A NEW CHAPTER
When Lydia Greenway started to play cricket , she didn ’ t even know an elite England Women ’ s team existed !
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Now 31 , having retired from international cricket as a World Cup and World Twenty20 winner and a five – time Ashes winner , Lydia Greenway is looking to inspire the next generation of female cricketers .
Since her England retirement in June 2016 , the middle-order batter , known for her fielding , has been working on establishing Cricket for Girls . It is intended to offer relevant and appealing coaching to women and girls of all ages and abilities , from novices to talented players looking to take the next step .
‘ At the top of the pyramid we have the academies , which are aimed at club and county cricketers who just want to develop and improve their game – that would be a longer training programme over six to eight weeks , where they get specialist coaching ,’ she explains . ‘ As well as that , we have masterclasses with England players , open to all players of all ages and abilities . It ’ s an opportunity to come along and work with an England player , learn from them , and learn how they train . We have day camps , us going to clubs and running more of a fun day where there ’ s lots of skills , lots of games , and then a mini-World Cup in the afternoon for them to play in amongst themselves .’
As demand increases and Cricket for Girls grows , Greenway is fortunate that she can call on her former England teammates – Laura Marsh and Jenny Gunn were two of the first to come on – board .
‘ The young girls who might just be getting into the game for the first time , they might be players who want to go on and play for England themselves , so I think for them to be able to be coached by some of the England girls is really good ,’ says Greenway .
Marsh is pleased to be able to help out her old pal . ‘ I ’ m really glad I ’ ve got the opportunity to go down and help out and coach some of the young girls ,’ she says . ‘ It ’ s important , growing up , to have role models , and hopefully that ’ s the kind of role that us England players can have in academies like Lydia ’ s .’
Lydia feels incredibly strongly about ensuring that girls have role models to show them their dreams are achievable .
‘ I think it ’ s just brilliant for young girls growing up to have a coach and a female role model to look up to . I know that female cricket coaches are often few and far between , so I ’ m trying to provide more role models and make it much more accessible .’
Marsh agrees , adding : ‘ When we grew up playing cricket , we didn ’ t necessarily have female role models in the game to look up to , so the more we can do to get involved at grass – roots level and promote the game and inspire young kids , the better the game will be moving forward .
‘ Women ’ s sport as a whole in the last few years has done brilliantly . It ’ s great that the media have jumped on that as well and really got behind it . I think we definitely have a role to play in that , and if we can give back and help to coach , and inspire young girls not just through our performances but through coaching , then that ’ s really powerful too .’
Marsh thinks that female coaches can teach , inspire and support female players in a way that a male equivalent might not quite understand .
‘ There are differences in the game between men and women ’ s cricket ,’ she says , ‘ and I suppose being female players we
10 Hitting the Seam Issue 37