Monthly Spotlight: Women's and Girls' Cricket - A Growing Game:

As part of an ongoing effort to shine a light on the incredible work that goes on behind the scenes at Leicestershire CCC, we are launching a new monthly spotlight feature to sing the praises of our unsung heroes.

And, as we collectively celebrate International Women’s Day, there isn’t an area of our club more pertinent to highlight than the Women and Girls’ game.

The game-wide effort to make cricket a gender-balanced sport both on and off the field continues to gather momentum year-on-year. At Leicestershire, the laser-focus on growing the Women and Girls’ game has never bore more fruit.

In a two-year period ripe with progress, there has been a 200% increase in clubs hosting women’s sections across Leicestershire, while there has been a 167% increase in girls’ sections across the county in the same timeframe.

In Leicestershire, there are now more opportunities to play cricket than ever before. The launch of ten new U12s softball and U16 hardball teams answered a long-term cry for an option to play girls only competitive cricket, something which is set to expand further in 2023. Encouragingly, there was also a 20% increase in the number of girls nominated to train for LCCC's pathway sides.

Such figures reflect the vast efforts committed by Mark Hudson and Heather Beattie, LCCC’s Cricket Development Officers for Women and Girls, both into the recreational game around the county and to Leicestershire’s Senior and Pathway sides.

At Leicestershire, 2022 was a record-shattering year for our Women and Girls. In May, the senior team enjoyed their first-ever appearance at Uptonsteel County Ground, a day that saw Stephen Franklin’s side emerge decorated in glory.

Taking on heavy favourites Northamptonshire in the showpiece event, LCCC Women chased down a target of 101 with seven balls to spare to become champions of their Vitality County T20 Finals Day group.

On the subject of T20 success, the U18s qualified for the ECB County T20 Finals Day in September after topping Group Two with seven wins from eight. The side’s dominance was best evidenced through the wicket-taking charts, with six members of the Foxes’ attack holding the top nine spots. A narrow six-run defeat to Middlesex ended the side’s hunt for silverware at the semi-final stage.

In a season of firsts, captain Katie Gunn (previously Winterton) became the inaugural Leicestershire Women’s player to receive the prestigious ‘Gold Fox’ county cap to mark a decade of outstanding service to the Club.

Gunn was presented with her cap, alongside a specially printed ‘Winterton 100’ LCCC shirt, by Head Coach Stephen Franklin to commemorate a century of appearances for the side during the team’s fixture at Hertfordshire in June.

Two months later, Prisha Thanawala and Leicestershire’s Under 15 Girls set records tumbling after posting 320 in their Royal London County One Day Cup fixture against Lincolnshire. The total was the largest ever by the side, and the 202-run win was the largest victory margin in the side’s history.

The record was spearheaded by an imperious unbeaten 206 from captain Thanawala, the highest individual score made by an U15 girl in LCCC’s history. The 15-year-old inspired the side from a perilous position at 73 for five, guiding them to 320 after just 39.3 overs, buoyed by a record-setting last-wicket stand of 106 with Caitlin Claasz, the team’s highest ever 11th-wicket partnership.

Such performances earned Prisha a place in The Blaze’s academy, alongside fellow Fox D’Nica Roff, while Lucy Weston has trained over the winter with the East Midlands outfit. Five Foxes have also been recognised for The Blaze’s Emerging Player Programme (EPP), with Flora Davies, Isla Williamson, Ellie Rowley, Sophie Lawrence and Reanna Patel all snapped up.

The Blaze will feature twice at Uptonsteel County Ground this year, while England Women will return for a seventh consecutive summer when they take on Sri Lanka in September, building on a record-breaking WODI attendance at Grace Road in 2022 “ a fantastic example of the growth in appetite for Women’s sport not just in Leicestershire, but in the country.

To round off a successful year and plan for further, sustained growth in 2023, the Club held our first ever Women’s and Girls’ workshop at the end of February. With 25 clubs in attendance, Leicestershire outlined their action plan to develop funding, facilities, recruitment, and coaching for the game in the years to come.

Ambitious plans have already been set out by LCCC, with more women’s and girls’ clubs, as well as more female coaches on national programmes all targeted for the coming year. Such growth would sustain the 19% increase in female-qualified foundation coaches in the county across the past 12 months.

That work will be partly facilitated by the introduction of two new Community Talent Champions, Nafeesa Katib and Deejay Thanki, who after the success of the programme on the Men’s side have joined the Club to identify and bring talented female players to Leicestershire.

It’s a move that demonstrates that giving equal access to cricket for girls is only the first step and that creating competitive opportunities to afford women a pathway from grassroots to elite-level cricket is a realistic ambition in Leicestershire and in the wider domestic structure.

“I took on this role because I wanted to make a difference by uncovering diamonds in Leicestershire, empower female cricket players by unleashing their potential and giving them the opportunity to play for the County and beyond,” says Deejay.

Wherever you look, Women’s and Girls’ cricket is on the rise. It’s an area of our game that has been omitted from the spotlight for too long, but one that is unquestionably shining brighter than ever before.