Women and Girls

The development of Women's and Girls' cricket is currently a key area of work for Wiltshire. At the end of the 2006 season Wiltshire was one of only five counties in the country that offered no form of girls' representative cricket and did not have a county Ladies' side entered in the County Championship. Obviously this is an area for drastic improvement and the Wiltshire Cricket Board aims to change this.

Next Steps

In September of 2006 all key partners were invited to a meeting to discuss proposals for the way forward in this area. The result of this meeting was key actions and a forward thinking plan to move Girls' and Ladies' Cricket forward. These plans fell into short term, mid term and long term.

Short Term - In 2007 to produce 5 District Under 13 Girls' Squads
  • Employ Community Coaches to work solely on the development of the Girls' game within schools
  • Run girls-only Kwik Cricket and Inter Cricket festivals
  • Set up 5 District 'Hub' Clubs, 1 in each distict, to run Girls' cricket
  • Organise a Girls District Under 13 Cricket Festival
  • To once again have a County Ladies Squad playing in the ECB Challenge Cup.
Mid Term - By 2009 to produce 5 District Under 11s, 13s and 15s Girls Squads
  • Employ further coaches to work within schools and providing the pathway back to the local Girls club
  • Highlight and support new volunteers into the Girls side of Cricket, new coaches and managers
  • To deliver female only Coach Education courses
  • Identify talent throughout the year and provide talented individuals the chance to receive high level coaching opportunities throughout the year.
  • To run County age group squads that play in friendly fixtures against neighbouring minor counties
Long Term - 2010 and into the future
  • To run County Age Group squads as a minimum at U11, U13 and U15.
  • Ensure there is a close link between the age group sides and the County Ladies section 

Due to the plans shown above and by working closely with the Regional Womens Development Manager, Andrew Wheeler, Wiltshire have been given a place in the ECB Ladies Challenge Cup. This has come as great news for the Wiltshire Cricket Board as the girls getting involved can see what they are working towards and have something to aim for.

We now have Girls' District cricket in place at Under 13 level and are going to be holding festivalsfor these teams during the 2007 season. Our community coaches are also working hard to promote girls' cricket within schools and have subsequently created enough interest for us to run girls-only Kwik Cricket festivals, as well as Lady Taverners indoor and outdoor competitions.