Interest in women's cricket on the rise in Ontario

Some of the world's biggest cricket stars have been in the Greater Toronto Area recently, as Brampton hosts the Global T20 Canada cricket tournament.

While the sport is in the spotlight, some female cricketersare reflecting on the roles of womenin future big tournaments.

Many people involved in the sportwant to see more encouragement and investment in getting young girls to play.

Rabbjyot Rajput's love for the sport runs deep, but she never thought to give it a try until her brother's team needed an extra player to run a drill.

"I joined in and slowly came to more sessions, and got more involved in cricket," she said.

The 15-year-oldis glad she stuck around. She was the youngest player selected to be on the Canadian women's squad on tour to Brazil last year.

"At the time, I saw many girls coming and practicing with the boys and that made me feel like women's cricket was slowly going to evolve in Canada," she said.

It has.

Durriya Shabbir, the women's director of Cricket Canada, said there are far more opportunities for females to play cricket now than a decade ago.

"When I came to Ontario there was one women's team at that time, and it was hard finding them," she recalled.

"Recently, Cricket Canada has signed a contract where we'relaunching a CanadaPremier Women's league, which is a women's only league," she said.

ButShabbir said there is still a lot of opportunity for growth. She's been at the Global T20 Canada cricket tournament advocating for more resources.

"Most of the time the challenge is having the right infrastructure and that's where I think the cities can step up and help the women," she said.

"We need to get the girls involved at an early stage,and be able to bring them outinto clubs and spaces where they feel welcomedand safe."