Batting for Change grows with BBL

While many of the BBL’s watchers this season draw interest from online betting shenanigans, there is also a way of spending money on the tournament that will go in a rather different direction.

Season six of the tournament is also season four of Batting for Change, a cause put together by the Sydney Sixers’ Ryan Carters and the LBW Trust in an effort to further the cause of education for women around the world. Put simply, BBL watchers have the chance to pledge money to the charity via its website, with a set amount pledged for every ball struck over the rope by the Sixers.

As the BBL has grown, so too has Carters’ enterprise, from raising $30,000 to fund the building of classrooms in Nepal in 2013-14 to a far loftier target this year – $150,000 to support projects in India, Sri Lanka and, for the first time, Kenya. This year Carters has been joined by a bevy of other ambassadors – Moises Henriques, Steve O’Keefe, Nic Maddinson, Alyssa Healy, Kurtis Patterson and Ed Cowan.

“It’s interesting, they’ve both grown together,” Carters said of the two ventures. “There’s a reason the BBL has become so popular in Australia and it’s because Cricket Australia and Ten have done a wonderful job designing and managing the tournament. The standard of cricket itself is going up every year and the spectators love to see high quality clashes played out in the T20 format.

“The WBBL has added a new dimension and expanded the fanbase again, and from Batting for Change’s point of view we offer a fun way to engage with the BBL, and as more people are watching matches live and on their TV screens, more people …

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