ECB Coaches Association links Inspiring Generations | Page 22

TRANSFORM WOMEN’S AND GIRLS’ CRICKET TRANSFORM WOMEN’S AND GIRLS’ CRICKET We will drive cricket’s progress to becoming a truly gender-neutral sport Women and girls represent the biggest growth opportunity for cricket. Our vision is to make cricket a game that is truly gender-neutral, with women and girls being properly represented across the whole game. This means investing in the development of every level of the game – from girls experiencing cricket for the first time to heroes at the pinnacle of the elite game, alongside supporting female coaches, officials and administrators. We are fully committed to this long-term vision, and this strategy represents the next steps to achieving it. We will invest at least £20m into transforming women’s and girls’ cricket by the end of 2021, with an ambition to invest £50m during this strategic period. A detailed action plan for transforming women’s and girls’ cricket will be launched in 2019. “ 27 K 35 % There has never been a more exciting time for a young girl to come into cricket. England’s win in the 2017 ICC Women’s World Cup final created a huge surge of interest and this new strategy and investment will accelerate that further. a sell-out ICC Women’s World Cup final at Lord’s in July 2017 of women say there is no cricket available for them We will: Lisa Pagett Women & Girls Development Officer, Gloucestershire Cricket Board Thanks to the immense hard work and dedication over the last decade by Lisa Pagett of Gloucestershire Cricket Board, the south west of England has become one of the hotbeds of women’s and girls’ cricket, with growth in all areas of the game. As well as being the General Manager of Western Storm – who won the Kia Super League in 2017 – Lisa is a Level Four coach and her involvement with Gloucestershire extends from the senior county team through to the grassroots. I N S P I R I N G G E N E R AT I O N S fans attended 22. 17 % 22 of cricket’s adult recreational playing base is female female professional players (vs 120 in Australia) This means: Grow the base through participation and facilities investment Focusing investment on improving club facilities and creating welcoming environments in clubs will encourage recreational play amongst women and girls Launch centres of excellence and a new elite domestic structure There will be a greater focus on developing talented female cricketers within centres of excellence across the country, playing both T20 and 50-over formats Invest in girls’ county age group cricket More talented girls will have the opportunity to develop into elite cricketers Deliver a girls’ secondary school programme Girls in secondary school will be given more opportunity to play cricket in school beyond primary age 23.