The rise of women's cricket in Jersey

Jersey Cricket has been working hard over the last few months to implement new measures to grow the women’s game on the island with the intention of creating a more detailed player pathway and establishing a high-performance environment at the top level.

The Jersey Women’s Team, currently ranked 37th in T20 International cricket, had a great run of results last summer as they won 4 out of 6 games at the ICC European tournament in Nantes against France, Austria and Norway. A clear sign they were ready to transition to a high-performance environment.

Since then the current Performance and Development Manager, Lee Meloy, has accepted the role of Women’s Head Coach, as of January this year. Lee has worked within Jersey Cricket for over 10 years and was fundamental in developing the male pathway with Neil MacRae back in 2015. His vast experience of top-level associate cricket and developing high performance environments will be invaluable for a talented young women’s squad with an average age of just 17.

Focusing on his new role, he said: “I’m delighted to have the opportunity to build on the success the girls had last summer. I’d like to thank Pete Rutherford and Rose Hill for their efforts in getting the team to this point”.

“It’s a very young squad with huge potential who have been working tirelessly since January to be ready for a busy summer programme. They are a dedicated group who are very motivated to drive women’s cricket forward and create a legacy for future generations of female cricketers”.

Along with Lee’s new role Jersey Cricket have appointed a new female Performance and Development Officer, current senior women’s player, Chloe Greechan. Chloe has played for the Jersey women’s team since she was 12 years old and has previously worked on multiple development programmes as a junior coach. Graduating with an OCR Level 3 Extended Diploma in Sport as well as completing her UKCC Level 2 in Cricket recently, Chloe will no doubt be a huge asset to the organisation.

On the appointment of her full-time role, she said: “It’s a big step for the women’s game to once again have a female coach working full time at Jersey Cricket. I know first-hand how important role models are for getting young players into the game and I hope that I can be that role model moving forward. I’m really looking forward to the challenge ahead seeing just how big an impact we can make on women’s sport, not just cricket, in Jersey. Growing the grass roots initiatives at the base of the pathway is a priority”.

Chief Executive, Craig Meredith added “It’s exciting times for the women’s game globally and we as a Cricket Board are fully invested in accelerating the local game. I was fortunate to be at the Women’s T20 World Cup Final at a packed MCG last month and had a great chance to network with the top teams that were there. The appointment of Lee, as women’s head coach, and Chloe, as Performance and Development Officer, are big steps forward for Jersey Cricket”.

Keep your eyes peeled for news and developments over the coming weeks and month as there is a lot of time and effort being put into forging relationships around the World to better our female cricket programme.

If you are interested in finding out more information around the Jersey Women’s Programme please contact Lee Meloy directly at lee@jerseycricketboard.co.uk