By Graham Hardcastle, ECB Reporters Network
What is the cricketing equivalent of Joga Bonito, the Portuguese translation for ‘The Beautiful Game’, once coined by Brazilian footballing legend Pele? Well, you might want to ask a group of Lancashire Women’s players who have just returned from a coaching trip to South America.
Red Rose captain Ellie Threlkeld, Phoebe Graham, Fi Morris and Tara Norris have just spent five weeks in Brazil and Argentina coaching the two women’s national cricket teams.
It was a trip through October and into November aimed at growing the game and made possible by the sponsorship of Manchester-based tour company Inspire Sport.
“Tara was the brains behind it,” all-rounder Morris said. “She was born in the USA and plays for them in Associate Nations T20 and 50-over matches. So she got to know the head coaches of Brazil and Argentina fairly well when they played against them last year.
“She had this idea and pitched it to us in January. We said, ‘Yeah, yeah, that sounds amazing’ thinking that it would never come about. But it did. Herself and Phoebe put it all together, and they did an incredible job.”
Brazil are the only cricket-playing nation with a female team who are professional but not with a pro men’s team. In that sense, they are ahead of Argentina.
Brazil’s president and coach is Matt Featherstone, who once scored a century for Kent Cricket Board in the NatWest Trophy.
Fast bowler Norris has since been in Australia at the Big Bash, where her Melbourne Renegades won the final at the weekend, and with Lancashire back in training at Emirates Old Trafford, it was over to Morris and Threlkeld to reflect on an important and rewarding trip.
“We spent five weeks out there in total between us,” said Morris. “Tara and Phoebe did part of it and myself and Ellie the other part of it. We split our time in Brazil first and then Argentina, and it was absolutely incredible – amazing.
“Matt, who used to play down at Kent and moved over to Brazil a few years ago, wants to promote cricket out there. They’re fully professional and have an incredible facility in a place called Pocos de Caldas.
“They pay for a lot of the girls to go through university. They don’t have a professional domestic structure, but they train and play as a professional national team.
“Our job as a four - we cover all bases, spin bowling, batting, pace and keeping - was essentially to be female role models and show them what it’s like from our point of view to be a pro cricketer.
“Onto Argentina, they don’t have a pro set-up but some really brilliant talent coming through. They don’t have a lot of female coaches. So our job was to be that for them and impart some knowledge. With both countries, they’re at different stages of their development.
“The passion they have was incredible to see, and it’s made a difference coming back here. It makes you realise that we’re so lucky to do what we do for a living.”
Morris continued: “We went to some schools in Argentina, and they’re teaching cricket as part of their curriculum, which is great to see considering football and rugby are massive. To play a small part in trying to grow that more was incredible.”
All four players have done varying degrees of coaching in the past, and developing that side of their cricketing journey was important for them.
Wicketkeeper-batter Threlkeld said: “We tried to make a difference away from coaching as well. Fi runs her own business, The Throwing Academy, and I’ve got a bit of a sports psychology background. We also tried to deliver sessions like that.”
Exploring their Argentinian base of Buenos Aires, going to the Iguazu Falls and also to Sao Paolo in Brazil were downtime excursions.
But Threlkeld said: “We coached most days. We had a couple of days off at the back end, but other than that we were working pretty hard.
“We managed to work with a range of different players, from the senior teams to the Under 19s, Under 15s. We also did some school stuff and community days where we worked with some under privileged children. We took some kit out there and distributed it.
“We reached a lot of people whilst we were out there and made an impact. It was very rewarding in that sense.
“It was incredible from start to finish. Amazing place, amazing people, and the coaching the same. I never thought cricket would take me to South America, but I’m really glad it did. It’s mental.”
Morris agreed: “There were quite a few pinch me moments when we there.”
Now the trip has finished and the dust has settled, thoughts have turned to how the players and Lancashire as a club can further impact the development of the game in South America.
“We have spoken a lot about leaving a legacy and making sure it’s not just a five-week trip,” added Morris.
“There were definitely a couple of the Brazilian girls who I thought they could come over here and train with us. Maybe a couple of the Argentinian girls as well.
“You feel like they have the talent, but perhaps not the training and coaching to back it up. That’s something they’re trying to change.”
Lancashire Women’s director of cricket David Thorley added: “For us, trips like this are really important for a number of reasons.
“For a player, personal development is crucial. We typically talk about the triangle of the cricketer, the athlete and the person, and the person is incredibly important.
“The girls have come back energised, talking about a different mindset around the game. They were coaching girls who were less experienced than them, and it’s given them a different perspective.
“As a county, we want the game to grow around the world, and we’ll do all we can to help that. We want to see high quality World Cups and more teams coming in and making an impact.
“We work closely with Cricket Scotland as things stand and have four of their players (Olivia Bell, Darcey Carter, Ailsa Lister and Hannah Rainey). And we work closely with the UAE women’s team. When we go out to Dubai, we play against them.
“Mahika Gaur has obviously come through their system. There’s some real quality out there.”