GEORGIE PARKER: WBBL does a great job of showcasing talent in a way AFLW should follow

The cricket season is in full swing.

The WBBL, arguably the best domestic women’s league in the world, is humming, the men’s Test series against India is about to begin, and there’s been an interesting ODI and T20 series against Pakistan as well.

Firstly, the WBBL is awesome. What cricket can do that the AFL can’t is create a ground that makes women’s cricket really comparable to the men.

While the pitch itself is still the same, the boundaries are not and have been brought in.

These shorter boundaries help produce a product that is similar to the men’s game in terms of scoring, without noticing much of a difference within the game.

Why it is important that it’s similar to the men’s game is that while women’s sport is still creating its identity in a space that has so long been just for men, it needs to feel familiar with the audience or it feels like a new sport.

Cricket has been able to do that so well, and I love watching this growing league. I just wished there was more opportunity for our women to play more Test matches - it’s very hard to improve something you don’t get to play.

Then we get into the men’s international summer of cricket. Some may say that bilateral limited-overs series like the one we’re playing in currently against Pakistan is meaningless.

But tell that to Pakistan who just got their first ODI series win on Aussie soil in 22 years a week ago and also, tell that to the 31,563 fans at the SCG for the second of the T20 matches on Saturday night.

Bilateral white-ball cricket still has a place in the calendar, it just needs to be seen for what it is and played in the best stadiums for it like the SCG or Adelaide Oval.

When I think of cricket I think of rivalries, long tours overseas, incredibly long on-field contests, and the individual battles from batter to bowler.

Bilateral cricket is what creates these over time across repeated matches, not tournaments where it’s one and done.

There is still a tremendous thirst for short-form international cricket, particularly for countries from the sub-continent who just can’t get enough of it.

There should be fewer World Cup and Champions Trophy tournaments to give more space for these types of tours, rather than the other way around.

And finally, while short-form cricket may be where so many cricketers make their money, Test cricket is still quite obviously the pinnacle of the sport in Australia.

The importance it has for Cricket Australia is clear with the selection decisions that resulted in the Test players sitting out the final one-day game as well as the T20 series.

This India series is going to be so interesting from the contentious opening batter decision for Australia, to whether India can bounce back after their shock home series loss to New Zealand, to the question mark over Virat Kohli’s form.

But with Kohli’s average in Australia being 54.08, the fifth highest for any touring player ever, I wouldn’t be writing him or his team off.

Isn’t cricket just the best? It unites us like no other sport in this country and the first ball of the first Test in Perth cannot come quick enough.