The change to see cricket's terminology change from 'batsman' to 'batter' is a positive move to ensure the game becomes accessible to all participants, says White Ferns all-rounder and commentator Frankie Mackay.
On Thursday (NZ time) the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), the custodians of the game's laws, decreed that the term 'batsman' be done away with, in order to see it replaced with the gender neutral 'batter'.
And with the rise in popularity of the women's game, Mackay says that the move will be another tool that sees the game become more accessible to new audiences.
"I know there are some people out there who have said it's a deterrent to playing, a barrier to playing," Mackay tells Newshub.
"For us, and the MCC as well, I think it's really awesome they've recognised there are barriers in place.
"If they can remove one of them and get more women - or however you identify - involved in cricket, that it is inclusive for everyone, that it is a safe space, to me is a real win.
"Looking at some of the research that's been done around it, the term batter has been used as far back as the 1800s.
"If anything we're actually going backwards slightly."
Mackay meanwhile, who also works as a commentator with Spark Sport, says that the change might just take some getting used to, ahead of New Zealand's upcoming international summer.
"'Batsman' was never a term that put me off, personally. It was never something that ever concerned me, it's how I'd been brought up, it's what naturally rolls off the tongue for me as well.
"It might take a little bit of getting used to from time to time."
