ECB women's cricket director backing Holly Colvin for ICC role
Friday 13 November 2015 12:21, UK
Holly Colvin’s experience across the game makes her ideally suited to her new role with the International Cricket Council, according to ECB director of women’s cricket Clare Connor.
Colvin remains the youngest player to represent England after making her international debut 11 years ago, aged just 15, but she decided to take a break from the game after the 2013 Ashes victory over Australia.
The 26-year-old, who has taken 174 international wickets across all formats of the game, has now decided to return to cricket in a boardroom capacity and will move to Dubai to take up her new role.
"Holly is decisive and I think she probably has a very clear vision of where she sees the women's game going globally," Connor told Sky Sports.
"She's still young but she's very bright and she's got a great insight having played the sport at the highest level.
"Holly has also been involved in coaching and has done work for Cricket Without Boundaries as a volunteer coach in Africa.
"She's played at every level, she's an Ashes winner and she's won two World Cups. She's now seen the game enter this new professional era so I think she is very well-placed to deliver that role for the ICC.
"I'll be working quite closely with her because I chair the ICC women's committee so it will be great to have her experiences on board as well.
"She gets to move out to an exciting vibrant place as well so I think it will be a great move for her both personally and professionally."
England captain Charlotte Edwards added: "I honestly thought she'd come back to cricket at some point but I think she really wants to make a career away from the field and all the best to her but she'll be sadly missed in the England setup."
England unveiled former Sussex player Mark Robinson as their new head coach on Wednesday and Connor hopes that in time a strong female candidate will emerge as a contender for the post.
"We would absolutely hope that there is a time in the not-too-distant future where a former England women's cricketer is the head coach," she said.
"If we are realistic at what we were looking for now, it was evident to anybody that they were only ever going to come from someone in the men's game.
"At the moment there are no female coaches in cricket who have the skills and experiences and proven track record to be in this role.
"It's a very natural transition from player to coach," Connor added.
"A lot of the women have coached at grassroots level and some have coached a lot higher than that, but I guess it is something we need to proactively support them around in decisions after playing."
You can watch The Sunday Times and Sky Sports Sportswomen of the Year Awards right now On Demand
