Durham Cricket and Northumberland Cricket Board have joined forces to deliver a united high performance pathway for women and girls in the North East, headed by former England cricketer and Hundred Head Coach Danielle Hazell.
The neighbouring counties will merge their under-17 county girls’ and Senior Women’s sides in the new season, and with the already shared Girls’ Academy, will create a joint high performance pathway.
Confirmed Hundred Head Coach of the Northern Superchargers Danielle Hazell will head up the new structure as the counties prepare to deliver ECB’s action plan to transform women’s and girls’ cricket.
The merger will create a competitive pathway for the best talent in the North East, giving the region an opportunity to create and nurture a strong presence within ECB’s national competitions.
The Girls’ Academy based at Emirates Riverside, which last year was approved as an ECB Regional Development Centre, already includes players from Durham and Northumberland, as well as Cumbria, but working together on the high performance female pathway will provide alignment and stronger teams.
The shared pathway will place the two counties in a good position to deliver on ECB’s action plan to develop aspiring female cricketers through the county age groups and will better align with ECB’s ambition to drive the performance of England women’s cricket through a new semi-professional, eight region structure.
The new North East teams, including the Girls’ Academy, will play under a new brand, with team name, logo and kit reveal announced ahead on the season.
Hazell will work alongside High Performance Coaches Rachel Hopkins, James Lowe and Tom Cant to deliver the programme.
Durham’s Director of Cricket Marcus North said: “This merger represents a crucial step in achieving our ambition to support the female pathway and push the game forward in the North East.
“We have taken a fantastic opportunity to work in partnership and deliver an outstanding programme in a very crucial time of the development in the female game.
“This merger will give our best talent in the region a chance to develop as cricketers and people in a competitive environment, while helping raise the profile of the female game in the North East and working towards a good standard of cricket in both our counties.
“Dani’s involvement as head coach is something we are really proud of. She is uniquely placed in the area, having made it to the highest possible level of the women’s game, to pass on her knowledge and experiences to our girls, to support them on their own cricket journey. We feel this is really important and key to our aspirations of creating a great pathway for talented cricketers in the North East.”
Director of Cricket Development at Northumberland Cricket Board Ian Wardle said: “We’re really excited to work with Durham on an ambitious plan, which represents our commitment to the female game in the North East.
“We have a lot of potential and talent in our counties and by joining our forces we will provide a very well-supported programme for these players.
“We know that this merger will make a massive difference to the game in the region and we’re excited for the new season.”