Lancashire to Donate £1 of T20 Doubleheader Ticket Sales to Women and Girls Participation Initiatives
Lancashire Cricket has today announced that the Club will be donating £1 of every ticket sold for its T20 doubleheader at Emirates Old Trafford on Thursday 25 May to women and girls participation initiatives via the Lancashire Cricket Foundation.
The date sees Thunder once again headline a T20 doubleheader when they face The Blaze in the Charlotte Edwards Cup and the ticket donation is one of a series of initiatives on the day to celebrate the importance of women and girls participation in cricket.
Last year, Thunder became the first women's side to have played in the main event slot at Emirates Old Trafford when they faced Southern Vipers and this season the Club is providing even more support to squad in 2023, which this year includes ten fully contracted professionals – in addition to three international players in Sophie Ecclestone, Kate Cross and Emma Lamb who have earnt ECB Central Contracts.
This commitment started in pre-season when the Thunder travelled to Dubai and then Mumbai, for training camps supported by Hilton, who earlier this year became an Official Partner of the team and launched the ‘No Boundaries’ campaign focused on breaking down barriers and offering the best possible support to female athletes within the Thunder playing squad.
This is exemplified through the creation of two new Thunder-specific positions - a Sports Doctor and Nutritionist, both of whom specialise in the health of female athletes. This season, Thunder will also benefit from their own dressing room - with the away team area at Emirates Old Trafford now transformed for the women’s team.
Commenting on the announcement, Daniel Gidney, Chief Executive at Lancashire Cricket, said: “This is a really important day in our season and we urge as many people as possible to come along and support our teams, in the knowledge that you will be playing your part in having a positive impact on the future participation of women and girls across the county. It’s what you see, feel and hear that makes you want to be the next Kate Cross, Sophie Ecclestone or Emma Lamb, who have all come through the Lancashire system, so we hope that there will be a fantastic turn out for this doubleheader.
“As a Club, we are committed to empowering women and girls who want to play cricket at all levels. We have made big strides over the last few years to provide equality for our women’s teams and we will continue to do so. The support of our commercial partners – particularly Hilton and Sportsbreaks.com - has been crucial and we are looking to involve more of them in our women and girls-specific initiatives moving forwards.”
As part of the activities on Thursday 25 May at Emirates Old Trafford, and to further support the drive for gender parity, Lancashire Cricket will be hosting a panel discussion featuring leading sports organisations in the North West and current partners from the Club. Conversation will centre on how women’s sport can better engage commercial partners to help support funding at grassroots and elite levels.
Gidney added: “We are excited to bring thought-leaders from some first-class organisations together to discuss what the future could look like for women’s sport. There is no doubt we are on a strong growth trajectory, there is much more to be done but it’s a really exciting time to be involved in women’s sport both from a performance and also commercial perspective.”
Experience a Festival of Cricket at Emirates Old Trafford this summer!
Enjoy live entertainment in the Fan Village at Emirates Old Trafford once again this season - including interactive games and a family area, as well as great selection of food and drink for all ages.
Early Bird tickets start from just £1 for kids and £10 for adults with some of the biggest names in world cricket set to take centre stage at Emirates Old Trafford this summer, including England’s T20 World Cup stars Liam Livingstone and Phil Salt.