Leach enjoying captaincy challenge
Mon 22 Jun 2015
By Josh Wright
Leicestershire Women currently sit at the top of Division 3 of the ECB Women’s County Championship and are aiming for promotion this season.
The women’s senior side for Leicestershire are in fantastic form and are on 57 points, two ahead of second-placed Netherlands Women.
The one loss for the side this campaign was a marginal defeat against the Netherlands by only eight runs.
Harriet Leach, captain of Leicestershire Women’s side, hit 48 not out against Cheshire and 70 off 63 balls against Northamptonshire.
Harriet opens the batting for Leicestershire Women and has also taken two wickets in this promising start to the 2015 season.
She said: "So far we’ve had a really positive start and we are looking to get promoted. A big factor has been the change of management and coaches, we’ve had three wins from our first four matches and only one marginal loss so far.”
Over the past few years, more women and girls are beginning to take up cricket after playing it at school and local sides are now fielding dedicated women’s teams as well as junior sides too which can only add to the amount of players coming through.
Harriet spoke about the positives of having more women involved in the game: “Women’s cricket has definitely gained more media coverage and this will all help get more girls involved. Women’s cricket is growing and with more girls, there will be more talent and we can grow as a nation.
“I used to play for a club in Birmingham which had a first, second and development team. It’s great that we can get young girls training regularly as local clubs have junior sides now. I was the only girl training at Market Harborough with the lads but by the end there were two more girls in the junior side.
“I started playing cricket at the age of four and my family are obsessed with it. I remember wearing my brother’s pads that came up to my shoulders and playing in the net down at the end of our garden. The game has always been in our household.”
Harriet has taken over as captain this season and said: “I was daunted to start with. I have captained in the junior leagues but the coaches tend to do more.
"It’s a very exciting opportunity for me and it helps that I know all the girls really well. Being captain also makes the game a lot more interesting and I like the extra responsibility and the added weight on my shoulders.”
Leicestershire Women won by six wickets against Hertfordshire in their last match and the side’s next game is against Hampshire.
It was Women’s Sports Week recently with emphasis on the ‘This Girl Can’ campaign that was previously launched by Sport England.
The campaign is aimed at getting more women active in sport, and active women are using social media to bring more awareness by using the hashtag #ThisGirlCan
Using this campaign Leicestershire & Rutland Cricket, the governing body for recreational cricket in the county will be developing a number of offers for women and girls, whilst working closely with the current women’s club sides in the county. The aim will be to offer many different formats that suit the needs and experience levels of women and girls
If you would like to find out about opportunities to play cricket in the county, please contact Cricket Development Officer Tom Leonard (tom@leicestershirecricket.co.uk) or visit our website: http://www.leicestershirecricket.co.uk/women-girls/
