Debate about women’s sport erupts after Kane Cornes’ hot take

AFL icon turned pundit and broadcaster Kane Cornes sparked a passionate debate after making some critical claims on live radio.

Kane Cornes has sparked plenty of debate when it comes to women’s sport.

AFL great Kane Cornes has sparked a passionate debate after delivering some strongly-worded thoughts on the analysis of women’s sport.

In the wake of Australia’s thrilling draw in the Ashes Test against England in Canberra and as the AFLW reason rolls on, Cornes questioned whether pundits were too nervous to criticise the standard of women’s sport for fear of backlash.

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“The media and supporters are scared to objectively analyse what they are watching for fear it will come across as being critical which will create fierce backlash from an overly sensitive cohort,” Cornes said, referencing a tweet from respected English cricket commentator and journalist Isabelle Westbury during the Ashes Test where she wrote: “Whatever happens, lay off the players, lay off Lanning, & lay off telling ‘em what they should & shouldn’t be doing. ‘Cos whatever it is, it’s brilliant. Always against the odds, alway surprising. Oh, & this will finish as the fastest scoring Test.”

Cornes suggested Meg Lanning’s captaincy should have come under more scrutiny than it did as the Ashes Test ended in a spectacular draw, and also called for more honest criticism of AFLW teams and players performing poorly.

“Had this been the poor captaincy choices of former male skippers Mark Taylor, Steve Waugh, Ricky Ponting or god forbid Michael Clarke, it would’ve been headline news,” Cornes added.

“The (AFLW) players are desperate to grow the game and become full-time. The only way for that to happen is for the media coverage to be a lot more interesting which will increase the engagement in the sport.”

Cornes can never be accused of sitting on the fence and his opinion generated plenty of discussion.

Westbury herself replied to Cornes to clarify her position, agreeing that “critical analysis = key” but making clear the context in which women’s sport operates needs to be considered when it is being critiqued.

“Agree w/ this (Cornes’ piece) but my partic. contribution has been misunderstood. If we can’t criticise women’s sport, it’ll never progress. 100%. What is lost is that we often hold women to an impossible standard. Espec. in Tests re declarations, risk taking etc,” Westbury wrote.

“Women declare more, & are way more attacking w/ tactics. But we often blame them for draws. Which is utter rubbish. So yeh, my contrib was in a v particular scenario.

“To add to this, best coverage of women’s cricket is by those who look to critique it in the same they would men’s (i.e. it’s cricket!) but are also conscious of the wider context, their limited time w/ a red ball etc.”

Ellyse Perry had her say after Cornes sparked plenty of debate. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)

Aussie cricket superstar Ellyse Perry also weighed in. “It’s absolutely necessary for the evolution of women’s sport that objective analysis and criticism is given,” she tweeted.

“I think most female athletes truly welcome this as it validates their or their teams performance and efforts.

“However I think it’s a poor reflection on our viewing population if we think ‘a warpath of criticism’ and overt negativity towards teams or athletes is much watch television.”

Broadcaster Emma Race is a co-host of The Outer Sanctum podcast, which features an all-female crew talking about footy, and called in to Cornes’ SEN radio show to engage in a debate about his take on women’s sport.

Race said she “couldn’t agree more” that women’s sport deserves objective analysis without fear, but said there is already plenty out there and if Cornes or others aren’t seeing it, they likely are “not looking hard enough”.

“I would suggest the people who do the talking and have mainstream platforms like you are probably not looking in the same places that I’m looking,” Race said, going on to list a host of podcasts dedicated to women’s sport.

“All of these people are running podcasts and platforms that talk about women’s sport 24/7, most of the time on their own dime, and they’re not being supported by mainstream media platforms which is why you don’t see that analytical discussion in the mainstream, but it’s definitely happening.

“When people say there’s no negative commentary on women’s sport, gee that’s absolutely so overblown because there are potshots being taken every time women run out on the field.”

Race also reinforced the importance of context when analysing women’s sport. She mentioned Cornes’ criticism of Lanning’s captaincy, then reminded him she had only captained four Tests in six years, because women don’t get the opportunity to play as much red-ball cricket as men.