A number of very distinguished women made their mark on what was then called “Ladies Cricket” in England, back in the two decades following World War II, when Molly Hide, Mary Duggan, Ruth Westbrook and Rachael Heyhoe-Flint came to prominence as great sportswomen.
In welcoming Clare Connor as a more than worthy successor to those grandes dames, we recognise that she is shouldering the mantle in the modern era, and engages a multiplicity of roles, from top class practitioner to role model, and from leader to administrator, now with the E.C.B. since retiring from international cricket two years ago.
Her influence, example, and successes will have played no small part in advancing the cause and spread of women’s cricket over the past decade, with increases in the numbers of female players in schools, and clubs now exceeding 350 in the United Kingdom. Furthermore, we learned with pleasure this past Summer that many of the England squad had been given the opportunity to work as coaches in “Chance to Shine”, thereby at least offsetting some of the problems associated with blending full-time cricket with career work outside the game.
Clare played for Sussex Women from 1991 as a right hand bat and slow left arm bowler, and went on to lead the side to promotion to Division 1 in 2001, followed by Championship success in 2004 and in 2005.
In the meantime she had begun her international career in Test cricket and ODI in 1995, and helped the Under 21 team to win the World Cup in 1997. She became captain, promoted from vice-captain, of the senior England team for the 1999-2000 Winter tour to Australasia, going on to accumulate 87 caps by the time that she retired, due to injury, from the international scene in 2006. She had the pleasure of having secured an Ashes win in that year, and having steadily moulded the England side in to a force with which to be reckoned. During 2005 she captained England against Australia in Cheltenham.
Before taking on the E.C.B. post early in 2008, Clare taught at Brighton College, where she had been educated, and did media work which included broadcasting for Test Match Special and Channel 4, plus writing on cricket for The Observer and The Wisden Cricketer. At the time of writing, she is Head of Women’s Cricket for the E.C.B., based at Lord’s.