Women's Cricket Round-up - January 2007
© ECB
ECB's Executive Director for Women's Cricket, Gill McConway, is writing an exclusive regular column for ecb.co.uk – covering all the latest news from the women's cricket scene
2007 – An exciting year ahead
Each year women's and girls' cricket in England and Wales just gets bigger and better:
- The Ashes victory in 2005
- The 4 -0 whitewash against India last summer
- ECC Champions every year since 2002
- Record number of teams entering age group and senior county cricket every year since 2000
- Every year new leagues and new clubs starting up around the country
I am sure 2007 will be a year to remember.
In the middle and latter part of 2006, the Women’s Regional Cricket Managers worked closely with all County Boards on a new development initiative called IPP (Improvement Planning Process) and their individual Action Plans.
This has been great news for Girls’ and Women’s Cricket as the Boards have had to state where they are now in terms of development in this area and where they will be at the end of September. Their fee payments will relate to their achievements.
A number of counties are utilising the Chance to shine programme for development of girls’ cricket. This initiative means more girls will have an opportunity to get coaching at school and will have an exit route to a Chance to shine club ensuring a greater number of girls will become and stay club members.
Over 19,000 girls were introduced to cricket via the Chance to shine project in its inaugural year and with a further 100 clubs signed up this year we can expect these figures to at least double.
County cricket teams numbered just 61 in 2000. This year a record 117 teams will be entering across the three age groups and senior competitions.
Each year County Boards are putting more time and greater resources into developing their squads. Quality coaches are running winter squad training sessions for the girls and in addition this more and more County Academies are including girls.
Norfolk is setting a great example by having four girls on their County Academy for the first time this year.
The work by County Boards is making a difference. The England selectors found that the standard of play at all competitions they viewed last year from Lady Taverners club matches to Junior Super 4s, Development XI and England have all exceeded previous years.
The coaches working at the elite end of the game expressed their surprise at the impressive rise in standard of the Regional Winter Training Squad players this winter. Over 80 youngsters this year are reaping the benefits of this additional training.
We are fortunate to have coaches who are truly dedicated and deliver a quality programme over the six-month winter period.
The coaches are well led by Richard Bates, the head England coach, who sets the standards of not just coach commitment but also the work ethic expected of the players. Charlotte Dickenson has played a big role in the delivery of the Academy programme this winter and in addition to this there are five coaches who have allocated Academy players to work closely with throughout the winter, co-ordinating their programme on a local basis.
Richard has utilised all the resources possible to ensure our Lottery and Academy players have the expertise from some of the country’s best cricket specialist coaches and sports science practitioners.
I am really looking forward to the summer as we have even more additions to the fixtures programme.
The Lady Taverners’ indoor competition is already recording record numbers of entries and the Lady Taverners’ outdoor clubs tournament is likely to follow this pattern.
All county age-group leagues will play more matches in their divisions than in previous years. Scotland have been invited into the Challenge Cup County League to aid their development as it is important that we help Scotland, Ireland and other European countries to progress.
Since the first year the men played Twenty20, I have tried earnestly for a women’s match to be held immediately prior to or after a men’s domestic match. The attendance numbers are always so high at Twenty20 that I believe it is the right place to try and get a wider cricket audience to be more aware of, and supportive of, our women cricketers. Both Somerset CCC and Warwickshire CCC have agreed to stage a women’s Twenty20 immediately prior to one of their men’s televised T20 fixtures.
An England XI will be selected to play an England Invitation XI. The Taunton match will be on Sunday June 24 and Edgbaston Tuesday June 26. This will also give us the opportunity to promote the international series against New Zealand.
I have my fingers crossed for 2008 and am presently discussing the possibility of an international women’s T20 immediately before a men’s international. Watch this space!
South Africa are touring Holland in mid-July and I have used the opportunity to invite the team to stop over on their way home. Taunton will be used as a base to stage warm-up matches for NZ and England. SA will provide opposition for our very young and highly talented England A XI and will also compete in a friendly four-way T20 competition involving England and Academy Squad players and New Zealand.
For the first time the 2007, internationals will include a three-match Twenty20 series. The opening match on August 12 will be at Bath Cricket Club and, knowing how important it is to try and get the general public to support women’s cricket, I have invited the England Disabilities side to play in the morning before the women’s match. I hope this will be as successful for them as the Twenty20 in June will be for us.
The Home of Women’s Cricket – Taunton - will stage the two televised matches on August 16 and 17; the third Twenty20 and the first ODI. Stratford was a great success in 2005 when England beat Australia and we are hoping for the glorious sunny weather and 2000+ crowds again when we return for the second ODI.
Derby will host the third ODI - a day/nighter - before the teams head off to Blackpool for the first time in many years. Blackpool Cricket Club is staging two ODIs over the Bank Holiday weekend, on the Sunday and Monday, and Lancashire Cricket Board has already expressed their keenness to get involved and help promote these matches.
We are putting a great deal of faith in Shenley, returning again this year for the sixth and final ODI. I have ordered sunshine all day on August 30 and sincerely hope that the rain stays away this year.
Unfortunately, New Zealand do not support Test cricket and no Test matches will be played. I am pleased to see that Holland and Ireland are playing Test cricket for the first time in 2007.
Tickets for all international matches will be on sale from mid-May. There will be some great incentives for clubs to buy in bulk and win prizes. If you purchase in blocks of 10 you will get 10 free complimentary tickets. Plus if you are part of a club your club may win a prize such as a free coaching session by one of the England Squad, signed memorabilia and sports equipment.
On the day of the match your ticket number may be drawn out of a hat to receive a prize. The ticket holder will have to be there on the day to claim their prize.
Ticket sales will be advertised here on the ECB website from the beginning of May.
The Home of Women’s Cricket will have an abundance of matches in 2007. The final round of County Championships, the Challenge Cup and the Junior Super 4s will all be staged in Taunton. The Premier League Final and U15 and U13s will be held at the County Ground along with a S4s and County Championship match.
The domestic season will be brought to a close with the PR match against Old England Men’s XI at Bancroft School in Essex on September 16. Come along and watch the stars from the past play our women stars of today.
Finally it is time to wish England and the management team the best of luck and good fortune for their tour to India which starts in Chennai (Madras) on February 15. The four greats in the world of women’s cricket: England, India, New Zealand and Australia will meet head-to-head in a series where each team will play each other twice.
The final will take place on the March 5. Good luck girls, play well and enjoy yourselves!
I hope you are able to come and see our international players in full flight this summer. Our team has been rated the best fielding team in the world. The girls are tremendously fit and deserve to have a good crowd to cheer them on over the summer.
To view the full women’s Domestic Programme, see the file below:
2007 Women's Domestic Programme (44 KB)
