Our Values: An Education for Life

For further information: all the time, you’re contending with injuries, illness, poor form and the mental side of it is out of this world. You learn to dig pretty deep at times.

But ultimately, I find that I still pinch myself, because I got to do it. I have that shirt with my name on it, with ‘Beamish’ on it, number 36, and it’s something that I’ll treasure forever. My cap is sitting framed, it will be gathering dust as well, but it’s very special and I’m very privileged to have played with the girls that I have done and worked with the people that I did.

Do you feel that having a career in sports for a woman is harder than it is for a man?

Short answer: yes. I think until recently, it wasn’t a real option. I mean, growing up, the only sports that I knew where there was a career for women were golf and tennis. Especially in Ireland, realistically it was practically all amateur sport. But a lot of that has changed – Irish cricket women now have contracts, they started a couple of years ago, I think. There’s still a way to go, but it is getting there.

It feels like the time has kind of come for women’s sport. There are better contracts available – you see them talking about it in England, you see them talking about how now, in English cricket, women and men get the same match fee. Contracts aren’t the same, but they’re getting there. Women and men get the same prize money in Wimbledon. In Australian cricket, as I mentioned before, they’ve taken real strides to try and close the salary gaps between the male and female cricket players.

But I think for women’s sport now, it’s getting there. Is it completely there? No. We’re still having to fight for equality, but people are listening more and more now. It’s such a joy to watch that we’re moving in the right direction.

Do you feel that cricket is a relatively accessible sport for people from minority and disadvantaged backgrounds?

I don’t think it’s as difficult as it used to be. People have their hang-ups about cricket being an elitist sport, but truthfully, I think that’s perception and culture. Don’t forget, I was an Irish girl playing cricket, you know, these things did not compute. But it just happened that the school I attended played it, and I loved it. There have been huge, huge investments at grassroots level in Ireland and in the UK. Equipment used to be a blocker but now Kwik cricket equipment, which is a plastic blue set of stumps and yellow ones, is widely available for free. That equipment can now be put into any playground in the country and you can play on any surface. You no longer need the mowed lawns and the cricket crease which is very expensive to keep. www.linkedin.com/in/emma-beamish www.reeds.surrey.sch.uk

I think it’s just a mindset. It’s new, it’s different, but like everything I think if you keep showing up and giving people the opportunity to play, you allow them to make up their own minds. There are so many clubs around that people can join. The cricketing community is so welcoming, they love new cricket players, everyone’s passionate and nuts about the sport.

For example, at Surrey, Ebony Rainford-Brent - who I played with at U21 and also a World Cup Winning player - set up the ACE, which is the Afro Caribbean Engagement programme. This gives a great opportunity to engage young people of African and Caribbean heritage, at the grassroots level, which is incredible.

Cricket is for everyone, and whether it’s a ball made out of electrical tape and sticks for wickets, trust me, the kids will be competitive. For me, I think it’s all about just having someone to keep turning up for them, and to give them access and opportunities.

We would like to thank Emma Beamish, retired Irish cricketer, for giving up her time to speak to us.