The Fairbreak Invitational T20 is just into its second edition, but we have already seen the impact the initiative has had on women’s cricket, especially among Associate Nations.

From the outside, the tournament might seem like just another franchise league. They have by-now-common count of six teams, flashy kits, and the usual round-robin group stages, a couple of semi-finals and a final.

Yet, it is different from other leagues. Few tournaments have been as inclusive: the 90 cricketers in the tournament represent 28 countries. Rarely do fans get to watch so many cricketers from Associate Nations dominate a league full of stars.

We do not get to see many Associate cricketers in franchise leagues. The USA-born Tara Norris was the only Associate cricketer to feature in the recently concluded inaugural edition of the WPL. No team was ready to invest in an Associate cricketer at that time.

Fairbreak, on the other hand, features numerous Associate cricketers. More importantly, they are treated the same as their counterparts from the Full Members. The tournament has provided a platform for individuals from different parts of the world to showcase their talent in front of millions, which is almost impossible considering the number of tournaments ICC conducts for Associates.

The tournament has enabled Associate cricketers to rub shoulders with some of the best players in the world and learn from them. Many of them openly acknowledged their growth as a player over the course of the contest. Their recent performances bear testimony to that.

Malaysia captain Winifred Duraisingam was one of the standout performers in the first edition. Her performance earned her a spot on the cover of the FairBreak book launched by the tournament founder Shaun Martyn, co-authored by Karen Motyka.

Duraisingam has been playing T20Is for Malaysia since 2018, but her best display at international level came after the first edition, when she helped Malaysia finish second in the ACC Women’s T20 Championship, and qualify for the Asia Cup, alongside major teams like India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

Sita Rana Magar of Nepal is Duraisingam’s teammate at the Tornadoes. She has been around since 2007, and was part of the first ever Nepal international team that played Thailand. Cricket is immensely popular in Nepal, but that does not hold for women’s cricket.

She finally became a familiar face after the first Fairbreak, particularly after her famous ‘Pushpa’ celebration took social media by storm. When she is not playing cricket, Magar works with the Armed Police Force of Nepal. Her recent celebration, the ‘Salute’, is a reference to her day job.

Magar has spoken about the impact of Fairbreak on multiple occasions, of how talking to the likes of Sophie Devine and Stafanie Taylor has helped her improve her batting. Earlier this year, she was the top-scorer of Nepal’s Lalitpur Mayor’s Cup with 214 runs, grabbed eight wickets, and won Player of the Match in four out of five matches.

The UAE has been one of the most successful Associate Nations, but they do not play a lot of domestic games. They currently play only one domestic tournament. Lack of match practice has remained a concern.

The Fairbreak tournament addressed some of that. Their all-rounder Esha Oza was the ICC Associate Player of the Year in 2022. Theertha Satish’s cricket career began only after she watched a Tamil movie. Her story became known only after Fairbreak made her a star, in 2022.

Theertha later led the UAE in the U19 World Cup, and credited the Falcons captain Suzie Bates and her coaches for helping her remain calm and handle tough situations as a captain.

Mariko Hill of Hong Kong, Theertha’s Falcons teammate, pointed out in her Fairbreak feature episode how the teams stay in touch through social media groups and check on each other’s performances. That has certainly helped Theertha to grow as a cricketer, which was evident in the first game of the second edition, where she notched up a half-century against Tornadoes to help the Falcons win by 41 runs.

Another UAE U19 star who stole the show during the World Cup was Mahika Gaur. The tall pacer was a reserve in 2022, and soon afterwards, had an opportunity to play in the England County for The Thunder Academy. She was also picked up by Manchester Originals in the last edition of The Hundred, but did not get an opportunity to feature in the playing XI.

During the Women’s Premier League auction, the Gujarat Giants showed interest in her, but could not get her in, having exhausted their quota of overseas cricketers.

A couple of months later, Gaur played for the Warriors and dismissed her Manchester Originals teammate Deandra Dottin, who was, incidentally, a part of the Giants’ initial squad as well. Mahika won the Player of the Match award for her 2-30.

Rwandan all-rounder Henriette Ishimwe had impressed all by dismissing the likes of Devine and Nicola Carey in the first edition. At the U19 World Cup, she picked up four wickets in four balls to help Rwanda defeat Zimbabwe by 39 runs.

Gunjan Shukla, the first ever captain of Sweden, spoke about how the first edition of the Fairbreak provided a platform that made fans aware of the existence of the Swedish cricket team. In November 2022, Shukla went on to claim 5-7 in three overs against the Isle of Man – the first T20I five-for from her country.

Sweden’s recent improvement has also helped them to find a place in ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Europe qualifier for the first time, in Jersey in May and June 2023.

While still on World Cup qualifiers, Brazilian Laura Cardoso was just 16 when she was asked to defend three in the last over against Canada in the 2021 ICC Women’s World T20 Americas Region Qualifier. Cardoso conceded a solitary run as Canada lost five wickets in five balls, two of them run out.

Unfortunately, the match did not have a proper broadcast, and Cardoso’s feat was forgotten. A couple of years later, she had her big moment when she dismissed Falcons’ Danni Wyatt and Chamari Athapaththu, turning the match for the Barmy Army.

When Cardoso dismissed Wyatt, Brazil captain Roberta Moretti Avery ran in with tears to hug Cardoso. The emotions indicated how much the moment meant to them.

Though Cricket Brazil awarded central contracts to female players before the men, professional cricket is still young in the country. Even the major games are not always streamed or broadcast. Fairbreak provides the youngsters back home an opportunity to watch the likes of Avery and Cardoso.

After all, Avery took up the sport seriously only after watching and training alongside Charlotte Edwards and Bates in 2017 after being called up by a North American organisation.