Shilly Pancholi remembers playing cricket as a little girl. Well, more specifically, watching her dad and brother from the outfield. “My brother would bat for hours and I’d be fielding, sitting on the grass and making daisy chains,” she says. “To be honest, I never thought I would play. I thought there was no space for me in that sport.”
This year, aged 43, she finally took up cricket in earnest. In an attempt to encourage her son, Pancholi went to cricket fitness sessions for mothers and children organised by Leicestershire county cricket club and instantly fell in love.
“I just forgot about everything, all life’s stresses,” she says. “It’s been brilliant. It’s made me more confident and given me more friends – it’s given me a whole new life.”
Pancholi is one of thousands of women who have taken up the sport this year, many spurred on by the high-profile success of the England women’s team, who this summer beat India in a tense World Cup final in London.
For that remarkable feat, the team won the team of the year at the annual Sports Personality of the Year awards. “It’s been a fantastic year for women’s cricket and women’s sport in general,” said an emotional Danielle Hazell at the BBC event.
“I think 2017 has been a watershed year for women’s cricket in the UK,” says Clare Connor, director of women’s cricket at the England Cricket Board (ECB). “The sight of a sold-out Lord’s is something that will stick with everyone who was there for a lifetime – and the winning moment was truly special.”
More than 26,000 tickets were sold for the match, with about 50% bought by women. A memorable performance from Anya Shrubsole, who took five wickets in 19 balls to rescue a flagging England and propel them to victory, earned her a nomination for sports personality of the year – the first female cricketer to have been in the running .
But it was not just the size of the crowd on English cricket’s most sacred site that was remarkable – the game was watched by an estimated 1.1 million people on Sky Sports in the UK. More than 180 million watched the tournament around the world according to the International Cricket Council, a 300% increase on 2013 figures.
Viewing figures matter because interest from broadcasters trickles down to investment throughout the game. And women’s cricket suddenly looks like a canny investment – the Lord’s final was Sky’s most-watched cricket match in 2017 attracting even more viewers than many live men’s football games.
“I watched that game with a tear in my eye because I knew how much it meant,” says the former England cricketer turned commentator Ebony-Jewel Rainford-Brent. “I knew what so many of those players had been through to get there. And that’s why I love sport – you develop resilience and confidence in your leadership ability. We need those role models for young girls to feel its OK to participate.”
A tied series in Australia, in which the old foes retained the Ashes, has not taken off the sheen. The England all-rounder Danni Wyatt, who hit a century in the final match, sees 2017 as a “watershed year” for the sport, and recalls the moment she realised something had changed during a World Cup game against Australia in Bristol.
“I hit two sixes, and as soon as I connected with the ball I could hear the noise,” says the 26-year-old. “I was patting the crease with my bat just thinking: ‘That was pretty cool.’”
But significant barriers remain. While the women’s game turned professional at international level in 2014, the county game is still amateur. Wyatt, who plays for Sussex, paid for her own kit last year. However, at last she can tell young girls that making a career out of cricket is indeed possible. “We get to travel the world. We fly business class. And we get our own rooms now – that’s only happened in the last six months,” she says.
Though elite female athletes help “normalise” sport for women and girls, it does not necessarily immediately translate into participation, according to the organisation Women In Sport.
Its figures show that 1.5 million more men than women play sport at least once a week, while only 8% of girls are meeting recommended daily exercise guidelines compared with 16% of boys.
“Our research shows the real influencers for women and girls are the people in their lives: mums, sisters, friends and teachers. We all have a key role to play in encouraging women and girls to be more active,” says Alexandra Marshall, director of engagement at Women in Sport.
The ECB says it is investing at a grassroots level too. The organisation ran 270 women’s softball festivals for the first time this year, attracting 9,500 players – 60% of whom had never played cricket before.
Some women’s teams are trying to make the sport more accessible. Beaconsfield Women is attempting to set up a local T20 league, arguing that 35-over games take a full day to play, which the player Michelle Slater says is difficult for many mothers.
Ruefully agreeing that it is a feat most cricket-playing fathers appear to manage, she insists the club does not want to deter would-be players. With women bringing a new lease of life to the club, they want to make sure potential players are not put off, she says. “Having women so active in the club has revitalised it enormously.”
Amna Rafiq, community engagement officer at Leicestershire county cricket club, is leading the charge to get more women and girls involved at a grassroots level. She runs cricket fitness classes near mosques that women dropping off their children for classes can attend while they wait. “They are really popular and growing all the time,” she says. “Now we just need more coaches to meet the demand.”
Pancholi, a teaching assistant, is helping Rafiq spread the word. “Now I ask all the girls at school if they play,” she says. “Often they have never seen anyone they can relate to playing cricket before, but when they hear that I do they want to give it a go too. We’ve gone from there to here in such a short time.”
Batting away sexism in the sport
While there have been huge advances in women’s cricket, it is also clear that sexism in the sport is far from defeated. When the BBC tweeted the view of Rainford-Brent, the former England player turned Test Match Special contributor, one follower replied: “I can’t take a woman’s opinion seriously when it comes to cricket.”
Support for Rainford-Brent came rapidly. “Ebony, you are the greatest. Love it when you come on tms, and respect your perspective as a professional cricketer,” said one fan. Grumpy Git tweeted: “Ignore him Ebony; I love your commentating.”
Brushing off the comment, Rainford-Brent tweeted: “Wow … how Twitter pulls out the trolls and dinosaurs from the trenches … Hope you treat the females in your life with more respect. Anyway back to the cricket and much more important things …”
The story took a surreal turn when the author of the original sexist tweet claimed he had posted it to gauge responses. Before long, the former Olympic rower Matthew Pinsent weighed in, posting a screenshot of older tweets by the same Twitter user, including such gems as: “The Ashes is about England and Australia men’s cricket. Always has been, always will be. Women trying to jump on the bandwagon with the BBC do-gooders.”
Rainford-Brent says, like other women in the public eye, she is used to “constant, outrageous” comments. “I have so many dreams of getting these people, putting them in the nets and getting female cricketers to bowl at them,” she joked.