Former England Women captain, England Women Head Coach and current ECB Advanced Support Coach Jane Powell reflects on her recent appointment as the first female president at Yorkshire CCC.
It’s been three or four weeks now, and I’m still in shock. Being president of Yorkshire is just something I never thought was open to women. There’s been 160 years of men being Yorkshire CCC president. And despite what’s gone on in recent years, Yorkshire is still one of the biggest clubs in the world. To have the honour of representing the club as president… well, I’m simultaneously overawed and excited.
I got a phone call out of the blue from interim chair Tanni Grey-Thompson. She asked if I’d be willing to stand and I had to take a deep breath. My heart was racing. I spoke again to Tanni only a few days ago and she still gets tearful about finally having the first female president. She’s blown away, and so am I. But now I’ve got a lanyard that says ‘President’ on it, it’s starting to sink in.
The maximum term is three years and in essence you’re the face of the club, welcoming dignitaries and guests in the President’s Room, speaking at different events, and then doing ceremonial roles in the community like coin tosses, trophy presentations and even the odd bit of umpiring. One of my early jobs is to speak to frontline NHS staff in Huddersfield. It’s an incredible privilege.
I’ve got copies of all the men’s, women’s, and disability fixtures. I’m aiming to get to at least one of each, so every player knows they’re important to the club. There’s an excitement about the role, but there’s also a serious responsibility. We have to learn from the things that have gone before us and take positive steps forward. I hope my appointment is one of those first steps. Sir Geoffrey Boycott retweeted me recently with a note saying ‘Congratulations and well deserved’. It’s lovely that people from past generations are saying nice things like that.
We’ve got to respect everyone and try to understand all people, and I’m thrilled to be given this chance to take Yorkshire forward from a few dark days. I want to raise the profile of the club and the sport, and really show that cricket is a game for everyone. Everyone should be included and will be included. There’ll be lots of fun days at Headingley and all of Yorkshire’s cricket clubs.
My dad was the person who got me into cricket. He wouldn’t have believed that I’m now president. He’d have been the proudest man in Yorkshire. Back in the 1970s, he was encouraging me to play cricket as a young girl. He was very progressive and it would have been lovely to have taken him up to the President’s Room.
When I was playing at the top level in the 1980s and 90s, I was a teacher alongside that. I had the honour of captaining England from 1988 to 1991. But even then, I would never have imagined life could have taken me to this point. Women weren’t even allowed to be MCC members until the 1990s, and now I’ve just been made an honorary life member. We’ve come a long, long way.
When I tell some of my stories, it seems like we were operating in the Dark Ages. I keep reminding people: this was in my lifetime. I’ve seen absolutely remarkable change in women’s and girls’ cricket. When I played, we had to pay for our own flights, blazers, the lot. Today, it’s completely different. And I want anybody to feel they’ve got the opportunity to play cricket and be successful.
Being president of Yorkshire gives me a privileged platform to try to continue to grow cricket for everyone in all its formats. I’m just a girl from Sheffield who’s used everything they’ve been given to the best of their ability. I’ll keep doing exactly the same in this role. I can’t wait to get started.