Former England Women wicketkeeper Lauren Winfield-Hill has spoken out over the lack of female coaching in men's professional cricket.
The lack of female coaches in The Women's Hundred has been under the microscope this year, after MI London head coach Lisa Keightley voiced her disappointment at being the only female coach in the competition. While female coaches like Charlotte Edwards and Shelley Nietzche have held head coach roles in franchise and domestic women's teams as well as in international set-ups, women in coaching roles, especially in the men's side, are vanishingly rare.
Speaking on the Wisden Women's Cricket Weekly podcast, Winfield-Hill said: "I think females feel like they have to prove themselves above average to run it with the men. I think men quite often see female pathways as an easy way in, and as a stepping stone. It's happened a lot in the past, and I think a lot of female players feel like they get a really good coach at county or domestic level, and they just see it as a pathway into the men's game."
Sarah Taylor became the first woman to be appointed as a member of the coaching staff for a senior England men's side earlier this summer, when she was named as their fielding coach ahead of the Test series against New Zealand. She also worked with the England Lions over the winter, having previously worked in men's cricket at Sussex and Manchester Originals.
"When I eventually finish playing, I don't want to pigeonhole myself into being a female coach in a female space," said Winfield-Hill. "A really great line that Adi [Birrell – Sunrisers Women head coach] uses is, 'it's not men's cricket and women's cricket – I coach people'.
"... We always see it as the female is the inferior and can only learn from the male, whereas we don't see it the other way round. I'd love to see more of it [Female coaches in men's teams]. I think the environment and the organisation have to be really open-minded, because sometimes it can be a bit PR stunty. It genuinely has to be because they're really excited for what this female can add to the environment, and they're wanted because they're very good. You don't want to be given a job because you're an ex-player or you've done this, that and the other. "
The ECB recently announced initiatives aimed at increasing the numbers of women in professional and recreational coaching pathways. A new Female Professional Player to Coach programme enrolled its first cohort in November last year, and included former England players Alice Davidson-Richards and Fran Wilson. Wilson has since been named head coach of Gloucestershire women.
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