Women's Sport: How cricket is thriving against the odds
Women’s cricket in Wales has grown rapidly since 2017. This photo was taken before the Covid-19 pandemic.
The number of women participating in sport in Wales is stalling, according to Welsh Government data – but cricket says it is bucking the trend, thanks to a new initiative.
​
On average, 28% of women aged over 16 took part in sporting activities three or more times a week in 2019-2020, a figure that remained the same from the previous year. In 2017, the figure was just one percent lower.
​
This is despite attempts by Sport Wales to boost female participation in sport. A key part of its strategy for 2019-20 is to target the imbalance of gender participation and tackle what it says is a lack of confidence.
​
However, cricket has found its own solution to the problem. The England and Wales Cricket Board’s (ECB) Women’s Softball initiative has led to a surge in women taking up the game over the past three years.
​
The initiative was launched in 2017 as a fun, short form of cricket as part of the ECB’s strategy to get more women and girls involved in the game at their local clubs.
In its first year in south east Wales, the area was just about managing to get three teams on the pitch.
​
Three years and one global pandemic later, the numbers have soared. Cricket Wales has credited the appointment of Becky Thomas as Women and Girls’ Cricket Coordinator for the area, who oversees the running of the programme.
“We now have more than 30 teams and nearly 400 women taking part,” she said. “As soon as we got the go-ahead in July that cricket was allowed again, the uptake in women wanting to get fixtures arranged straight away was crazy.”
The format of women’s softball cricket revolves around one thing:
Graph showing the growth of participants in Women’s Softball Cricket since 2017.
Source: Cricket Wales
fun, and Becky strongly believes this is what has made the scheme such a success in comparison to many other competitive sports.
“It doesn’t matter how good you are at all,” she said. “There are some women that are slightly more competitive and want to progress to playing proper fixtures, so we’re setting up a league with promotion and relegation for those teams next year so that we’re catering for all.
But for the majority, it’s a social activity. It’s a chance to be outside, meet new people, have some exercise and enjoyment at the same time. We have teenage girls playing with their mums and we have women who are in their 70s. It’s for everyone, and that’s why it works so well.”
She adds that the enthusiasm has been so great that some women have even started to play for the men’s senior teams at their clubs - and when coronavirus restrictions meant that only six teams were allowed to play in a tournament at a time, some women’s teams took the initiative themselves and set up their own fixtures.
One of those was Carys Stallard, from Bridgend, but plays with Vale Cricket Club, who has been involved with running her women’s team since 2018.
“I’ve always loved cricket as a sport, but I’d spent so long watching my sons play that I felt like it was my turn to have a go!” she said.
Despite the pandemic, Carys found that interest had grown, so in some ways the lockdown had actually helped them.
“I think people were so fed up of being stuck at home, the chance to get outside with other people and do something fun just became more appealing,” she said. “We are aiming to be in the competitive league next year, but this summer it was just good to get out and enjoy it because at one stage we didn’t think we’d get a chance.”
Vale Cricket Club saw their women’s team grow in 2020 despite the Covid-19 restrictions
Carys also adds that she has noticed - as a woman who has sat on Vale’s committee for a while as the only female representative - that the initiative has had a positive impact on the club from a wider perspective than just being able to play.
“We’ve now got women in various positions at the club, like coaching and welfare,” she said. “And it allows young daughters and sisters of guys at the club to see women playing and shows that it’s a sport for everyone, not just boys.”
Carys’ cricket club is situated in the Vale of Glamorgan, which boasts the second highest average of female participation in south east Wales (34%) – just behind Cardiff, with 35%.
This is according to the Welsh Government data which was gathered from the National Survey for Wales, where approximately 10,000 people aged over 16 across Wales answer various questions on a range of subjects including sport and physical activity.
​
Graph showing percentage of women taking part in sport three or more times a week in south east Wales boroughs.
Source: Welsh Government
At the lower end of the data sits Blaenau Gwent, with just 15% of women engaging in sporting activity.
​
Despite a large gap, Becky says that cricket is defying the trend in these areas as well.
​
She admits that population differences and accessibility to the valleys may be an explanation for such a significant gap with other sports, but it’s not something that she has encountered.
But despite the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and remaining uncertainty about how sport will look in 2021, the Women’s Softball participants are confident that their momentum and passion for the game will continue to grow.