Having worked within cricket for more than five years and represented England at the Indoor Cricket World Cup level, I have a real passion for the game. Thanks to working for Worcestershire Cricket Board to now being the Women and Girls’ Manager for the Warwickshire Cricket Foundation, I’ve been able to champion women and girls' cricket by developing female participation in the community especially in areas of diverse demographics and socio-economic deprivation.
When I was appointed as Co-Chair of the Women in Cricket Employee Network (WCEN), my ambition was for the group to set the groundwork to enable a strong network of women and allies across the game, improve understanding across the game on challenges faced by women and provide platforms for women’s voices to be heard. Even though there is more we can do, looking back over the last year I feel proud of what our committee has achieved.
Improving on 2023
We were determined to build on an incredibly successful first year. Following feedback from across the network, we focused on enhancing our communication platforms, increasing networking opportunities and providing more tailored and expert learning and insight around topics that impact women and allies across the network.
International Women’s Day (IWD) goes from strength to strength
The second year of the WCEN on IWD supercharged impactful conversations on equity in cricket. With the support of the network, 33 counties across the UK hosted inspiring events, showcasing the UN IWD theme - Invest in Women: Accelerate Progress – a 40% increase on the number of counties who took part in 2023. We organised four large-scale expert panel events, including one which featured Laura Cordingley, CEO for Chance to Shine, Danielle Lee, Director of Brand and Marketing for Metro Bank, Arfan Akram, Operations Manager, for East London Cricket, and Viv Brown, Senior Head of Club Services for Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), which took place at Lord’s. There were also large-scale events at Edgbaston, Old Trafford and Headingley.
New-look committee
Following the launch of the network’s newsletter at the start of 2023, we were also delighted to welcome two new committee members: Anna Spencer, from Yorkshire County Cricket Club (YCCC) and the England and Wales Cricket Board’s (ECB) Claire Bolton to the committee in May.
Anna started a career in cricket with Kent CCC in 2016, where she progressed up the ranks to Venue Operations Director and is now enjoying life back up in her home county working as a Venue Operations Manager. Claire’s career in cricket started out at Surrey Cricket Foundation and she has progressed into a Safety in Cricket Officer for ECB and oversees the application of evidence and research from the game into policies and practices to enhance the physical safety of players at all levels of cricket.
Influencing the future of the women’s game
Previously we joined forces with a wide range of cricket organisations, equality experts, charities and individuals, to support ECB on how best to shape the women’s domestic cricket structure. We want women’s cricket to be best-in-class across the sporting sphere and we were delighted in April when the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) announced the ambitious plans as part of the major restructure of the domestic game from 2025. It’s going to be an exciting season ahead!
Networking while enjoying the cricket
We organised two networking events, including one hosted by Yorkshire County Cricket Club (YCCC) during the Hundred at Headingley. Myself and Co-Host Ruth Turner, fellow Committee Member and Head of Comms, Media and PR for YCCC, welcomed more than 30 people from across the network, with guests enjoying hospitality during Superchargers vs London Spirit.
As part of the event there was an inciteful panel talk, with guests including: former England Cricketer and YCCC President Dr Jane Powell, Kirsty Bashforth, Chair Northern Superchargers and Charlotte Swift, Sport Radio Producer and Presenter for the BBC. Seeing all the special guests speak so passionately about equity for women, and receiving the fantastic feedback from attendees was a highlight of the Summer.
Vital campaigns and learning opportunities
The network also worked with the fantastic Eve Appeal - the leading UK national charity funding research and raising awareness into gynecological cancers. Together we launched an online awareness lunch and learn session at the beginning of the year, which was attended by more than 40 people.
We supported Charlotte Schreurs, ECB Marketing Manager, who bravely led the campaign 'Open Justice for All' for victims of sexual and domestic abuse and assault to have more control and access to information at their court hearings. We also worked with Charlotte and provided a learning session on domestic abuse awareness training across the network.
We also help support a webinar on World Menopause Day, (18th October) on “Why Menopause Matters,” which was attended by more than 50 people across the network. The webinar touched on what it means to people living with the Menopause, day-today, symptoms - both mental and physical, and advice on how you can you support those going through the Menopause at home and work.
It was fantastic that we could work in partnership with such incredible organisations and individuals to highlight such vital topics.
Celebrating Women in Cricket
Following on from the hugely successful launch of the network’s recognition awards in 2023, as a network we have made this year’s awards even bigger and better. For 2024 the awards see the introduction of nominations for allies.
Thank you to all those who nominated and we’re looking forward to revealing the winners very soon.
There is still much to do, but thanks to more progress in 2024 we are confident we can have even more of an impact this year and we are committed to playing our part in ensuring that cricket becomes the most inclusive sport.
To get involved and hear more from the Women in Cricket Network, you can join our mailing list by emailing WomeninCricket@ecb.co.uk and/or subscribe here.