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WOMEN'S cricket may still lag considerably behind the men's game, but the Twenty20 format is cricket's best opportunity to bridge the gender gap.
Australia's successful Southern Stars received a heroes welcome when they returned home from Bangladesh after securing their third straight World Twenty20 title.
It's an unprecedented achievement and certainly one that will draw more attention to the women's game.
But the fact that both the men's and women's tournaments are played concurrently and, toward the latter part, at the same venues, is already adding valuable exposure.
Australia's captain and star batter Meg Lanning believes it's a fantastic initiative.
"If we can use the men to try and get a little bit more exposure, I think that's only a good thing," she said.
"I think the TV ratings went well and we enjoy playing on the big stage. We certainly love playing before the men, we love to have an atmosphere at our games and to bring more people to women's cricket. It's been a great initiative."
All-rounder Ellyse Perry, who hit the winning runs in the final against England, has been involved in all three of Australia's T20 triumphs.
She agrees that the atmosphere when both tournaments are played simultaneously is wonderful for the game.
"I think it's worked really well," she said.
"Just to be involved in that atmosphere — Bangladesh as a country really embraced it and being close to India and Sri Lanka and other cricket crazy nations, it was fantastic to have such a wonderful atmosphere.
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"We also overlapped with the Australian men's team in our hotel as well, so from a cricket point of view it was wonderful."
Less than a year ago Cricket Australia announced a new salary structure for the country's women cricketers, a vast improvement on the previous payment plans.
And Lanning, 22, believes it won't be too long before it becomes financially viable to play cricket professionally, provided the team continues to capitalise on its success and more people are introduced to the game.
"Obviously if we're very successful then it's certainly going to help," she said.
"At the minute we're happy with the level of support we get and I'm sure in the future it will only increase.
"It's just about trying to keep improving. I don't think we can ever think that we've done enough. Obviously we're very proud of our achievements, but we've got to look forward eventually.
"It would be great to see our matches televised a little bit more, that would certainly bring more people to women's cricket. They don't know much about it, but once they actually see the sport I think they will really enjoy it. So it's just about introducing people to the game."
At just 23, Perry is already a veteran of the side and, with the bulk of Australia's team under the age of 25, the Southern Stars look set to dominate women's cricket, particularly in the T20 format, for a while yet.
"That's certainly exciting for us and a really good challenge as well — to continue to progress our game and the way we play," Perry said.
"It's at an exciting time in terms of the developments that have been made and the progression that's continuing to happen."
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