Charlotte Edwards talks about the journey of women’s cricket from an amateur sport to a professional sport
In an exclusive article for the ICC, which is available for free download and editorial use at www.icc-cricket.com, Edwards has spoken candidly of her journey with women’s cricket tracing back to the early days when she had to purchase her England blazer nearly two decades ago to becoming a professional cricketer.
“In 1996, I made my debut against New Zealand as a 16-year-old girl. Back then, I purchased my own England blazer as the game was totally amateur,” writes Edwards, who retired last month after representing England in 23 Tests, 191 ODIs and 95 T20Is.
“Two decades on, I leave a game unrecognisable to the one that I first played.
“The ICC has been at the forefront of many of the positive changes that have been made to the game, but the merge of the International Women’s Cricket Council with the ICC in 2005, would prove to be one of the most significant,” continues Edwards, who inspired England to ICC Women’s World Cup and ICC Women’s World Twenty20 triumphs in 2009.
“What I’m most proud of is where the women’s game currently sits. We have some wonderful role models and a game to be really proud of. Globally, players are inspiring many girls and women to pick up a bat and a ball and that makes me very proud.”
In the article, Edwards has also shared her views on the impact of the ICC Women’s Championship on women’s cricket, involvement and contribution of Clare Connor as Chair of the ICC Women’s Committee, and national cricket federations’ patronage of women’s cricketers by offering them fulltime contracts.
Charlotte Edwards has made more international appearances than any other female cricketer in the history of the game, featuring in 23 Tests (10 as captain), 191 ODIs (117 as captain) and 95 T20Is (93 as captain). She has scored 1,676 Test runs, while with 5,992 ODI runs, she is currently the all-time leading ODI run-scorer in women’s cricket. She has also scored 2,605 T20I runs - more than any other men’s and women’s player in the shortest format of the game.
Image: Wikimedia Commons
