ECB Coaches Association links Hitting the Seam Issue 37 | Page 6

THE VIEW FROM
THE TOP
As the Director of England Women’s Cricket, few
can see the lay of the land like Clare Connor. As
she tells Martyn Kiel, it’s a sight worth taking in.
‘What we need to do
is do everything in our
power to promote and
create opportunities
for female coaches in
the game.’
6
Hitting the Seam Issue 37
‘The women’s game is
unrecognisable from 1993,’
begins Clare, recalling
women’s cricket in England
after the last home World Cup. 2005 with over 100 caps to her
name – followed by 10 years
leading England Women’s
Cricket, Clare’s is a voice worth
listening to.
‘We won the tournament, then
played virtually no cricket for two
years. So we had the huge high of
winning a home World Cup, then
no cricket to build on that, to
keep that team together and
performing at that level. So when she emphasises the
‘exciting momentum around the
profile of the game,’ or warns of
‘entrenched attitudes needing to
be changed,’ they can be
considered closer to facts than
opinions.
‘Compare that to the 2009
Women’s World Twenty20
semi-final England won, when we
chased down 164 in front of the
world’s media. Look at the
power-hitting ability shown in that
game, and the coverage it got.’ Take her view on the upcoming
World Cup: ‘It gives us more
opportunities to talk about the
women’s game, to talk to girls
and women with the new soft
ball project for example – a new
activity that we can hook on to
the World Cup, to normalise the
sport among women and girls.
With a nine-year international
career under her belt – ending in