On this International Women's Day, we celebrate some of the many inspirational women creating change in cricket.
Dharmika Patel
I work full time in customer service but in my spare time I play cricket.
I volunteered first to see how much I would enjoy giving back to the community. After a little while Leicestershire County Cricket Club approached me to see if I would like to take the next steps into cricket and become a qualified cricket coach.
I’m now a level 2 qualified cricket coach for Leicestershire County Cricket Club and work on the Chance to Shine-street girls programme, running sessions on a Sunday.
I know there’s a lot of children out there who don’t get the opportunity, so I thought if I can make that change, then why not help make it happen?
South Asians are an important audience for cricket. With me being a female coach, I believe it brings more women into the game.
From a cultural perspective, some people will only take part if it is women only.
I got into cricket by playing in the Street Starz indoor league, which has been running for five years and organised by Leicestershire County Cricket Club.
It’s soft ball cricket throughout the winter – one of my friends first organised it and suggested we go along. My sister came along too – she loves it so much she has gone on to play outdoor cricket as well.
I’m sticking with the winter league; this is my fifth season and I’ll be captain this year. We play at Madani High School and every week we have a team of eight, ranging from teenagers to mums. I am an all-rounder, but I enjoy bowling most of all.
With me it’s about encouraging more people to play and meeting new people. I really like to be a part of the community that goes along with it.
I’ve recently got my mum to come down, now she’s playing in the league with us. We have now entered Street Starz into the East Midlands Women’s Cricket League which will be playing Super 8s and Soft ball. This is thanks to Leicestershire County Cricket Club supporting the women in making this move into league cricket
Not everyone is a great cricketer, but they want to take part and better themselves. That’s what it’s all about for me. We want more women to play cricket.
I enjoy Bolly Cric-Hit, which is 45-minutes of bhangra fitness, followed by soft ball cricket. I go every week.
Last summer we took a team from Leicester and represented England in the Criiio Cup in Trafalgar Square, organised by the ICC. It was a brilliant day and an amazing crowd.
We were learning new forms of cricket from different countries and playing in mixed teams. There was a huge variety of people there – we even tried Brazilian cricket, with four players a side.
I think International Women’s Day helps us recognise what is going on around us in society and our community, while creating equal opportunities for women.
I feel we are getting there slowly with women’s cricket. I see it as an encouraging environment, with more people bringing their family members and friends down to share the fun.
Lisa Conners
If you bring cricket to families, you get the mums too – like me.
You’ll find me in my kit most of the time. I’m a cabbie so I drive during the day. I get home, make the tea, then we all get changed and go back out to cricket. It’s like that pretty much all week.
I came out of a bad relationship and was starting my life again. I never thought I’d like cricket, but I found a love of it.
My first connection with it came at Newton Aycliffe Cricket Club three years ago through the All Stars programme.
Back then, I didn’t have any confidence, I used to sit in a bubble and watch the kids. It started from there.
Cricket has become my family, my community.
I have four children in my house, eight to 18 (two younger boys, two older girls) and we all love it.
In a short time, we’ve turned into a proper cricket family. With the age gap, it has given us common ground – we talk about cricket a lot.
I owe Adam Gittins at Newton Aycliffe CC a big thanks for his encouragement. I started as a parent helper, then an All Stars activator, now as a Foundation One qualified coach.
This year we’ve just started a women’s section at the club. There wasn’t any cricket for my older girls, so I said: “I’ll create something.”
I’m now the club’s development officer for the women’s section and with the help of Tina Greaves, we’ve built it from scratch.
We’re already getting 20 players each week – they’re itching to get into some tournaments.
I’ve never seen another sport that builds teams and communities like cricket.
It’s brought my whole family together. My daughter Alex is now a qualified coach and she received an award from Durham last year for it. She’s also involved with Chance to Shine in schools. My boys, Jack and Jake play and my daughter Chloe is also now the club photographer!
Me and the kids love a day out at the Emirates Riverside at Durham to watch the Vitality Blast.
We’ve also been to Headingley last summer to watch England vs Pakistan in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup – my son won the experience as part of All Stars.
We’re looking forward to heading back to see the Northern Superchargers in The Hundred this summer. Jake likes the shorter formats, so it should be perfect.
2020 is my fourth year of cricket. I remember thinking what a welcoming sport it was when my son Jack went out to bat for the Under-11s – his first ever hard ball match. He didn’t hit a ball and he was gutted.
At the end, everyone lined up to shake his hand and that enhanced my view of the game. He’s made some amazing friends at Newton Aycliffe CC.
My plan from here is to do my Level 2 coaching and develop a girls team at each age group. If I can get 100 women and girls playing next year my daughter says, I’ll be ‘bossing it’.
Tameena Hussein
Coming from a South Asian background, cricket is in your blood. India against Pakistan is always a tense fixture!
I’ve always loved sport and cricket is one of my favourite activities. I live in Maidenhead and six years ago during a netball training session, I decided that I wanted to do something for myself as well as give ladies another avenue to be active.
My town had no ladies’ cricket team so after a phone call to a cricket club chair, things just snowballed, and I’ve been involved ever since.
I’m big on women’s empowerment so have always encouraged ladies and provided spaces to be able to play sport in a safe and welcoming environment.
Cricket just happens to be a sport that unites many, in particular, those from a South Asian background.
Back then the ladies’ game was growing but since England won the ICC Women’s World Cup in 2017, the interest has been phenomenal. There has been a huge increase in numbers, locally and nationally.
Towns and clubs around me are setting up women’s and girls’ teams and I often get drafted in to offer guidance.
I’ve also seen a shift in schools across Berkshire where cricket is overtaking rounders on the curriculum and it is a joy to work with my alma mater to provide opportunities.
I get many parents of girls from a similar background to me bringing their daughters along, as it helps to see someone similar to them at the helm.
Traditionally, sport has not been a priority in their culture so being a role model and educating them on the benefits of sport is key to getting their daughters involved.
My club, Maidenhead & Bray now has a ladies’ team with a squad of 22 but it’s not always easy to maintain those numbers.
At one point when I took a brief respite from managing it, we were down to just eight players so rebuilding was paramount. I think my passion and a commitment to see the team succeed drove me to keep it going.
I see more and more women getting their daughters into cricket through playing and coaching and it’s amazing to see.
I work full time in the ECB IT department at Lord’s so every spare minute, until recently, has been spent on cricket. This year, I’ve handed over the reins for a while, but am playing an advisory role.
As for International Women’s Day, I’ll be at WOW (Women of the World) Festival and attending the CARE International #March4Women rally on Sunday.
Lauren Crozier
Cricket has this amazing potential to be a game for all.
I can clearly see the challenges, but we are not at a standing start in addressing them.
It’s been great to work with so many people who are behind the ambition to transform the women’s and girls’ game.
Six months into my role as ECB Head of Female Participation, no two days have been the same.
I’m out trying to meet different people from the game at club visits and with regional teams. I’m also constantly on the lookout where we can learn from other industries.
I feel incredibly lucky to work in sport and I want everybody to discover a relationship with it, preferably cricket.
For me, the Transforming Women’s & Girls’ Action Plan is my bible. Changing perceptions, building an inclusive club network and getting our cricket offers right.
It’s spot on and it makes it absolutely clear what we need to deliver. The five ‘P’s from Participation up to Performance.
By 2024, I want to see cricket completely normalised for women and girls. So when you ask a young girl in the playground if they think they can play cricket they respond with the same certainty that boys do.
My role, leading the charge for female participation shouldn’t ultimately exist. We need to get to 50:50.
On International Women’s Day, I would typically be at a seminar, or hitting the gym to feel positive.
This year I’d encourage everyone to listen to Squiggly Careers podcast special series, discussing everything from period poverty to gender in the media and why equality isn’t a women’s issue. I think the day is a great platform to raise and talk about important issues.