Cricketer Isa Guha Launches Women & Girls Initiative

March 3, 2023 

Former England cricketer Isa Guha has kicked off a new initiative to break down barriers to encourage more women and girls to get into cricket. The "Got Your Back" digital campaign is a key part of Guha’s non-profit, Take Her Lead, which was founded in September 2022 and is supported by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). 

Take Her Lead works to ensure that cricket is “a place where every woman and girl can fulfil her potential and thrive” and enables a more inclusive culture for women and girls by empowering, amplifying and connecting across the game. The initiative equips women and girls with skills, awareness and opportunities to change cricket in the UK with mentorship programmes, advocacy and more. Throughout her career on and off the pitch, Guha has been a trailblazer and advocate for women's cricket. In 2002, she became the first woman of South Asian origin to represent England and is now the first woman on the Professional Cricketers Association board. She is on a mission to eradicate the barriers to participation for women and girls, with a focus on diversity after being the few South Asian women in the sport. 

The non-profit was born out of speaking to hundreds of girls across cricket about their experiences and dreams. They soon came to realise that young girls in the sport experience similar challenges to those faced by professional female cricketers, such as equipment, clothing and facilities not being designed for their gender. 

“With the way women’s cricket is going at the moment, everything is brilliant, at the top of the game and it’s exciting to see how far it's moving forward. But we want to make sure that the gap doesn’t widen too much and that the first entry to cricket is still as positive as it can be,” Guha told Sky Sports. 

Guha expanded on barriers to participation such as being the only girl on the team and feeling uncomfortable wearing whilst being on periods. The challenges also varied depending on the communities the girls came from. Being a South Asian-British woman, she understands that in certain cultures, not only is playing sport not encouraged or supported, but it is also seen as a taboo. 

"Cricket has changed massively for girls but there are still a lot of barriers that I can relate to growing up, including being the only girl in an all-male team,” said England captain Heather Knight. "It is important that these young girls have role models and people who can look out for them and give them the feeling that someone has their back." 

Got Your Back intends to make young girls and women feel supported by a group of like-minded athletes and a global cricket community. “Got Your Back is our way of saying that you are seen, ensuring every girl knows they’re part of our team and channelling their voices to change cricket for the better, together,” said Chief Executive of Take Her Lead, Jayde Ellis.  

The ECB launched an action plan to transform women’s and girls’ cricket in 2019 with the fundamental goal of making cricket a gender-balanced sport. £20 million to £50 million of funding went towards enabling organisations across cricket to recruit more dedicated resources, improve the player experience and increase the opportunities to build careers in the sport. Women’s cricket has seen a steady increase in popularity in the past 15 years and there are currently there over 10 million women aged 14 to 40 playing the sport across England and Wales.