These will likely be felt nowhere more strongly than within the women's game. For while debate continues to rage about the appropriateness of cricket - a sport that is still dominated by a handful of ex-British colonies - having a place in the global Olympics, there is surely no question that it is women's cricket, above all, that would stand to benefit from its inclusion.

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Should women's teams be coached by women?

It's likelier that an international women's player will be more familiar with the female game, but the answer's not straightforward

Raf Nicholson

15-Oct-2015

At the end of last month, following England's poor performance in the Ashes this summer, the head of England Women's Performance, Paul Shaw, announced his decision to step down at the end of the year. Over the next three months the ECB will be searching for a suitable candidate to take on the new role of head coach, in a move back towards a more traditional coaching structure.

It is as yet unclear who the new coach will be. But there has been speculation over the last few days that Peter Moores, who was fired in May from his role as coach of the England men's team, may be a likely candidate for the women's role. That aside, given that Clare Connor this week told the BBC that "the qualities and experiences we are looking for are going to be found more than likely with a coach who has worked at as high a level as possible in the men's game", the likelihood is that the new appointee will be a man.

One reason why it would be wrong to say that a man should not be able to coach women's cricket is that it would be tantamount to denying the women's game the best possible candidates for the job, and the game would suffer as a result

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Don't give up on England's women's team

The last 12 months may have been ordinary, but the fans, media and broadcasters should not lose faith in the team

Raf Nicholson

13-Sep-2015

Fortunately, I have relatively few memories of the wasteland that was English men's cricket in the 1990s. The 1999 World Cup, in which England were knocked out on home soil without even getting past the first round, began a day after my 11th birthday; a few months later, England were ranked as the worst Test-playing nation in the world. It was a fitting end to a decade in which, as Andy Bull once described it in the Guardian, supporting English cricket "felt like a misfortune to be endured rather than an experience to be enjoyed". My formative years in cricket came after the worst was over.

It amazed me, later, to discover that the Barmy Army - the group of supporters who now number over 3,000 and accompany England everywhere they play, both at home and abroad - was actually formed amidst this wasteland. It was the 1994-95 Ashes tour in Australia, and three friends who were following England's (mis)fortunes (they lost the series 3-1) decided to form an official supporters group. The name "Barmy Army" in fact came from the Australian media, who simply could not understand why English fans continued to travel to the other side of the world and cheer for a team who were being monumentally thrashed. But they did.

Ten years later, in the 2005 Ashes, England's Barmy Army finally came good against the Aussies. Ten years is a long time to wait.

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Make the multi-format points system universal

Cricket boards can take a cue from the success of the women's Ashes to make bilateral series more exciting

Raf Nicholson

10-Aug-2015

We are currently amidst the biggest bilateral women's cricket series ever. The 2015 women's Ashes will go down in history as having had some of the biggest audiences at women's internationals in England in decades (over 3000 spectators at Taunton and Bristol), and the best print coverage in English newspapers since England Women won the 1993 World Cup final at Lord's. The press box is heaving. And the Test match that starts this week in Canterbury will be shown live on Sky Sports from start to finish: the first women's Test to be broadcast ball by ball on television.

This is all great news for the women's game. Yet there is the lingering question: will it last?

As the situation stands, it's unlikely. The press box on England's tour to New Zealand earlier this year was almost empty. Coverage of the Australia's whitewashes against Pakistan and West Indies last year was minimal. Sky's undertaking to broadcast this series is, thus far, a one-off commitment.

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What will the new league do for women's cricket?

Can it provide a viable new tier in addition to county cricket and the international game?

Raf Nicholson

26-Jun-2015

Last week, the ECB announced its intention to stage a Women's Cricket Super League (WCSL) in England from 2016, featuring six as-yet-unknown teams hosted by "cricket-minded organisations". The league has been described by the ECB head of women's cricket, Clare Connor, as "the most significant development in this country for women's cricket for a very long time". It's no wonder that the excitement at Loughborough, where the announcement took place, was so palpable.

There are countless reasons why a WCSL is significant for the women's game. But one in particular stood out for me. Connor in the press release described the ECB's vision for "an exciting, dynamic game which will inspire new participants, new fans and increased interest from commercial partners and the media".

The media. The same media who, to a voice, currently ignore women's domestic cricket altogether.

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New Zealand's frustrating decline in women's cricket

Through the 1990s and 2000s, they were very competitive on the field and progressive off it, but lately they are lagging behind in both

Raf Nicholson

11-Feb-2015

There may be a men's World Cup taking place, but England Women are also currently in New Zealand, just beginning a month-long tour there which will consist of five ODIs and three T20Is. They started the tour as clear favourites; prior to the disaster of the first ODI this week, they had not lost an international against the Kiwis since summer 2010, and, and on their last tour there in early 2012 they won every game they played. "I can't even remember losing to them," captain Charlotte Edwards said, on the day the England squad was announced back in January.

It is a far cry from the situation just over 14 years ago, when another World Cup was taking place in New Zealand, in November and December 2000: the women's version. If Edwards thought back hard enough, she might remember (and then wish she hadn't) that England's performance during that tournament was pretty dismal. They lost not just to New Zealand, but to Australia and India, and also to South Africa, who had rejoined the international fold only three years earlier. They were knocked out without even reaching the semi-finals.

By contrast, New Zealand reached the final with ease. Then, in a nail-biter against reigning champions Australia - the Australians needed five runs off the last over with one wicket in hand - it was the Kiwis who triumphed.

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Why cricket needs women's Tests

Apart from the fact that they are exciting, intense encounters, getting rid of them might spell doom for the format across all cricket

Raf Nicholson

28-Nov-2014

There is no denying that 2014 has been a special year for women's cricket (read back through my Cordon columns if you're sceptical). Many events have conspired to make this a historic year. And one of those things - though few have chosen to dwell on it - is that three women's Test matches have been played over the past 12 months.

Three might not sound like very many. But the last time three women's Tests took place in the space of a calendar year was in 2005. That's a pretty long time ago.

In fact, between August 2007 and July 2014, the only women's Test cricket came in the form of the one-off Ashes matches. It is no wonder that women's Test cricket is widely acknowledged as dying. Gone are the days - in fact, the first 68 years of international women's cricket history - when a women's Test series of three (or more) Test matches was the norm. Now we are lucky to get three Tests between three different sets of opponents across 12 months.

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Why I am a cricket-feminist

Women need to hold more top positions in administration, and sexism at all levels must be tackled

Raf Nicholson

04-Oct-2014

In early August, I was approached during a women's county match and taken to task about one of the descriptions in my Cordon profile. No, it wasn't a dispute about Michael Clarke. The person in question was querying the fact that both my Cordon profile and my personal blog refer to me as a "feminist". He is a keen supporter of women's cricket. Yet he wondered, is the word "feminist" off-putting to some cricket fans? Might the "feminist" label actually be counter-productive to my aim of winning people over to this wonderful sport?

I have thought long and hard about this conversation, and especially about the fact that those who read my Cordon pieces might, perhaps, have those same questions; or worse, that people might overlook my writing entirely, simply because I am openly a "feminist". I feel, therefore, compelled to explain why I describe myself in such terms.

So here it is - my defence of feminism, or: Why I am a cricket-feminist.

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Why wasn't England v India a multi-format points series?

The future of the women's game is tied in to whether all boards agree to adopt this system

Raf Nicholson

29-Aug-2014

This time last year, I was writing a piece for the Cordon about the massive success of the multi-format women's Ashes series. I wish I could now be writing the same piece about the series against India.

I can't.

England Women's schedule against India Women this summer has consisted of one Test and three ODIs. But the Test was standalone, and the three ODIs were a series in themselves. England will now go on and play three T20s next week - but against South Africa, not India.

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