This week England captain Charlotte Edwards returned to her home town of Cambridge to deliver a masterclass to the Cambridge University Women’s Cricket Team (CUWCC).

Charlotte arrived at Fenner’s Indoor Cricket School on the back of several months of huge achievements that have cemented her status as one of the all-time cricketing greats. In April this year she was named as one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year, being only the second woman to be awarded the accolade, after fellow England international Claire Taylor in 2009. In May she was awarded one of the first ever English Cricket Board full time contracts for female players, and this month was named England women’s Cricketer of the Year.

There was a huge buzz surrounding the event as Charlotte drew up to Fenner’s along with Surrey County player and New Zealand international Rachel Candy. However, any feelings of being star struck quickly abated as the two women set the team to a fast paced warm up with barely a chance to catch their breath.

Rachel then took charge of the seam bowlers, watching them ping ball after ball at an orange foam target set on the top of the off stump. The improvement over the two hours of the session was visible, with the girls noting that it was the best and most consistent that they had ever bowled.

Meanwhile, in the neighbouring net, Charlotte coached the batsmen on techniques to play off spin. She urged the girls to attack the ball with confidence, and stride down the wicket to flighted deliveries. They then watched in awe at her impressive demonstrations, trying hard to replicate her shots.

Charlotte’s own confidence and ease with a bat was made evident in the outdoor fielding drills. After some ground fielding she announced a high catching competition, with one of her own England shirts as the prize. Her high standards were clear as she sent girls to the bench who failed to dive for the more wayward balls, some of which plummeted through tree branches and over the boundary of the men’s match that was taking place at the same time. The captain, Nikki Ravi, rightly won the competition although her twin, Neeru Ravi, took an inadvertent ball to the head for which Charlotte was very apologetic. Throughout the session, it was evident to everyone involved that Edwards loves the game, urging everyone playing Cricket simply to ‘enjoy it’!

Charlotte has inspired numerous women in cricket, including Rachel Candy. Rachel told the team how she had recently discovered a bat which Charlotte had autographed for her at the beginning of her career, when she was still at school. She is pleased that women’s cricket is in a ‘healthy’ state at present and praises England for leading the development of the women’s game. Rachel, like Charlotte, played a great deal of boys’ cricket in her early years and commends it as a way to take girls out of their comfort zone, forcing them to ‘dive around in the field’ and not being afraid to commit to the more ‘challenging’ parts of the game.

As shown by the catching contest, Rachel emphasised the importance of competition to keeping teams motivated and performing at their best. Not content with just winning at cricket, at the end of her international fixtures, Rachel challenges the fastest person in the opposition to a race across the pitch, proudly noting that she is, as yet, undefeated.

Within the University, women’s cricket is growing in popularity with a 20 member squad this year, and the first ever girls cricket Cuppers tournament being held on Monday 16th June. As well as the main squad, there are many girls who attend open training sessions because they enjoy the game and are keen to improve. Steve Taylor, the CUWCC coach, also works with the Cambridgeshire county sides and has been instrumental in developing the university women’s team this year.
This season Cambridge lost very narrowly to Oxford in the BUCS league and Varsity T20, due in part to unfortunate exam clashes. However, the side is confident that a full strength squad will be able to offer Oxford a much greater challenge in the fifty over match at Lords on Friday 20th June. Charlotte and Rachel’s masterclass was a fantastic confidence booster ahead of this highly anticipated match.

The men’s 50 over Varsity match is also taking place at Lords on Friday 20th June. The four day match will begin on Monday 30 June at the Parks.