The Big Interview Part 3: The CSCC Clare Connor Interview
Article Date: 14th May 2005
The Final Part (Clare Connor Continued...)
Here is the final part of the interview with Clare Connor, the England Women's Cricket Captain. Tomorrow sees Chipping Sodbury Cricket Club host the CSCC Women's Cricket Open Day from 10.30am-12 Noon at the cricket club. Any one interested please turn up.
Clare Connor (England's Womens Captain)
Mark Reynolds: What do you think the 2005 Women’s World Cup did for women’s cricket in the UK?
Clare Connor: Obviously not as much as if we had won it! But the feedback we’ve got from various people including youngsters at various events which I’ve been to since I’ve been back, family and friends, people at the ECB, has been great.
A lot of people saw us play Australia in the semi-final and were impressed with various parts of our game, obviously not the result but in particular the fielding, the athleticism, the skill level, throwing down the stumps, taking good catches and that kind of thing.
So even though we didn’t win I think it was a positive advertisement for cricket. To have had a trophy to show off at various public occasions would have been great. We had been promised a visit to Downing Street had we brought the World Cup home, obviously those sorts of things would have been magnificent, but sadly haven’t happened.
The World Cup, in terms of awareness has probably done a little bit for raising the awareness of women’s cricket and the fact that a World Cup was going on at all. Unfortunately if it had been a very different result, it would have been a very different story I’m sure. World Cups don’t come along very often.
MR: What did you think of the UK media coverage for the women’s world cup?
Clare Connor: I’ve been sent a scrap book about what was going on in the press during the World Cup from the ECB and there seemed to be quite a lot. There seemed to be something in most of the broadsheets on most of our games, some photos, scorecards, match reports, a few player interviews, features about some of the players. That’s all good.
I think in general it is getting better. There’s a lot of hard work being done by the media and PR people at the ECB to try and get us the exposure which we deserve, but it’s quite a slow process and unfortunately when you’re competing all year round with football for space in the newspaper’s sport pages, it’s going to be difficult.
I think the important thing is when we play on Sky which is twice a year. We’ve got two games against Australia in August 2005 which we do take advantage of. We put on a good show, as we would try to do anyway, but we really try to impress people who are watching it for the first time.
When people do come and watch women’s cricket for the first time, they are pretty shocked at the high standard, the skill levels and the athleticism. I think in general the media coverage is improving.
MR: Was there much media coverage in South Africa during the World Cup?
Clare Connor (England's Womens Captain) bowls
Clare Connor: There was quite a lot of TV and Radio coverage and the written press took a good interest. 3 of the matches were on Sky, the semi-finals and final, but yes it was fairly decent coverage.
MR: In years to come more and more girls and women will take up the game of cricket and there will be more and more people to choose to play for their country. If we fast forward a few years and you were just as young as you are now, do you think you would get into the England Twenty20 team in the year 2020?
Clare Connor: There are a lot of ifs in that question aren’t there!
MR: Nearly unanswerable, but I was just wondering.
Clare Connor: I would hope so! I will be in the Twenty20 match this summer against Australia. All I can say is as long as there is healthy competition for places then that obviously says that the England team is strong. What you don’t want is no competition for places.
Twenty20 cricket is exciting. I think it’s a great way to attract youngsters to the game, girls and boys, and women who may not have whole days to commit to sport. It’s an exciting format for the game, great fun. Hopefully people will give it a go and enjoy it and in 15 years time, the more Twenty20 that’s played the more competition there will be for places in the England side.
MR: What are your hopes for women’s cricket in this country in the next 15 years?
Clare Connor: I’ve got huge hopes for it. The key is participation, I hope that numbers continue to grow. I hope that women’s cricket is gradually given more and more the recognition that it deserves at the highest level. You’re talking about a committed group of players who love playing for England, they take a lot of pride playing for England. Things like our send off for the World Cup at the House of Commons which launched our campaign, things like that are fantastic and show that we are recognised in important places.
I think it has to be out there for the public to recognise it, for mums to say ‘yes that’s a great thing’ and send their daughters along to cricket clubs and for numbers to grow in that way.
MR: Finally Clare, what are your opinions on the recent decision by the ECB to only show live cricket from 2006 on Sky and only having Cricket highlights on Channel 5?
Clare Connor: I think it’s a difficult situation, as long as the ECB use the money from the Sky Television rights, which is a lot of money, if the ECB use that money and pump it into grass roots cricket and the development of the game then I wouldn’t really complain at that.
Clare Connor (England's Womens Captain) celebrates a wicket
I think it’s a shame. I think that it’s a shame that from 2006 you won’t be able to watch live test cricket or Twenty20 cricket on terrestrial channels, but sadly that’s just the way it’s gone.
As long as that money is used wisely and fairly, then what you lose in viewing figures, and kids not being able to watch it live on their TVs if they haven’t got Sky, then hopefully you’ll make up for it by pumping the money into schools and clubs.
MR: Ok Clare. Thanks a lot for talking to us. It’s much appreciated.
Clare Connor: Good luck with your launch on the 15th of May. All the best for your women’s section. I hope it goes well.
I hope you enjoyed reading this interview. If you or anyone you know fancies playing women's cricket in Bristol or wants more details then please ring the Women's Team Captain Paula Young on 01454 852429.
Click Clare Connor for the first part of the 3 part interview, or click here for the second part: Clare Connor Interview Part 2
