Beth Morgan appointed female pathway manager of Berkshire County Cricket Club

Former England batter Beth Morgan has been appointed as Berkshire County Cricket Club's first female pathway manager, the club announced on Friday (August 21). Morgan will need to lead the review, development and implementation of the female pathway program ahead of the 2021 season. She will also work closely with the Southern Vipers squad to increase opportunities for women and girls in the game.

The 38-year-old, who was recently awarded honourary life vice-presidency of the Middlesex County Cricket Club, will be expected to provide a concrete plan to create an "accessible and integrated pathway" for girls from club level into county of regional teams.

The right-hand batter said she is excited to take up her new role at Berkshire and looks forward to working with what is an extremely proactive county.

"I am really looking forward to joining the team here at Berkshire, and helping to build on the fantastic work already being done to grow women and girls cricket in the area. This is an amazing opportunity to work with players and coaches throughout the female pathway within a county with so much potential and a wonderful group of dedicated staff. I can’t wait to get started," Morgan said.

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Mark Roche, managing director of the Berkshire Cricket Foundation, said he was highly encouraged by the increased participation in recent teams, and believes Morgan's experience of playing at the international level for many years, will massively benefit the club.

"With so many clubs within the county now offering girls and women’s cricket, we have a fantastic base to build our pathway on," said Roche. "This year saw 55 girls teams entered in our range of club competitions from Under-11 softball to Under-17 hardball and everything in between. The new role will look to ensure that all of the programs that we offer for female cricketers are aligned and compliment each other. Beth’s experience of playing Club, County and International Cricket will be a huge benefit in us continuing to move forwards."

Morgan enjoyed a 12 year international career, representing England in 107 matches between 1999 and 2011. She was part of both England's ODI and T20 World Cup squads in 2009, playing a pivotal role in the team's victory in the T20 event at home. She also represented Middlesex in 187 white-ball matches, scoring over 4000 runs and taking 97 wickets.

"Beth brings a wealth of experience to Berkshire and we are confident the players on our pathway will benefit enormously from working with such an inspirational role model," Damaris Hayward, director of women's cricket, added. "With the recent restructuring across the country this is an exciting time for Women and Girls cricket and we’re looking forward to being an integral part of the Regional Structure and continuing to support the development of players in our County and Club system. The work of our coaching team throughout the Covid-19 period was vital to keep our players engaged and the way that they have responded to the return of cricket is nothing short of remarkable. Having Beth on board will be invaluable for the continued development of our County Coaches as well as supporting the fantastic work of the coaches in our clubs."