Developmental activities in women's international pathway cricket

Growth of investment in women’s cricket has led to development of new professional pathways. However, there is lack of specific evidence to support the development of female athletes. Understanding who is competing in new professional squads and their developmental backgrounds is key to supporting players. Here we study the development of 84 women who were selected into professional cricket academies in England. Players completed the Participation History Questionnaire (PHQ) to elicit the amount and type of activities engaged in across their development, including milestones, cricket activity, and engagement in other sport activity. Players displayed early engagement in cricket and over 75% of the sample has a brother. There were also large levels of diversification, with an average of four other sports played until the mid-teenage years. Time use was characterised by low levels of peer led-play and high levels of engagement in practice and match play across the development span. Many players were engaged in boys or men’s cricket before the women’s game and played with men for the majority of their time until reaching their mid-teens. Findings don’t support a single model of player development but offer useful insight for further development of the women’s professional game.