Archive November 10, 2025

There has been a surge of tickets purchased for next summer’s Women’s T20 World Cup in England following India’s victory in the 50-over World Cup final earlier this month.

Overall sales for the tournament, which runs from 12 June to 5 July, have increased 171% compared to the previous week with a 265% upturn in India fixtures.

All of the best-selling fixtures were India group-stage matches, including a repeat of their World Cup final against South Africa at Old Trafford on 21 June and their meeting with Australia at Lord’s on 28 June.

Tournament director Beth Barrett-Wild said: “Demand for tickets to next year’s ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in England & Wales has been incredibly high from the outset, propelled by a stellar summer of women’s sport which culminated in a thrilling finish to the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup in India earlier this month.

“We’re thrilled to see India Women’s incredible win prompting a significant spike in ticket sales for next summer’s tournament, underlining its truly global appeal, and demonstrating how women’s cricket is breaking firmly into the mainstream.”

It was a strange sound, the muffled shuffle of 50,000 shrugs.

Argentina had just scored their seventh try against Wales, taking them past 50 points and a record winning margin over their opponents.

There were no boos at the final whistle, no howls of anger. Just the muted tones of apathy.

The Principality Stadium is meant to be a cauldron of noise on matchdays, an intimidating arena which visiting players often describe as the best in the world.

It has not been that way for some time. A once proud rugby nation is on its knees.

National and domestic teams are pitifully underpowered, while off the field the game is gripped by interminable existential crises.

After all, Wales have only won one Test match since 2023, while Argentina can count New Zealand among their conquests this year.

This was Steve Tandy’s first game as Wales head coach, a fresh start of sorts, but the attendance was 50,185 – the lowest for a non-Covid-era game since 2016.

It’s all relative – many sporting entities would love that kind of support – but it is still a sizeable drop from the capacity crowds of close to 75,000 which the Welsh Rugby Union has come to rely on for much of its income.

Whereas sell-outs used to be a given, there is now an acceptance of Wales’ new reality.

And more striking than the empty seats was the way in which that acceptance manifested itself in such a flat and passive atmosphere.

Yes, the volume increased as Wales briefly fought back with two tries to level the score during the first half – but that optimism was short-lived.

You can’t really blame the fans. This was a 10th successive home defeat for Wales, with the two most recent visitors racking up 120 points between them.

Yet as those supporters streamed out onto Westgate Street after the final whistle, much of the chatter was strangely upbeat.

Some were impressed by the sharper looking attack, others encouraged by the brief spells where Tandy’s young charges competed with superior opposition.

But it is a grim state of affairs when conceding 52 points at home – having shipped a record 68 against England on their last outing at this stadium – is considered par for the course for Wales.

Even for a country which has swung wildly from soaring highs to crushing lows throughout its tumultuous rugby history, this is a nadir for the game in Wales.

You would not have known this team were Six Nations champions four years ago; Grand Slam winners and World Cup semi-finalists two years before that.

By now, they are languishing in 12th in the world rankings. Losing has become so routine that people have become desensitised to the humiliation.

Sport keeps us coming back because of the passions it stirs as a compelling form of unscripted drama but, when you know what happens next, the magic disappears.

There will at least be a little jeopardy when Japan – the only team Wales have beaten in the past two years – visit the Principality Stadium on Saturday.

When New Zealand and South Africa roll into town over the following two weekends, however, it is difficult to shake the feeling that those will be another two foregone conclusions.

So when the All Blacks and Springboks inevitably pile on yet more punishing scores, it will likely be the same again in the stands – an air of resignation and a shrug of indifference.

It’s being coined the “icicle kick” – the stunning bicycle kick that lit up the Canadian Premier League final.

The match, played in a blizzard in Ottowa with the temperature dropping to -8C, had everything and delivered in the most Canadian of ways.

Home side Atletico Ottawa won their inaugural title – the North Star Cup – with a 2-1 extra-time win over Cavalry FC of Calgary.

But that barely tells the full story.

The game was repeatedly delayed so snow could be cleared from the pitch with the lines cleared every 15 minutes, the goalkeepers clearing their boxes with shovels and the match becoming almost unplayable in the second-half. A snowplough had to come onto the pitch before extra-time.

Former Rangers midfielder Fraser Aird, playing in short sleeves, had put Cavalry in the lead with a 33rd-minute penalty and celebrated with a knee slide on the snow and was then pelted with snowballs by the home fans.

Seven minutes later came a moment of magic from 23-year-old David Rodriguez, who levelled the match with an acrobatic effort which crashed off the underside of the bar, before he scored the winner in the 107th minute with a chip over Cavalry keeper Marco Carducci.

Rodriguez, who was born in Mexico, said he had “zero” experience until he joined the team in February.

“I came to a locker room and I was excited. I saw it was snowing, and I was like ‘it’s gonna be a good day’,” he said.

Atletico goalkeeper Nathan Ingham added: “The whole night feels fake.

“You play us in sand, you play us in snow, you play us on the moon, this team is going to win.”