Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to help increase participation of (a) girls and (b) women in cricket.

The Government is committed to supporting women's sport at every opportunity including pushing for greater participation.

We are pleased to see the significant progress in the number of women and girls taking up cricket in recent years, and wider developments in the women’s game, as noted by the Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket (ICEC) report. The England and Wales Cricket Board’s five year plan, Inspiring Generations, launched in 2020 aims to inspire a new generation to believe that ‘cricket is a game for me’. The plan focuses on six priority areas including making cricket gender-neutral with women and girls being properly represented across the whole game.

Initiatives like Chance to Shine, which receives funding from Sport England, play an important role in encouraging girls to play cricket. The project gives all children the opportunity to play, learn and develop through cricket.

The Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket (ICEC) report notes that while positive progress has been made in the women’s game, there are still areas of concern where more action is needed.

The ECB has provided a full response to the ICEC report and has committed to taking on board the majority of the recommendations to create lasting change across the sport. We welcome the ECB’s commitment to bring forward a plan to tackle these serious issues and secure a sustainable future for the sport, and look forward to receiving updates on this.