Mind the gap

– Shaun Martyn, FairBreak Global founder

 

First of all, big congratulations to the Australian Women’s Cricket Team for winning the WT20 on the weekend.

A completely professional performance.

The big takeaway from the whole World Cup is that the gap between Australi

a, England and India, and the rest of the world has grown larger, not smaller.

There is a lift in overall standard of play, however that has not closed the gap in relative terms.

I was interested to hear Melinda Farrell from ESPN interviewed from the West Indies and hear her say exactly the same thing.

This is an opinion shared by many.

Australian and English players are better funded and supported and, consequently, are ahead of India and a long way ahead of everyone else.

The opportunity that the WBBL and Kia Super League has provided has meant there is more frequent, high level cricket played in both countries.

In Australia, that extends to the state system as well, where players can have their income supplemented. This allows them to train, play and commit to the sport for a longer period of time.

If there are not more opportunities created and more funding provided globally, I believe we will see a drop off in participation rates around the world.

I also refer you to the interview on Twitter with Ireland Captain, Laura Delaney, after their defeat by Pakistan, and the subsequent follow up from Mariko Hill and others about the vital role FairBreak plays in creating opportunities.

Ireland has now had four players retire after the tournament in the West Indies. Most of the players have had to take over 60 days leave from work in order to represent their country and it is no longer sustainable for them to continue.

Apart from their attitude and commitment, they are not ‘professional’ in any way.

Ireland, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh for example, need to be playing against each other regularly and being paid a real ‘living’ wage in order to do that.

It’s not a level playing field.

Expectation of professionalism is one thing. Real funding and remuneration for full time professionalism is another. And that what is required if we want a real World Cup.

 

 

2018-11-27T10:05:44-05:00November 27th, 2018|News|

Australian cricket: ‘In my office now, boys!’ – Shaun Martyn on the current state of play

In 1984 England were getting smashed by the West Indies and everyone was looking for England and their leadership to make excuses for performance. England captain David Gower on being interviewed during the series said, “It is a Test match. It’s not Old Reptonians v Lymeswold, one off the mark and jolly good show. You are not expecting life to be made easy for you.”

If only that attitude prevailed at the moment in Australian cricket.
Gower was not looking for excuses; he and his players would deal with the problems and be judged on how they handled themselves. In reflecting on the release of the Longstaff review and the fallout from it, things just have to change.

The Chairman’s position has now become completely untenable and he has resigned. Unsurprising when you profess to have good governance and at the same time orchestrate your reinstatement prior to a review being released. Laughable!

The whole credibility of the board has been in question. Appointing someone from the current board as Chairman is also impossible from a governance perspective. This board has presided over this mess.

What equally amazes me is that the State CEO’s have the ability to start the process of fixing this mess. Why don’t they?

They seem to be complicit in condoning the behaviour called out by Longstaff.

I think it speaks volumes for the leadership in cricket across the board.

When you have organisations that are not accountable they can do whatever they like. There is no accountability! I was disgusted by the responses by the CA Chairman on the ABC’s 7.30 Report when his notion of accountability was that CA had voluntarily instigated a review into what is now being referred to as a “hiccup” in South Africa.

That “hiccup” reference said it all. It demonstrated mammoth incompetence and a complete and total lack of understanding of the game, its relevance, its history or its future.

As a result of the Chairman’s resignation it may now be possible for Kevin Roberts, the new CEO at CA to make some headway. It will depend on how the board reacts and the appointment of the new Chairman.

In my one brief exchange with Kevin Roberts I found him to be very open and thoughtful. He has a huge task and needs clean air.

The ACA are not adding anything positive to the debate at the moment either.

Regardless of whether you think the bans on Smith, Warner and Bancroft are too harsh or not, they are there and need to be served. Banging on about lifting the bans just alienates more of the public and reinforces the widely held view that the male players are indulged.

Grown men conspired to cheat in an environment that encouraged it and then lied about it. Fact. If there were older and wiser heads in that dressing room in South Africa it would never have happened. The fact that the coaching and management staff is still largely in place also speaks to the integrity of the whole set up.

We have seen this week the ACA publicly setting up another adversarial situation.
If the Australian team was performing better at the moment lifting bans wouldn’t even be spoken about.

The ACA have sought far too much media attention in this. They should be working quietly, negotiating responsibly, and with the best interest of the fans, the players and the game.

Cricket is a game of partnerships and good partnerships are built with trust, time, consistency and leaving your ego at the door or in the dressing room.

At the moment it feels like both CA and the ACA should be called into the headmasters office and suspended until they come back, with their parents, to be told by David Gower to start acting responsibly both in class and in the playground!

 

2018-11-01T10:34:47-04:00November 1st, 2018|News|

Support for FairBreak’s vision

Suzie Bates, Charlotte Edwards, Lydia Greenway and Mike Gatting share their support for FairBreak’s vision of a world where people have fair and equal access to opportunities that enable them to succeed in their chosen endeavour, independent of gender or geographical location.

This video was filmed during our Inaugural Day of Gender Equality at Wormsley Estate on 30 May.

2018-08-20T07:28:27-04:00August 20th, 2018|News|

The day we made history – Inaugural Day of Gender Equality

On May 30, we launched our Inaugural Day of Gender Equality with a world first cricket match at Wormsley Estate in the UK between the Sir Paul Getty Women’s XI and the newly formed FairBreak Global XI.

The energy level was high with excitement, nerves and gratitude felt by our players from around the globe meeting for the first time, some having experienced their first ever international flight to get to the event from our players, and the FairBreak global team who have been working tirelessly to bring to life the FairBreak vision of gender equality.

The day kicked off with a summit involving key advocates for gender equality and supporters of FairBreak who participated in a robust discussion about what can be done globally to progress gender equality. We are eternally grateful to those who shared their insights and thoughts around tackling major issues including equal pay and governance.

This was followed by our FairBreak XI taking on the Sir Paul Getty Women’s XI in an exhibition T20 Cricket Match. The T20 Match was a world first, achieving a number of milestones including:

  1. The first time a women’s cricket team has comprised women from 10 countries across 5 continents
  2.  The first time the Sir Paul Getty Foundation had fielded a women’s team at Wormsley Estate – now known as “Sir Paul Getty’s Ground”
  3.  The first time a global team of female cricketers had the opportunity to connect with like-minded athletes from across 5 of our 7 continents
  4. The first time a match of this nature has been livestreamed and freely accessible for fans across the world to watch

The inaugural FairBreak XI team comprised of players from Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, India, New Zealand, Oman, Singapore, USA, Vanuatu and West Indies.

To learn more about the key highlights from this initiative, check out our recap video below. We’ll be sharing more content from the day and our inaugural team of sensational women who made the day possible.

We are excited about the road ahead and can’t wait to see how far this ripple will reach. Onwards and upwards!

2020-01-17T11:34:11-05:00June 28th, 2018|Events, News|

Gender pay equity and professional sport – what’s the go?!

I’ve got a lot of questions that need answering and I hope someone can help me. Some of these questions have been on my my mind long before I started FairBreak. Longer still before #genderequity #genderequality and #genderpaygap existed as hashtags. But for now, let’s start with a couple.

How do the governing bodies in major sports justify less than equal pay?

When I see the passion, skill and rightly-deserved success of the Australian women’s soccer team, the Matildas,

I’m perplexed. More paying fans turn up to watch them play against Brazil than an AFL semi-final, or to see the Wallabies play in Australia. And yet, for years one of the central arguments concerning gender pay equity in professional sport has been that a women’s game wouldn’t generate a paying audience.

That doesn’t seem to be the case now.

How do the governing bodies in major sports justify less than equal pay? the Matilda’s should surely be paid the same as the Wallabies shouldn’t  they? They draw a bigger crowd.

To further reinforce the value of the Matildas, the FFA has just announced that they are moving the FFA Cup final date from November 22 because the Matildas game against China takes precedence.

So is there something that I’m missing here? I hope someone can help me to better understand.

There is a lot to cogitate on.

If 126 million viewers watched the ICC Women’s World Cup cricket final overall, which includes I.I million alone in the UK, what was the advertising revenue generated? Where did that go?

I’m curious about how advertising revenue generated from women’s sport and fan engagement is distributed.

Plenty more questions, but so few answers… more to come next week.

– Shaun Martyn, FairBreak and WICL Founder.

 

2022-03-02T18:49:33-05:00September 26th, 2017|News|

Namibia — Cuba’s female boxing revolution

We love this!

Originally posted here: “Because women should protect their beautiful faces”

Namibia — The Cuban women’s boxing revolution from Maceo Frost on Vimeo.

A film by Maceo Frost produced by Revolver & Made by Forest.
Long version coming soon

Starring: Namibia Flores Rodriguez
Director: Maceo Frost
Director of Photography: Lionel Cabrera
Executive Producer: Jesper Pålsson & Raymond Van der Kaaij
Production Company: Revolver & Made by Forest
Producer: Klaudia Gainza, Filip Kiisk
Line Producer: Viktor Rising
Additional footage: Maceo Frost
Editor: Andreas Arvidsson
Color: Oskar Larsson, Chimney
Translations: Mia P. Salazar
Title design: Robert Norgren
Sound Design: Jorge Olivares Rivas / At The Lab Sweden
Music: Spectrum Trio – Ogun
Service Production Company: Cubana Production
Special Thanks to: Steve Angello and Alfredo & Leo Sanchez

Mostly shot on Blackmagic Pocket with additional A-cam s16mm

2018-02-23T18:58:25-05:00July 7th, 2017|News|

A robust discussion about gender equity at our inaugural Gala Dinner

A huge thank you to all those who contributed to a successful and most enjoyable evening at our first FairBreak and SolarBuddy Gala Dinner at the Sofitel Wentworth in Sydney on June 7.

The Pymble Ladies’ College Jazz band and vocalists set the scene perfectly to start the night, followed by sensational vocalists through the night.

Our esteemed panel of Jim Maxwell, Senator Bridget McKenzie, Mary ‘Kaye’, Vicki Waters and Eugenie Buckley was brilliantly facilitated by Sharn Bedi in addressing a number of gender based issues across sport, business, education and government. You can read some of the highlights in the tweets below.

A big thank you to those students who worked on the event – Carlissa Eves and Lauren Faahan-Smaith – and also our co-MC Amy Graham, all from Pymble Ladies’ College. Working with these students is another element of our charter to create opportunity with our educational partners.

The next phase of our development is now well underway with the relationship we have formed with Twitter and the corporate and institutional support that is evident

– Shaun

Connect with us on Twitter @FairBreakGlobal and follow the conversation #FairBreak

2018-02-26T17:56:58-05:00June 23rd, 2017|News|

Panellists prepare for ‘Gloves off for Opportunity’ discussion

We are thrilled to announce the panellists who will share their insights and ideas in our ‘Gloves off for Opportunity’ discussion at the FairBreak and SolarBuddy gala dinner on June 7.

Tickets are still available to join in the fun at Sofitel Wentworth Sydney.

Senator Bridget McKenzie: Bridget is The Nationals Senator for Victoria. Bridget is firm in her belief that strong regional economies and secure regional communities are critical to the future prosperity of our great nation.

 

Eugenie Buckley: Eugenie is the founder and principal at Suiko Consulting, a specialist sports and major events company.

 

Jim Maxwell AM: Jim is the most experienced cricket commentator on the ABC having covered over 230 Tests since joining the station in 1973 as a trainee.

 

Mary ‘Kaye’ Konstantonopoulos: Mary is a lawyer at Clayton Utz and a passionate sports fanatic who founded Ladies Who League in 2013, a thriving rugby league community.

 

Vicki Waters: Vicki is Principal of Pymble Ladies’ College, an all-girl school at the forefront of educational leadership and innovation.

 

FairBreak: “Our vision is to create a fully sustainable and exponentially growing business that allows women to pursue whatever field of endeavour they like, and to be remunerated for that fairly and equally; to pursue a ‘pure sport’ philosophy, free of corruption and inequality.”

2018-02-23T19:15:14-05:00May 3rd, 2017|News|
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