Australia’s top female cricketer Ellyse Perry this week found herself welcoming criticism in the coverage of women’s sport rather than cheerleading.

It was a considered position from one of the most respected role models, to beckon jabs and critiques as necessary for women’s sport to evolve.

Of course, that means reasoned analysis not rabid pot shots. It is one of the next important steps in the progress of women’s sport in this country that games garner the same analysis as men’s sports.

Those covering the women’s Ashes, the AFLW season, the Matildas’ Asian Cup fadeout and elite netball will already be telling me to wake-up. The objective analysis is out there on websites, forums and specialist podcasts – just not in the mainstream media where such stories still do not command a great amount of space.

Women’s sport in this country is maturing, not at a steady jog but at light speed in some areas and in fits and starts in others.

Take the women’s Ashes. Last Sunday’s final day of the Australia-England cricket Test in Canberra rated top five for the week in terms of riveting sport, male or female And that includes the Ash Barty extravaganza and Rafael Nadal’s five-set epic at the Australian Open.

The fourth and final day of the women’s Test even displayed the backbone and fight for the cause from English cricketers that had been sadly lacking from their male counterparts all summer.

Debate flew from all quarters as England chased hard for the 257-run target off 48 overs. Did captain Meg Lanning declare at the right time? What about those six fielders on the fence too early? What about the wizard bowling changes and 20-year-old medium-pacer Annabel Sutherland stepping up? Did England blow it after such a super chase? How good was Beth Mooney’s catching? Proper questions.

Lanning’s spot-on declaration meant four different results were all still in the offing with two overs to bowl.
It was a thriller and a home audience of two million watched the final day on free-to-air TV or streamed it via Fox Sports or Kayo. They watched because it was great theatre, great sport. No one was begging you to give women’s sport a watch.

Earlier in the Test, one of the Australian batters had a technical flaw unemotionally picked apart by an expert commentator. Just like flawed England opener Rory Burns.

As Perry tweeted on that general theme: “It’s absolutely necessary for the evolution of women’s sport that objective analysis and criticism is given. I think most female athletes truly welcome this as it validates their or their team’s performance and efforts.”

I remember as recently as 2018 covering the gold medal game of the women’s rugby sevens at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games at a packed stadium.

The Aussies got a huge turnover on full-time at 12-all when a dash at scoring might have won them gold. A crossover athlete, still relatively new to rugby, inexplicable kicked the ball into touch and the game went to extra time. The Kiwis won.

At the time, I wrestled with criticising her for blowing the gold but went soft on that idea because it seemed too brutal. Too brutal for a women’s sport. We’ve got to “promote” the sport, right? Maybe, the call would be different today.

Perry has always been a staunch advocate of “you can’t be what you can’t see.” How do you dream of becoming a women’s cricketer if you never see women playing on TV? That was the case when she was growing up.

Extend that to “you can’t be what you can’t see or hear.” One of the best innovations in sport in 2021 came from two Melbourne women, Emma and Lucy Race.

Concerned that there were so few female voices in commentary in Australian sport, they set up Making The Call to create pathways for women’s voices in sport.

They coached and mentored 40 women through their program last year. More than 30 have found work in the media industry, a figure that would have been unheard of just five years ago.They have quite rightly been nominated in that category for next month’s Sport Australia Media Awards.

Graduate Brihony Dawson, an AFL lover from a background as a singer and performer, is now hosting the Women’s Footy show on Channel 9. She couldn’t see a career in sport just 12 months ago.

An all-female commentary team of four covered the Fremantle-Western Bulldogs AFLW game last week. That’s groundbreaking when so many blokes rule the AFL and associated media.

“It’s an absolute imperative that more women are heard commentating and covering women’s sport,” Emma Race said.

“I’m pleased to say more decision-makers in media are seeing that too and we’re getting calls. We’ve had graduates find opportunities in broadcasting, in research, in production, writing on websites and behind-the-scenes roles that didn’t exist until recently.”

The landscape is changing.

You don’t have to watch women’s sport on TV or listen to it. No one is forcing you but the tipping point has been reached where you have to or you may just miss some of the most dramatic sport of any week.

Jim Tucker has been a leading sportswriter for four decades, covering seven Rugby World Cups, Test cricket, three Olympic Games, golf at Augusta, woodchopping and plenty in between. He has written three books, The Holy Grail Is Ours (1995), Brothers In Arms: The History of Brothers Rugby Club (2009) and Bulldog! Bulldog! 70 Years of Wests Rugby (2022).  He will write regularly for InQueensland