Cumbria Cricket have announced the appointment of Laura Kay as Women and Girls Growth manager.

Starting in the New Year Laura, based near Penrith, will be working with clubs to grow the women’s and girls game and drive its sustainability within Cumbria.

Her background is in Communications and she plays rugby for Upper Eden RUFC where she has been involved in successfully growing the women’s section.

Only 15 per cent of UK Cricket Clubs have a women’s and girls team and Cumbria currently has only one county hard ball team.

But this is set to change with the England Cricket Board investing over £20m over the next two years to improve player experiences, enable recruitment of more dedicated resources, and increase opportunities to build careers within cricket, as part of their new ‘Inspiring Generations’ strategy for 2020-2024.

This will also bring about increased opportunities for women and girls to get involved in the sport through soft ball cricket teams and festivals, which are already taking place at clubs throughout Cumbria.

Laura said: “I’m really excited to be joining the team at Cumbria Cricket and can’t wait to get stuck in. Having never played cricket before, I’ve got a lot to learn but I’m really passionate about developing women’s sport and have big ambitions for cricket in Cumbria.”

Director of Cricket Development, Bob Simpson said “We are delighted to have Laura on board to grow the female participation and social offers in Clubs, community and schools.”