As triumphant homecomings by World Cup-winning teams go, it was pretty low key. There was no open-top bus parade, no Downing Street reception — just an air of understated satisfaction at a job well done as England’s women cricketers paraded the trophy at Lord’s cricket ground in London yesterday.
It was less than a decade ago that women were first admitted as members of the MCC at Lord’s and the ban on women in the pavilion was lifted. As victorious captain Charlotte Edwards posed with the trophy secured with victory over New Zealand on Sunday, she reflected on how far the sport had come and her hopes the win would act as a catalyst for further growth.
Edwards and her team will get the chance to show off in public next month in Taunton, southern England, where the women’s set up has its permanent base and the trophy will tour other county grounds as part of a campaign to further boost the women’s game.
PHOTO: AP
There were plenty of bleary eyes on show, but they were the result of an overnight flight back from Australia rather than any particularly raucous celebrations. ECB chairman Giles Clarke said that in contrast to their male Ashes winning counterparts four years ago, there were “no thousand-yard stares” the morning after.
Clarke, desperate for some good news after a winter dominated by criticism over links with Sir Allen Stanford and an under-performing men’s team, was also at the final and promised increased investment and profile for the women’s team.
The England team is the only one in the world that enjoys the benefits of semi-professional status, with several of their number — including captain Edwards — combining playing with coaching in schools under the ECB’s Chance to Shine scheme. The team has had a full-time head coach in Mark Lane since March last year.
Clare Connor, the ECB’s head of women’s cricket and a former England captain, said: “The opportunity this success has given us is huge and we have to have a clear plan about how we capitalize on that in terms of promotion.”
The team’s sponsorship deals are up at the end of this season and Clarke said it would seek separate sponsors for the women’s team that could invest in growing it.
Claire Taylor, who scored 324 runs in Australia and was named player of the tournament, said that it was important to make sure that clubs were ready for an influx of girls coming in at the bottom of the game.
UK Culture Secretary Andy Burnham, present at the Lord’s reception yesterday, said he hoped it would act as a “breakthrough moment” ahead of this summer’s ICC World Twenty20 in the UK, where the women’s semi-finals will take place alongside the men’s.
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