Charlotte Edwards: Women's Cricket Week vital to growing game
'It's a powerful thing to tell a young girl there's a career in the game'
Saturday 2 July 2016 13:40, UK
The inaugural Sky Sports Women's Cricket Week begins on Saturday - and Charlotte Edwards knows just how important it is for the game.
Edwards, who retired from international cricket in May, has been in the Sky commentary box for England's series with Pakistan, and will be helping cover the three T20Is between the two teams, live on Sky Sports during Women's Cricket Week.
"It's a vitally important and great initiative at Sky, and something I'm really proud to be part of," said Edwards.
Live Women's International T20 Cricket
"I would've loved to been a 12-year-old girl now with a week dedicated to Women's Cricket and three games on Sky. I would probably have been glued to the TV.
"I know I probably did it the hard way, but I take a lot of pleasure from how the game has grown in the time that I have been playing.
"I was lucky enough in my role as captain to go into schools and get children motivated about cricket. It was always a huge responsibility of mine, and I know the team as a whole take real pride in that as well.
"With a successful England side, Sky continuing to cover the game, and with the World Cup next summer, this is an enormous opportunity for the game.
"That's a really powerful thing to be able to tell a young girl - that there's a career in the game now and I'll be doing all I can to give them the opportunity to play and get as much pleasure out of the game as I have."
A successful England team is exactly what Edwards left behind after her 11 years as skipper, with England convincingly beating Pakistan 3-0 in the recent ODI series, Heather Knight's first as captain.
"They've done brilliantly over the last week - possibly better than they thought they'd do," said Edwards. "Some of the scores that they've been setting have been fantastic.
"They'll be realistic; they'll know that there will be much tougher opposition than Pakistan over the next 12 months, but they couldn't have asked for a better start.
"I worked really closely with Heather, over the last two years especially. She was more than ready to take on this kind of leadership role and she looks like she is really enjoying it. She's got the best job in the world. I'm sure she knows that.
"I've absolutely loved covering the games in the commentary box. The guys have been brilliant! You kind of have your own dressing-room banter, so I haven't missed that side of the game but I have obviously missed whacking a few balls around!"
Edwards hopes the continued England coverage during Women's Cricket Week can give young girls greater access to role models in the sport, something that wasn't always available to her in her youth.
"The more girls we can get picking up a bat during Women's Cricket Week, the better, and hopefully they can be inspired by the England team, too," said Edwards.
"It's so important for young girls to have good role models. I didn't necessarily have any when growing up, though I did in other sports.
"Steffi Graf was the one for me - I love tennis, love Wimbledon, so she was the obvious choice. I was actually a very good tennis player, but I just didn't have the same passion I had for it as cricket.
"I've picked up my racket again since I've retired, and I'm really lucky to have Suzie Bates, the New Zealand Women's [cricket] captain, over at the moment and she's a really keen tennis player - I think you might see us playing on Sportswomen on Tuesday."
When not playing tennis, Edwards will team up with Bates for the Southern Vipers in the Kia Super League - a new domestic T20 tournament launching next month.
"The Super League is going to be huge for growing the game," added Edwards. "It gives young girls the aspiration of playing not just for England and will help bridge that gap from county cricket to international cricket.
"I have trained for it probably just as hard even though I've stopped playing for England. It has been really nice to have a competition to focus on straight away.
"I'll be going out to the Big Bash again this winter as well. I haven't stopped. But I'm enjoying life at the moment.
"That's part of my plan over the next 12-18 months, to just have a go at everything. I've tried the commentary, I'm still playing, and do a bit of coaching. Eventually I'll have some tough decisions to make."
England Women's three T20Is against Pakistan Women will be shown live on Sky Sports during Women's Cricket Week:
1st T20I (Bristol): 2pm, Sunday, Sky Sports 2
2nd T20I (Southampton): 1.30pm, Tuesday, Sky Sports 2
3rd T20I (Chelmsford): 6pm, Thursday, Sky Sports 2
