Ministers bowled over by Leicestershire Women's Cricket Boom
Nicky Morgan and Helen Grant announce that Carillon Cricket Club's women鈥檚 team will compete in the Women鈥檚 Midlands Premier League.
Minister for Women and Equalities Nicky Morgan and Sports Minister Helen Grant paid a special visit to Carillon Cricket Club today to announce that the club has formed a women鈥檚 team which will compete in the Women鈥檚 Midlands Premier League.
The Loughborough-based club, which has always welcomed female players, managed to guarantee a place in the league for the women鈥檚 team, following an increase in members.
Chairman of Loughborough Carillon Cricket Club, Andy Harland said: 鈥淭his is a great development for our club. We have a growing number of girls in our junior section and to give them a senior team to aspire to play for is something we are very enthusiastic about and should lead to a really sustainable future for women鈥檚 cricket. Loughborough Carillon is also the largest mixed hockey club in the county, so extending this to cricket is a very natural development for us.鈥�
The club has benefitted from investment from Sport England.
Sport England is investing 拢27.5 million between 2013-17 to get more people playing cricket regularly. This includes an investment of 拢20 million in the England and Wales Cricket Board. It is delivering a number of initiatives to support women cricketers and is also encouraging more disabled people to take up the game through the 鈥楬it the Top鈥� programme.
Women and Equalities Minister Nicky Morgan said: 鈥淐ongratulations to Loughborough Carillon Cricket Club on welcoming so many new women to their club and on joining the Women鈥檚 Midlands Premier League. It鈥檚 great to see grass roots cricket thriving. The This Girl Can campaign is having a galvanising effect on women all over the country. Watching it makes me want to pull on my trainers and get out there, which is just as well as I鈥檓 running the Loughborough half marathon in aid of Living Without Abuse in March.鈥�
This latest announcement follows a spectacular year for women鈥檚 cricket, with car manufacturer Kia signing a two-year sponsorship deal as the official car of England women鈥檚 cricket. This historic deal, secured in July 2014, represents the first ever standalone commercial arrangement for the England women鈥檚 team, making Kia the first ever official England women鈥檚 cricket partner.
It was also confirmed that this year, for the first time, Sky Sports will provide live television coverage of every ball in the seven match multi-format 2015 Women鈥檚 Ashes Series.
Minister for Sport Helen Grant said: 鈥淚 am delighted to hear that Carillon Cricket Club鈥檚 women鈥檚 team will now compete in the Leicestershire Premier Cricket League.
鈥淟oughborough Carillon has a long standing reputation as a supportive, community cricket club and this latest achievement is a further string to their bow.
鈥淎t a time when Sport England鈥檚 This Girl Can campaign is really capturing the imagination of the nation, what better example could we wish for than a new female cricket team entering the Premier Cricket League.鈥�
Adam Rigarlsford, Strategic Lead for Local Relationships at Sport England, said 鈥淚t鈥檚 great to see Carillon Cricket Club giving women鈥檚 sport in Loughborough a boost, and supporting This Girl Can. Sport England, Leicester-Shire & Rutland Sport and local sports clubs like Carillon are all working to make sure that women inspired by This Girl Can have the opportunities and support they need to get involved in sport. We鈥檙e excited about today鈥檚 announcement and delighted that Nicky Morgan MP and Helen Grant MP were able to be here in Loughborough to see the enthusiasm and excitement building around this campaign.鈥�