THE laws of cricket were re-written yesterday to use the gender-neutral term “batter” instead of “batsman”.
The move, after 233 years, upset some fans who said officials had “gone woke”.
Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), which helps run the game, said the immediate change makes it “inclusive for all”.
But Simon Walsh, of Preston, Lancs, said the move was “for the gender neutral woke brigade”.
Another fan called it “posturing and virtue signalling of the highest order”.
Traditionalists were left wondering whether other established cricket terms would go.
Cricket lover and TV star Piers Morgan said: “OK, if we’re going all PC with cricket terminology, what happens to ‘maidens’, ‘third man’, ‘bunny rabbit’, ‘Chinaman’, ‘duck’, ‘flat-track bully’, ‘jockstrap’, ‘Michelle’ (5-for), ‘Nelson’, ‘Night-watchman’, ‘Dropped a Dolly’, ‘Twelfth Man’, ‘whites’, and ‘full toss in the crease’?”
Another fan joked that Lord’s cricket ground would have to be renamed Lord’s and Ladies.
However, the term “batter” was also widely praised.
Ex- England captain Mike Gatting, 64, said: “It’s about time because so many women play the game now. They are not men, so it’s straightforward to me.”
