Photo Credit: Yorkshire County Cricket Club
The Yorkshire County Cricket Club’s Girl’s Pathway continues to go from strength to strength with a record number of girls participating in the winter observations.
Winter observations provide an opportunity for young girls in Yorkshire to showcase their talents in the hope of joining the County Age Group sides, and attendances have grown exponentially in the last few years.
The 2023/24 winter has seen 446 girls attend observations – a 140% increase on attendance from the 2021/22 winter, with 106 players going on to represent Yorkshire at County Age Group level in 2024. Within the Girls County Age Group 78% are from a state school and 18% are from a diverse background. While the Northern Diamonds Academy has seen an intake of 15 girls for 2024, alongside 24 in the Emerging Player Programme.
The Academy has proved to be a huge success with six players coming through to represent the Northern Diamonds first team in 2023; Abi Glen, Jess Woolston, Phoebe Turner, Emma Marlow, Grace Hall and Lizzie Scott.
Women’s and Girls’ cricket has never been stronger in Yorkshire, and the pace of change is showing no signs of slowing down with growth at all levels continuing into 2024.
Yorkshire CCC’s Head of Pathway James Martin said: “We are absolutely delighted with the direction of travel for women and girl’s cricket in Yorkshire.
“A thriving recreational game with an ever—increasing number of teams is providing a fantastic base for our Pathway system, and it’s brilliant to see so many young girls getting the chance and progressing to county level.
“The Northern Diamonds senior side has also proved a real inspiration for our young players over the last few years, challenging for silverware on the field and proving themselves to be great role models off the pitch. Three players from the current squad (Woolston, Turner and Marlow) have also contributed significantly to our Pathway offering, giving back some time to coach the next generation of cricketers behind them.
“With the changes to the professional women’s game recently announced, we are incredibly excited to take the game to the next level in Yorkshire and the strength of our pathway system will certainly play its part in this moving forward.”
The Yorkshire County Cricket Club are delighted to be celebrating women’s sport at Headingley’s Women’s IT20 between England and Pakistan on Sunday 19 May. The lead up to the fixture, and the day of the game, will see some of the real success stories from women’s sport highlighted.
To be involved, you can join the ‘Yorkshire Cricket Women in Sport Network’ via the below link and receive exclusive group discounts on tickets as well as having the opportunity to have your say on the future of the game. Alternatively, you can purchase tickets for the WIT20 from as little as £10 for adults and £5 for juniors via the link below.
Name of Author: Yorkshire County Cricket Club
Yorkshire County Cricket Club, representing the historic county of Yorkshire, is one of England and Wales’ eighteen first-class county clubs. The club’s limited overs team, the Yorkshire Vikings, sports a kit in Cambridge blue, Oxford blue, and yellow.
