by Catherine Hanley
Thursday, December 27, 2001

Clare Connor's love of cricket developed early. As a toddler she would watch her father, and when she arrived at Brighton College prep school, aged eight, she declared her intention to play. The cricket master, James McIntosh, said from the outset that if the young Clare was good enough, she would be picked for the team.

She played throughout her time at secondary school, appearing in boys' teams, where a certain amount of determination was required.

"Every year people said I wouldn't be back the following term, that I would lose interest or wouldn't be strong enough or whatever, but I proved them wrong by coming back every year, and eventually realised my ambition of playing in the first team."

Despite the support of the school, Connor continually felt that she had to prove herself - to be better than the boys just to be considered their equal. She mentions a rival college whose coach believed she was only selected in the team for the publicity.

"I took four wickets in the fixture against them, so he didn't say it again."

But she acknowledges that such experiences helped her develop strength of character. Connor, now 25, says she had an "unbelievably advantageous" start in the game.

She recounts the tireless efforts of John Spencer, the school's cricket master, who, realising he had a talent on his hands, gave up much of his own time to coach her and work in the nets hour after hour.

She also received much support from her family. "My father was never pushy, but he always wanted me to play at the best level available. Once I started getting selected for regional or national teams he drove me hundreds of miles all around the country."

Perhaps Connor's greatest advantage was that her requests to play were always treated seriously – nobody ever told her that "girls don't play cricket". She says this early grounding proved vital in her development. "I'm sure I would have pursued my love of cricket somehow, but I don't think I'd be doing what I'm doing now."

Connor, who played cricket with boys from the ages of eight to 18, is an advocate of girls' cricket in schools, and believes more could be done to encourage girls to play.

"It's very important to have female role models both in the sport and in the school – not necessarily international cricketers, but someone who has a real passion for the game."

She also recognises the particular difficulties of encouraging girls to play what has traditionally been regarded as a male sport. "For me, and for some other girls, it wasn't a particularly tough experience getting stuck in with the boys, but for others it might be more difficult. It's important to make girls feel that they're good enough, to give them confidence, which is why you need a coach with a passion for the game."

Enthusiasm first, expertise afterwards, seems to be the formula for getting girls interested in cricket, but this won't necessarily make the international future any brighter.

"Having more girls playing at school will improve standards to a certain degree, but to make a real impact it has to be taken much more seriously, as it is in Australia and New Zealand."

Women's cricket is taken seriously at the international level – Connor notes that the England team benefits from the same sponsorship deals and access to facilities as the men. But this attitude has yet to filter through to grass-roots level, where many schools remain resistant to the idea of girls' cricket.

If you were to write a recipe for a successful international cricketer, it might go something like this: take a large measure of talent, add supportive parents, some good, enthusiastic coaching and an early opportunity to play, and mix it all together with a healthy dose of determination. Clare Connor quite obviously has all of these things; others may benefit from only a few of them.

Let's hope that the right mix can be achieved so that we see many more like her in the future.

Catherine Hanley lives and works in Sheffield

More Women's Pages
The demise of the skirt
Family power has arrived

© Wisden CricInfo Ltd