For more than a generation the presence of Black cricketers in English cricket, in both the professional county game and the recreational game was a given.
The influence of the Caribbean on the game across the board was huge and it made for a vibrant and diverse ecosystem that influenced those touched by it.
Sadly, a variety of factors contributed to the diminishing numbers of those playing the game at all levels, and that includes women’s cricket too.
When Chelsea Alagoa was growing up in Handsworth in Birmingham in the early 2000s, she had two strong cricketing influences in her life. Her grandfather, who would always have the cricket on in the house in the background and then the female cricketers at Handsworth CC who would play the game as capably as many of the men who also played at the club.
For Chelsea, an all-round sportswoman who loved her cricket, this was normal. Women playing the game in an athletic and physically impressive way that resonated with her.
“Handsworth CC was my local club and I used to walk through the park where they played all the time so I saw lots of cricket being played,” says Chelsea.
“So it was a club that felt familiar. Seeing dominoes being played, music going on and everybody interacting like family.
“My grandfather would always have the cricket on at home so I was interested, but it was the women who were so impressive to me.
“They played cricket in such a powerful and engaging way. They were hitting sixes all over the park, bowling fast and were really creative spinners. And I thought, I could do that too. That’s pretty cool.
“I wasn’t really seeing much women’s cricket on TV. There was a lot of men’s Test cricket, but T20 cricket hadn’t quite taken off yet for women as it has done now, so as a young Black teenage girl my role models came from the club.”
And yet after showing promise and joining the Warwickshire pathway, Chelsea was told she had to change clubs in order to play a higher quality of cricket, but the move to Walmley CC just didn’t work. She felt like a fish out of water and her love for the game started to wane.
Other sports such as athletics and eventually bobsleigh took over and she became an international athlete in her own right representing Great Britain at the latter.
“I was very conscious about how much I stood out at Walmley,” she remembers. “I had to be much more aware of who I am than I wanted to be. I just wanted to play cricket.”
Having left the game as a teenager, and spent time in other sports developing her coaching career, Chelsea is now back in cricket aiming to both help talented young Black girls in the Warwickshire pathway through ACE-funded projects, but also to develop women’s and girls’ cricket at hubs in Birmingham so there are more routes for them to come through.
The women that once inspired her are no longer playing the game at Handsworth CC so she is starting to develop another cohort of players to bring back that female energy and love for the game.
“I guess I took it for granted when I was younger,” she says. “I didn’t realise how special it was to see these women playing the game the way they did. It was so inspiring.
“I would like to see that again and, though it will take some time, it will happen.”
One of the projects Chelsea has been working on is ‘Blaze Her Trail.’ A transition programme where high-level female athletes in another sport, but with the physical attributes to become quick bowlers, are being developed with an eye on cricket’s return to the 2028 Olympics and beyond.
It has happened in lots of other sports where someone might not make the grade in their preferred discipline but then turn out to be world class in another.
And despite some initial resistance, Chelsea has a renewed confidence in the work that she is doing, based on sound knowledge, and that it can make a positive change.
“I am coming in with a fresh perspective in a game that is growing, especially in the women and girls’ side and I’m questioning the status quo,” she adds.
“Why are we still doing X or Y? Because we’ve always done it…I’m trying to challenge that, and ACE have allowed me the freedom to do things differently.
“I have invested heavily time wise and financially in furthering my education and my understanding of movement and athletic development, yet, like many people with imposter syndrome, I have questioned whether I am as knowledgeable as I think I am?
“At times throughout my career, I have felt really isolated and not respected. So being recognised as a changemaker and being celebrated for having that difference in thought and challenging the status quo, is reaffirming.”
Written by sports media consultant and journalist, Dean Wilson.
Photography by Tyra Mills.