Maiden Cricket ambassador Mia Rogers spoke to the Express about the barrier still holding women's cricket back: grassroots funding and access, particularly in state schools.
Rogers didn't have a girls' cricket club at her own school, Wycombe Abbey — she trained in the evenings outside school hours until she and the PE department started one in 2019, borrowing a lab coat from the Chemistry department to umpire in. She's since become an ambassador for Maiden, which designs cricket kit specifically for women and girls - including moving away from traditional whites toward darker, more practical performance wear, on the reasoning that girls who feel comfortable in their kit are more likely to keep playing.
Gemma Barton, the ECB's Head of Strategic Growth, is quoted on the momentum currently building in the women's and girls' game, while cautioning that sustaining it depends on the people creating welcoming environments in clubs and communities. The article also notes that pay parity between men's and women's cricket has been reached in some specific areas, like international match fees and domestic starting salaries, though a broader gap remains.