The Metro Bank Girls in Cricket Fund, co-created and co-funded by Metro Bank and the ECB, exists to grow girls' cricket by growing the people around it. Research with Women in Sport was blunt about the obstacle: not enough coaches, not enough volunteers, not enough people to run a girls' section.

 

We made four films, one for each of the pillars we covered - Ignite, Aspire, Enhance and Evolve - built from interviews with key personnel and footage of these initiatives in action across Loughborough, Yorkshire and Somerset.

 

For the Ignite pillar, we spent an evening at Maidenhead and Bray Cricket Club, in Berkshire, as they ran an Ignite session. The film aimed to illustrate that the volunteers clubs need to help facilitate the growth of the game are already there.

 

A year on, we've been delighted to learn that many of the people seen putting their hands up in the closing moments have become committed volunteers and helpers at the club.