ESPN Cricinfo not to use ‘Batsman’, ‘Man of the match’ – find out why

ESPN’s Cricinfo has announced that it will not be using terms like ‘Batsman’ and ‘Man of the match’ from now. In a step towards embracing gender neutrality, terms like ‘batter’ and ‘Player of the Match’ will be used instead. 

The move has drawn a mixed response. A number of social media users welcomed the change, saying that gender-sensitive language is the need of the hour. “My generation sadly grew up with a male-centric coverage of cricket which will take us a while to change our habits, but the next generation of cricket watchers will learn differently. Time for TV commentators to slowly do the same (sic),” a Netizen tweeted. 

However, many are finding the change an example of tokenism. Rahul Roushan of OpIndia joked, “This is good. Also high time we stopped calling cricket a gentleman’s game.”

Eminent Intellectual, a parody account mocking the ideology of wokes, quipped, “This is just cosmetic without changing the highly toxic shapes of bats, stumps and balls, all inspired by male genitalia.” Not stopping at this, another user stretched the joke further. “Excellent initiative. This will also help Kuldeep, who has been struggling with his bowling lately, change his bowling style. From Chinaman to Chinahuman (sic),” wrote @TweetsofBhogle, a parody account mocking Harsha Bhogle’s style of commentary.