Meg Lay and Jasmine Nicholls were part of the historic all-women's groundstaff team that prepared an Edgbaston pitch for a game in this year's Women's Ashes. Now, they want to help other women join the industry
Saturday 4 November 2023 10:41, UK
How often have you seen women groundstaff working at sports games in the UK?
Probably not that often.
Research commissioned by the Grounds Management Association in 2019 [Groundsmanship: Sport's Vital Profession] found that women account for just three per cent of the sport turf industry. The organisation has plans to conduct regular industry research but there currently is no date set for a follow-up to this report.
The figures are even more dire when we turn our attention to cricket.
There are currently only three women who work full-time at international cricket venues across the UK, and between 2019 and 2022 there were none.
The ECB does not hold centralised records for the entire cricket workforce because groundstaff are employees of the counties.
Sky Sports spoke to Meg Lay at Bristol and Jasmine Nicholls at Headingley who were both involved in the historic all-women's team that prepared the pitch at Edgbaston for England's T20 game against Australia in the Women's Ashes series earlier this year.
Lay was among the Wembley crowd that witnessed the Lionesses win the European Championships last year and unbeknownst to her she would also, in a separate sporting capacity, become a trailblazer.
When New Zealander Lay moved to Bristol in March 2022, she lived with two Western Storm players: Fran Wilson and Fi Morris.
"I thought I'd end up working in a bar or something, but Fran and Fi came home one day and said there was a real shortage of groundstaff at Gloucestershire, so I emailed them to see if I could help and I joined the following month."
"I went to a groundstaff conference and I was the only woman in the room amongst 120 people. I asked the head groundsman what was up with that, and he said: 'You're the only woman. That's it.'
"It can be a bit jarring. I couldn't believe it. With the growth of women's cricket, you would think there would be more women.
"I've worked in farming jobs where I have been the only woman and it's been a really tough experience where you're not taken seriously.
"When I came to Gloucestershire, I knew I was the only woman on the team and the first woman on the team. I said to myself I'd do it for a week and if it's not for me I'd leave - and I've never had a single issue. I couldn't have asked for a better team.
"I think there are so few women in the industry due to a lack of visibility and that is still a big issue. Every sports game I have ever been to, men were preparing the pitch. I have truly never seen a single other woman, and I think for a lot of young girls in particular, that is a daunting prospect to try and break into that sort of environment."
Inspired by the 35-woman team that prepared last year's Women's US Open golf major, the most there has been for a major championship, Lay hinted at a similar idea during an ECB 'Women in Cricket Network' meeting.
She reached out to regional pitch advisors asking for help to gather a team, eventually leading to the watershed moment in Women's Ashes history where the Edgbaston wicket was prepared by an all-women team.
Part of the historic team was Nicholls, 27, who hopes this can become a yearly tradition.
"Working at Edgbaston was very surreal and hopefully there were women and girls who saw it as something they could be doing. I hope we can continue doing the same more often," Nicholls said.
However, back at Headingley, she still faced sexism from spectators.
"During a rainy day at the Ashes we began removing the covers and someone shouted: 'Come on boys, get the covers off,' Nicholls remembered.
"I remember standing there disappointed. It's not just about educating people who work in cricket, but also the crowd and spectators. You're not always going to reach everyone but we can make ourselves more visible.
"The job title for being a groundstaff has always been 'groundsman' and that has been the biggest barrier. It's always referred to as a man's job.
"If you go to a sports game, you only ever see men groundstaff. There could be young girls at the side thinking they want to do that job but it's very male-dominated. That's the main barrier but things are changing. My title at Yorkshire is groundsperson now, too."
Sparking a conversation about Edgbaston was part of Lay's goal.
"We're an invisible industry," Lay said. "For it to become a news story was huge. It's all about visibility, there were women and girls that saw us and perhaps they wanted to do something similar."
The GMA report found that almost all head grounds professionals and volunteers are white and male in the sport turf industry.
Only one per cent of grounds professionals and volunteers are non-white, while only two per cent of grounds professionals and volunteers are female - with one percent of head groundstaff being female.
For the past two years cricket has been publicly reckoning with its roots. The evaluation of that reckoning was published in The Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket (ICEC) report that found racism, sexism, classism and elitism are "widespread" in English and Welsh cricket. It also found that women are treated as "subordinate" to men at all levels of the sport.
In September, it was announced the ECB will introduce an independent cricket regulator and invest £25m per year into the women's game to make cricket more inclusive.
However, the initial findings of the ICEC report are emblematic of a much wider problem for Lay.
"The results of the reports regarding sexism were honestly quite sad to read. I haven't yet played sports myself over here, but I totally understand that there are underlying problems that urgently need to be addressed.
"As someone new to the UK I've been really lucky with my experiences so far, and the sports turf industry has been really welcoming. I think there's a difference between New Zealand and England and the way women are treated.
"In England I have sometimes felt infantilised due to being a woman, which I think just stems from ignorance. Back home everyone is treated the same, and if a man is being sexist, he knows it.
"Our female athletes aren't paid well in New Zealand but neither are our men when you compare it to other countries. There are things that don't cost money that New Zealand seems to be on top of.
"For instance, at county cricket when they have a double header, the men and women take turns on who gets the main changing room. Things like that cost nothing and it shows an equal emphasis on both.
"I think that as women we need to keep doing our thing and doing what we're good at. We need to focus on ourselves and block out the outside noise. I hope that women's sport starts getting the respect it deserves, and I fully recognise I have a role to play in that.
"I need to ensure that I'm preparing world class facilities for our female athletes to play and train on, and make sure they aren't getting left behind."
The GMA report also found a significant percentage of grounds professionals are close to retirement. Over half of the head groundstaff are over 50 years old, while almost a fifth are over 60 years old.
Similarly, two fifths of groundstaff are over 50 and over a fifth above 60.
These figures are worrying as it means in the next five years the sport turf industry could lose one in every five employees to retirement.
It was identified that a lack of visibility of the industry and budget cuts were the two main causes for this crisis. One of the consequences is current groundstaff often have to complete significant hours of overtime and aren't being paid fairly.
In the long-term, this crisis will also lead to a lack of experienced grounds professionals available to prepare pitches to a certain standard.
Lay is calling on governing bodies to increase their support and hoping to encourage more women to get into the profession.
"I don't think groundstaff are supported enough by their governing bodies," Lay said.
"The demand is huge, especially in cricket because the pitch plays such an important part but there doesn't seem like there is a real importance coming from up top.
"Without us there is no sport and that needs to be shown through pay, hours and education.
"It's a great time to get into the industry because it's only going to go up but there are issues and we need governing bodies to support us."
Inspired at Wembley, Lay hopes to return there.
"They have the biggest football games and I just know there wouldn't be a blade of grass out of place and that would be really cool to learn from. The Euro final was my first ever football match," Lay said.
"It's funny because I went into it totally neutral and by the end of it I was the biggest England fan in the stadium. They had totally won me over."
Women's sport has grown astronomically since the historic Lionesses victory, but women working in the sport turf industry have faded behind the adulation. Across all sports, in particular cricket, the preparation of the pitch, or wicket, is vital to how the game is played.
As cricket enters a new, and potentially transformative, era, it's important the plight of the groundstaff is part of that regeneration.
Three women is not enough, and it's an indictment of where the institution of cricket currently is. More seriously, it's a desperate call for change.
