My first experience of cricket was in primary school, playing KwikCricket - I remember being selected for the team as the only girl. We made it to the Yorkshire finals, visited a supermarket's headquarters, and I was bowled out by Graeme Swann. Cricket then disappeared from my life for a while; my local club didn't offer it, so football took over.
It came back at university, where my housemates lived and breathed cricket (going on to represent England!). Watching them on Wednesday afternoons, something clicked. Cricket wasn't just standing in a field for hours - it was friendships, community, and some of the best people I've ever met. I'll forever be grateful to them for bringing it back into my life.
That's what eventually drew me into a career at Yorkshire Cricket Foundation, first as Head of Women & Girls, and now as Head of Delivery & Development. Working in the game inspired me to get involved as a player too, and I now play both softball and hardball at Lepton Highlanders CC, where I also sit on the committee.
My proudest working achievement has been developing Roses Cricket, Powered by Dynamos - a girls-only programme for Under 11s that saw over 70 clubs across Yorkshire get involved in 2025, and winning the Business of Cricket Award for Recreational and Community Initiative of the Year.
Cricket is now a part of me, with all my family actively involved at the club. To every girl having her first taste of cricket, whether in school, the park, a cricket club, or the back garden - no matter who you are or where you've come from, cricket has a place for you.