England women enter 'professional era' with award of 18 new contracts

ECB hands women cricketers full-time contracts
Squad preparing for series with India and South Africa
charlotte edwards
England's captain Charlotte Edwards, only the second woman to bve named a Wisden cricketer of the year, is preparing for a busy summer. Photograph: Christopher Lee/Getty Images for Royal London

England celebrated "the dawning of a fully professional era" for women's cricket in this country with the announcement of the 18 players who have been awarded new contracts, described by the minister of sport, Helen Grant, as "a significant step not just for women's cricket, but for women's sport".

In further evidence of the progress that has been made in recent years Charlotte Edwards, who leads the group of contracted players, was otherwise engaged when the announcement was made, and received equal billing with Stuart Broad and Ben Stokes at a launch of Royal London's new sponsorship of the men's and women's games this summer.

Edwards, who was last month named as one of Wisden's Five Cricketers of the Year – the second woman to be recognised, after Clare Taylor in 2009 – has lived through the transition, making her debut in a skirt as a 16-year-old in the amateur days of 1996, and more recently making a reasonable living partly through coaching work as part of the Chance to Shine scheme.

Now she will lead a group of full-time players in their preparations for home series against India and South Africa in the summer, which began at the weekend with the launch of the Royal London One-Day Cup.

Clare Connor, one of her predecessors as England captain who is now the head of England Women's Cricket, said: "The performances delivered by Charlotte Edwards and her team over the past 12 months, including back-to-back Women's Ashes triumphs, a historic series win in the West Indies in November, and reaching the ICC Women's World Twenty20 final in Bangladesh, unequivocally justify the financial reward which comes with the new England women's contracts.

"The pay increase for the contracted players is significant and signals the dawning of a fully professional era in every sense for England women's cricket. I am grateful to the ECB board for the ongoing support they provide towards the development of the women's game in this country."

Grant added: "Today's announcement by the ECB is a significant step forward, not just for women's cricket, but for women's sport in this country. England's women cricketers have led the way with world-class performances on the field and it is fantastic that the ECB is now moving to professionalise the sport. This will not only reward the exceptional achievements of this current crop of international cricketers but also demonstrate to girls and women throughout the country that a career in sport is a realistic aspiration for them. This is a prime example of the progress that the DCMS Women in Sport advisory board is passionate about and wants to see more of."

The 18 to be given ECB contracts

Charlotte Edwards (Kent), Tamsin Beaumont (Kent), Katherine Brunt (Yorkshire), Kathryn Cross (Lancashire), Georgia Elwiss (Sussex), Natasha Farrant (Kent), Lydia Greenway (Kent), Rebecca Grundy (Warwickshire), Jenny Gunn (Nottinghamshire), Danielle Hazell (Yorkshire), Amy Jones (Warwickshire), Heather Knight (Berkshire), Laura Marsh (Kent), Natalie Sciver (Surrey), Anya Shrubsole (Somerset), Sarah Taylor (Sussex), Lauren Winfield (Yorkshire), Danielle Wyatt (Nottinghamsire)