Women's Cricket Round Up - September 2007

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ECB's Executive Director for Women's Cricket, Gill McConway, writes her final exclusive column for ecb.co.uk before she signs off and enjoys a well-earned retirement in New Zealand.

What a shocker of a season! September is nearly over and the last of the official fixtures have been played but sadly, the season will be remembered more for the amount of play lost to rain than anything else. On average, most competitions suffered a 50 to 60% loss of play due to the weather.

I feel very sorry for the volunteers, parents and coaches. They invested so much time, effort and expense in the various cricketing events only to see their efforts wasted as the rain came down.

Congratulations to everyone for persevering and ensuring that when the sun did shine, everyone had the opportunity to play. The players proved how resilient they are. In spite of the disruptions, those who went on to play in club finals, county matches and various representative matches, produced some impressive performances.

Congratulations also to the clubs that have won their various leagues and especially to Hayes Hurricanes, Portsmouth Community and City of Leeds who have gained promotion into the National Premier League. The leagues will consist of eight teams each for 2008.

The 2007 National Development KO Cup winner was Hayes Hurricanes who played Derby in the finals held at Loughborough.

The Lady Taverners National U13 and U15’s clubs had a heartbreaking start to their season when the rain destroyed the regional finals and made it certain that not a ball was bowled in the finals. Thanks to Pauline Peel, a venue was found and she did all the administration to ensure a re-arranged final could take place. Nonnington and Harold Wood ended up victorious on a glorious day at Loughborough on September 15.

Taunton - The Home of Women’s Cricket - was used for the first time to host the three divisions of County Championships and certainly did women’s cricket proud.

At all the venues, the ground staff worked tirelessly to ensure matches were played. On the first day, the County Ground came to the rescue when Taunton Dean was declared unplayable for the entire tournament.

Taunton School and Queen’s School did likewise for the remaining two days, during which time we saw some good competitive cricket. We were looking forward to a crucial final day but yet again, the rain had the last say. Many matches were important deciders for the promotion and relegation.

Congratulations to Kent for winning the championship for the second consecutive year.

Berkshire went on to win Division 2 and gain promotion to Division 1. The County has worked hard on their Club development and on their county sides and thoroughly deserve the promotion.

Warwickshire made good use of their imported player and secured promotion to Division 2 having only gained promotion into Division 3 in 2006.

Taunton will host the Championships again next year but a new venue will replace Taunton Dean. Taunton Vale will provide affordable lunches and a friendly face next year which will relieve the problem of lunch walks to Taunton School.

The possibility of hosting a County Dinner is being explored for the second night of the tournament. Queens’s School will have accommodation available for 2008. Contact Lisa Drummond for details.

The new selectors were hugely impressed with the standard of all levels of cricket this year, in particular the County Age Group Squads. This resulted in the standard of the Junior Super 4’s being higher than ever before.

Unlike the Senior Division 1 and Division 2 who only lost their last match of the session to rain, much of the Junior County competition was weather affected. However, the sun shone brightly as the finalists battled it out in Taunton on September 8th.

The County Ground looked a great spectacle with each edge of the square being used for the U15 and U13’s final while Taunton Vale staged the U17’s final. Kent went home as deserving winners of both the U13 and U17 competition beating Wales and Staffordshire respectively. Warwickshire was on another winning streak beating Essex in the U15s final.

The Challenge Cup was fiercely contended by Derbyshire, Essex, Hampshire and Northamptonshire with the final rounds once again played in Taunton. Derbyshire, who have worked tirelessly all year with both club and county development, won promotion into the full Championship for 2008.

England started the season with a loud roar beating the Kiwis in the first two Twenty20 matches at Bath, which proved to be a popular and successful venue. The Club must be congratulated on their commitment to stage these international matches. They could not be faulted in any way and I only hope the ICC makes provision in their regulations for a ground like this to be used again.

England lost their captain and world-class bat Charlotte Edwards for the following two matches and also lost their winning streak, suffering defeats in the first three ODIs.

However a real gutsy and determined side fought back under Charlotte’s leadership winning the final two matches convincingly to record a 3 – 2 series defeat in the ODIs but a 2 – 1 series victory in the Twenty20s.

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Clare Taylor was the most successful bat, scoring 205 runs at an average of 40. Jenny Gunn took the most wickets, bagging nine for an average of 28.8, with best figures of 4-27.

Isa Guha always comes up on the record books. She had the best average of the England bowlers -13.85 - taking seven wickets and her best figures were a mean 4-11.

The England girls are all keen to go down-under this winter and prove just how good they are. Mark Dobson, England’s new coach, has made an outstanding impact on the side. He chose Vince Wells as his Assistant Coach and what a team they are.

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Our physio Sue Hughes, who rarely gets a mention, worked tirelessly behind the scenes to make sure the players were able to take the field as fit as possible and new manager Jane Morris added to the strength of the management team with her wit and humour allowing the girls to relax and enjoy themselves when appropriate while ensuring that everything was in place for the serious times of the tour.

I am in great favour of our English cricketers going to other countries to play cricket in our winter season and believe that if used wisely, the overseas players who come to England are a huge benefit to our own cricket.

Counties and Clubs should utilize their overseas players in helping develop cricket in their area. I am pleased to say that on most occasions this happens. If any county is interesting in giving a South African player an opportunity to play cricket next summer, please contact Amy Connolly on judgeamy@netactive.co.za. Amy will give you a CV and full details on the player concerned.

We have built some good partnerships this year. The relationship with ‘Chance to shine’ is going from strength to strength. Some of the England players were involved in the ‘Chance to shine’ Road Shows in a number of schools this summer.

This has certainly raised the profile of women and girl’s cricket. The praise I have received from the organisers about the enthusiasm and way in which the England players went about delivering these programmes deserves a special mention.

A number of the players also got involved with MCC’s Spirit of Cricket projects in schools. The girls have been great ambassadors for cricket and events like these are so important in helping with the promotion of the game.

Elite Coach Development Manager Gordon Lord and Community Coach Education Manager Tim Lumb have been very supportive of women’s cricket. Our England and Academy Squad players have been offered fast track coaching opportunities.

Ten coaches working in the women’s game have recently gone on an intensive two days Advanced Coaching Skills programme. Coach Education is very keen to encourage more females to gain qualifications.

The EIS has given tremendous support to our England Lottery Funded players again this year. Their work contributes hugely to the success of our player’s fitness and agility in the field.

The selectors have a tough job this winter selecting the squad to tour down-under. They will have firmly in their minds who they will be considering for the all important final World Cup Squad next year.

This tour may give some youngsters a taste of the conditions in the southern hemisphere. The timing of the tour is ideal for the preparation for England bid to win the World Cup in 2009. The team depart on January 21 to train and acclimatize in Melbourne before their first Twenty20 match.

The five ODIs will be played on February 3-4 in Melbourne, February 7 at Drummoyne Oval and February 10-11 at the Sydney Cricket Ground. The Ashes will be decided on just one Test which is very disappointing. This is due to start at Bowral on February 15.

The team depart for Christchurh on February 20. The squad will need to be fighting fit for the whirlwind series consisting of 5 ODIs between February 24 and March 3.

What’s in store for next season? The proposed 2008 summer international series which will not be confirmed for some time will be against South Africa in early August with a match at Lord’s on August 8.

Lord’s have guaranteed a women’s fixture every year from 2008. Keith Bradshaw, MCC’s Chief Executive is a great supporter of women’s cricket and this commitment is certainly welcomed.

In the planning process is a Twenty20 fixture to be staged at Durham immediately after the South Africa v England Men’s International. If the logistics can be sorted by Sky and other commercial partners, this will be one of the most significant moments in Women’s cricket. To have a full house at Durham watching women’s cricket will beat any publicity we could ever dream of achieving at present. My biggest disappointment will be not being there to soak in the atmosphere and occasion. After a short break the Indian team will be invited for a five match ODI series.

For me, the day of reckoning for Women’s Cricket will be the day we play the World Cup Twenty20 alongside the men’s World Cup which is scheduled for early summer 2009. A feasibility plan is being worked on at present and I have my fingers, toes, legs and arms crossed that the plan comes to fruition. Never will women’s cricket worldwide have such a great opportunity to promote the game to cricket fans around the world.

This is my last Round Up before I head off to NZ to retire and find new adventures.

I consider myself as one of the most fortunate females in cricket. I have played cricket to International level and was proud to be the 100th woman to be selected to play for England.

I was fortunate enough to be in an era where a lot of cricket was played before the ECB made sure women’s cricket had a home and away series every year. In 1984/5 I toured with the England squad for a three month tour of Australia. We had home series in 1984 against NZ, 1986 against India and my final series was against Australia in 1987 where I was lucky enough to play on the hallowed turf at Lords.

I was then invited to select for Middlesex and finally select for England. After we won the World Cup in 1993, I decided to take time away from cricket and finally came back into the game in November 2000 immediately prior to the team leaving for NZ and the World Cup.

Our cricket was not at its’ best and there was much to do. With a fantastic team around me, much was done to get the game back into shape. I think one of the most significant things I did was to introduce Super 4’s.

Thanks to the player’s application and the dedication of the coaches, this has proved invaluable. Youngsters have been able to be fast tracked into Academy and England Squads having been given the opportunity to compete against the 48 best players in the country.

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Isa Guha and Jenny Gunn are two members in the England team who were able to take advantage of this and as a result, began their international careers while still at school. The more recent junior players to rise to international stardom are Holly Colvin and Sarah Taylor who are now rated as world-class. It has enabled selection to be very transparent and greatly assisted the selectors.

Many other activities have been introduced and many changes have taken place. Some popular and others not! There is now a clear pathway for youngsters to progress from school, club and county into Junior and Senior Super 4s and into International representative cricket. The standard rises every year thanks to everyone’s efforts, paid and unpaid.

I had the great honour of being the European Representative on the first ICC Women’s Development Committee. It has been one of the most rewarding and effective committees I have ever had the privilege to sit on.

With members such as Catherine Campbell, Belinda Clark, Kerri Laing and Shubhangi Kulkarni, this group was never going to be anything but inspirational. Chaired by the experienced Betty Timmer, this fiery group took some looking after as we all had varied views. However, we always came to a joint conclusion after many a healthy debate. I will miss the team. As a result of being the ECC representative I became the first woman to sit on the ECC Board which ensured the link between the men’s and women’s game was forged.

One of my proud moments was when the Home of Women’s Cricket in Taunton was finally launched. Many discussions took place with Richard Gould, Somerset’s young and outgoing Chief Executive and the idea was fully supported by Giles Clarke, the recently appointed ECB Chairman.

I was absolutely delighted to be invited onto the Somerset County Cricket Club Committee. It is no accident that they have done so well this year or that women’s cricket has been given such a homely welcome at the ground.

It is a club that has a wonderful way of making people feel at home. They are one big team all working for each other. I am very proud to have been a part of Somerset and I will look on with great fondness at their success in developing their ground, which is set to be one of the most progressive and successful non-Test Match venues in the country.

I would like to thank all the staff involved in the women’s game at the ECB. The WRCMs work tirelessly in their regions, covering on average ten counties. This role is huge and at times, rather thankless.

Behind the scenes they have contributed so much. Lisa Drummond beavers away in the office year after year and has been one of the most loyal members of staff I have ever worked with. The parents have been amazing. Without their commitment to drive and support us, women’s cricket would not be where it is today.

There are so many volunteers I would like to name because I know that the work they have done in their county has made all the difference to the strength of the girl’s game in their area. But if I named some, I would miss out others who have also made significant contributions.

I hope Boards give their volunteers the recognition deserved. The selectors, in particular Patsy Lovell and Jan Godman, have also worked tirelessly to ensure that as many players as possible have been seen. They too have made many a journey to sit and watch the rain.
Most coaches are paid to coach but many must be classed as volunteers too as they do many hours over and above what they are paid for.

It is a fantastic team effort across the country to ensure girls and women’s cricket is vibrant and growing. Thank you all. It has been a great privilege working in women and girl’s cricket. I will look from afar and will have a keen eye on seeing how the youngsters of today develop to doubtless become world class stars of tomorrow.
Best wishes and good luck to the players who make the World Cup squad for 2009. I will be barracking for you.

I wish my successor the very best for the future. I am certain she will love every minute of it. What an exciting time to be involved in the development of the game.

Farewell everyone. Thanks for your support and friendship. It has been a wonderful time of my life.

Gill