Taunton is our new home
by Charlotte Edwards, England Women's captain
The ECB has announced that Taunton is the new home of women's cricket in England and Wales. Our guest blogger, Charlotte Edwards, shares her thoughts on the news.
Having a “home” for the women’s game is a brilliant idea and a great initiative. To know women’s cricket is being taken seriously and that people want to be a part of it is fantastic for the sport. It’s a huge step forward for women’s cricket and we’re hoping that from now on the sport will continue to go from strength to strength.
It will be great to have a permanent base for the women’s game and somewhere where we’ll always be welcome. It generates consistency for the international game as we’re guaranteed a match at Taunton every year. It’s exciting for me as England captain to be a part of taking the women’s game to the next level.
I’m delighted with the choice of venue. Taunton has always been a favourite ground, both personally and for the team: historically we have always done very well there, so hopefully we can continue that tradition!
I’m really excited about the development of the ground and what that also means for women’s cricket. It’s destined to become a great venue with brilliant facilities and it’s exciting that we’ll be a part of that vision and long-term development.
Taunton also have a great set of members who are really supportive of women’s cricket and they tend to return the following year after watching us play, so now they’ll have even more opportunity of doing that. We’re also hoping that this will extend to other cricket followers who will now know that they’ll be a women’s international at the county ground every year.
It’s also good to know that our domestic cricket finals will be held in Taunton on a great wicket and with fantastic facilities. That in itself will be a great experience for the players involved who don’t ordinarily have the opportunity to play at a first-class county ground.
With us heading towards the conclusion of another successful series, this time against India, it’s great to coincide the launch with our final international game of the season. We’re looking to finish the npower Women’s Test series with a win and we’d be delighted to do that at Taunton, the new Home of Women’s Cricket!
Thank you!
Complain about this postMy homepage | Please visit
BBC coverage of women's international cricket is a disgrace. Why only one day of radio commentary? (1st ODI from Lord's). Why no radio commentary of this Taunton test match? - I wrote to "The Independent" regarding a woeful lack of coverage there, but my letter was neither printed, nor answered. [However, the full results of the British Gas Business Southern League Premier Division (football) were printed!!!!!!!!!!]Surely, the point is that this is a national side, playing international cricket. As such, the public wants to know what's going on. If women's cricket does not get publicity, how can it draw crowds?
Complain about this postIt is great to see that the womens team are getting their own base for the future. The England side is showing great promise . The performances of teenagers Holly Colvin and Sarah Taylor bode well for the next world cup which England have a great chance of winning, unlike their male counterparts who are struggling in the one day format
Complain about this postI love watchin womens cricket now, im suprised that more men dont take an interest in it. My favourite member of the women's team is Holly Colvin. Not only is she really fit, but shes an amazin left arm spinner, definately as good as Monty Panesar. Womens cricket deserves more coverage, and more support from men. I wish that sky sports and the BBC showed more of the women's games, not enough is being shown.
Complain about this postWoen's cricket has not reached the same intensity and competitiveness as say wonen's tennis for example.
Honestly, as an Indian cricket fan and a man, I would not spend money to watch women's cricket. It is plain boring at present.
Trust me, this is purely based on the lack of intensity in women's cricket.
Complain about this postRavibalky
I used to be rather cynical about women's cricket, for no other reason than I find it annoying when other sports appropriate the brand name 'Ashes', which has a specific and historic meaning for England v Australia men's cricket. It should not be used in rugby league nor, I'm afraid, women's cricket.
That little whinge off my chest, I watched some of the one day matches between England and India and was really impressed by the standard. No one expects a female Malcom Marshall bowling, but the batting (why aren't they called batswomen?) and fielding looked very impressive.
A successful England women's team can only be good for all cricket, but it doesn't matter how successful they are if there's no media interest. So I hope the BBC pulls itself together on that front, and though it pains me to say it, kudos to Sky for the live coverage.
Complain about this postAs the BBC Sport website's cricket editor, I'd like to point out that we have provided full coverage of every series played by the England women's team since our site launched six years ago. During that time, we've produced features on just about every player in the team, and given some of them the chance to write columns to further promote the women's game - Rosalie Birch, for example, is our guest writer on the current series against India.
Complain about this postI agree with you Charlotte - what is your phone number?
Complain about this postHolly Colvin fit? What an understatement. She's FWOARRRRR!!!!
Oh and congratualtions on your new home etc etc..
Complain about this postThis is a disgrace chaps. Serious topic here and an excellent step-forward for women's cricket in this country.
And what a place to have it aswell. One of the greatest grounds in the world and some of the best supporters in the world. I'm not a Somerset person and have nothing to do with them, I'm just stating the facts here.
I hope that this will be a great help in the continuing rise of women's cricket's profile in this country. Like some of the other people who have posted here, I enjoy watching the women's game. After all, it's..er...cricket. You know, that thing I love to play and watch. Makes sense, no? Its a great standard of cricket and it gives me another excuse to get behind an England team.
And just a personal note to Charlotte here. Good luck with the captaincy and the rest of your time as an international cricketer. I have been following your career since you 'boxed' me at the age of 13 (Hinchingbrooke v Ramsey). I've also bought a few bats from you at the shop so no hard feelings. Pun intended.
Take care and good luck.
Complain about this postDear TMS,
England's bowlers are not taking wickets as they should this summer. I wouldn't have said the loss of Troy Cooley turned Harmison, Hoggard and co into slouches rather than strike bowlers, but the volume of runs scored against them this year shows something is not right. The answer is simple. They are being asked to bowl too conservatively at good batsmen who can play the likes of Harmy too often off the back foot. There is only one important person alone who has not twigged this and that's non-playing batsmen, Kevin Shine. In the late eighties, our university side played a namedropping leftarmer who used to boast about his connections with fast bowler Kevin Shine, then at 'Hampshire. This means that Shine although promising was probably never likely to play first class cricket as his career showed, but also it shows that he had to favour such negative tactics as back of a length, then in vogue, as recommended by our somewhat talkative slow bowler. Back ofa length according to these two giants of modern cricket contain a team until they have rattled up five or six hundred. If this was the philosophy of our most negative of spin bowlers could this not explain why Hoggard is fatally dropping back a yard in length sacrificing his swing armoury for dot balls. With Shine, I fear England already have reached a crisis. Let us not forget that it was our good quick bowlers who won the ashes last year. If changes are made to that success by instructing Harmison that stumps are twelve foot in the air, then I see Hayden and co will never get out - as removasble batsmen like Boon and Marsh did not get out when back of a length was first used in Shine's heyday. I'll just say this; The only England bowler to take five wickets this Summer is our least experienced leftarm spinner, who is the only type of bowler who can't listen to Shine and serve up back of a length disaster.
Yours truly,
Rob Morrison
Complain about this postGreat to hear England's womans game is growing. I thought the woman had a great little tournament i read about where in preperation for 20/20. Maybe the Men's Team should follow the Example of England's woman and India who have the challenger series.
Complain about this postTo the person who said about lack of coverage of the womans games its on sky. But i agree about the BBC need more