchase the tickets, tune into the broadcasts, and make young girls’ sports important. Support is not just about cheering. It’s about building a respect and equality-based culture.

Simon Simoudis believes that the future of sport will not be whole without women standing their ground as equals.
Location: Australia

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