Charlotte Edwards Talks England'sTwenty20 Victory - page 2

4 months ago 25th Jun 11:00

^{It’s great to see the women’s game improve as it has done - people now recognise it as a really dynamic sport.
It’s fair to say that despite this success, as with many women’s sports, it is overshadowed by the men’s game.}

^{- What do you think needs to been done to now push women’s cricket forward?}

^{I think this is a big, big opportunity for us now having won the World Cup and the World Twenty20 and we have now got to capitalise on what we have achieved. The profile is there now, we have really got to kick on - and it’s got to be at grassroots level where we make an impact. Hopefully the next generation of England cricketers will come from that push.}

^{- Sky Sports have really got behind you, showing the semi-final and the final of the Twenty20, and will be covering your One Day Internationals with Australia on the 29th and 30th of June. What impact has that had?}

^{It’s had a huge impact! The amount of coverage that we’ve had has been unbelievable, and it’s through us being on TV that has gained us this high level of recognition. I hope that will continue}

^{Sky have been brilliant, and hopefully we will be able to show more and more fixtures on TV and get more people coming to watch us, which is ultimately what we want to achieve from it all.}

^{- Congratulations on being presented with an MBE earlier this month!}

^{I’m very proud of the award, it wouldn’t have been possible without my team mates and the success that we have had together, so obviously I’m very grateful to them. It’s something I’m honoured to have received}

^{- How did you get into cricket in the first place?}

^{My dad, brother and uncle played, so it was kind of a natural thing for me to play cricket! It was something I started from a young age, and I still love every minute of it.}

^{- You are also a coach in the Chance to Shine scheme. Can you tell me a bit about that?}

^{For over a year now several members of the team have been on coaching contracts with Chance to Shine, which is a scheme that aims to get competitive cricket back into state schools.}

^{I think it’s been a catalyst for us doing really well as it enables the girls to concentrate on their cricket when we don’t have fixtures by acting as role models and going into schools and coaching. It’s something that has worked really well, and hopefully more of the team will be able to get involved in the scheme in the future.}

^{- You captain the England team, retained the Ashes in 2007, and have lead the team to victory in both the World Cup and the World Twenty20. What else do you want to achieve within the sport?}

^{As much as possible! A lot of people have said, 'is this it for you now?' but it’s just the start; I think I’m at the peak of my game and loving every minute of it so it would be stupid to stop playing now.}

^{There’s so much to achieve, hopefully we can be successful in the next three or four years. We have a few big tournaments coming up and now we’ve had a taste of success we just want to keep achieving.}

^{- You barely have time to catch your breath before you have to defend your Ashes title - how excited are you about that?}

^{It’s great because we have got something to focus on really quickly. We have five One Day Internationals and then the Ashes after that starting on the 10th of July, so it’s going to be a busy summer.}

^{We are really confident that we can do well, but we are also aware that the Australians are on good form; we are expecting a good series with two well-matched teams.}

^{- After the Ashes, what’s next for you?
 
A break! It’s been a really tough year, so come July the 13th I will be looking forward to a well-earned rest so I can recharge my batteries and get ready to go to India next February.}

^{FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw}