Formed in Autumn 2024, Coventry Girls Cricket Club initially started up as a girls’ section at neighbouring club but have since grown rapidly.
The club was brought together by Anthony Kilroy and Tom Randle, who both had big aspirations to provide a place for girls with plenty of opportunities and space to train.
Emily Townsend, whose daughter had started to play cricket around this time, joined Anthony and Tom to talk about ways in which they could support girls’ cricket.
With an option of contacting local clubs to look for available space, it quickly became clear the trio were determined to find their own space and run a standalone girls’ club.
After contacting Bablake School, a supportive home was found and Coventry Girls Cricket Club was formed in October 2024.
Speaking about the club, Emily said “the aim from the outset was to provide cricketing opportunities for girls in a safe, inclusive space that the girls could call their own.”
After initial discussions with Warwickshire Cricket Foundation, a Club Safeguarding Officer was trained and insurance sourced through the ECB game wide policy, whilst one of the parent’s, who happened to be an art teacher, designed the new club badge featuring Lady Godiva, Coventry’s symbol of courage, defiance, and compassion.
The first cricket activity started in October 2024 with indoor sessions taking place at Bablake School, with an impressive total of 18 girls attending the first session.
The innovative thinking behind the club didn’t go unnoticed and funding was secured thanks to Sport England and the Movement Fund who contributed towards indoor facility hire, new equipment, and playing and training kit.
A sizeable sponsorship deal was also struck with local car dealership Omoda Jaecoo, who equally as keen to support female sport and help the club grow. All funding secured allowed the club to keep fees down and ensure the club was accessible to all. A hardship fund was also set up to reinforce the ethos that cricket should be for all.
By Christmas, numbers had grown slightly to 20 but by the time the outdoor season started in April those numbers quickly grew to 30 as the word spread. Anthony, Emily and Tom were inundated with enquiries from parents.
The club went into 2025 with their official Clubmark status which is testament to the hard work put in behind the scenes and the importance placed on good governance and a safe environment.
In May, Coventry Girls delivered a successful All Stars programme, contributing to the success of the overall 2025 summer.
The club now has 46 female members covering a wide age range from under 6 to under 15, with all ages playing a mix of softball and hardball games, playing more than 40 games in total.
A number of players have made Warwickshire County Cricket Club’s Age Group winter squads, which is a testament to the hard work put in by founders Anthony, Tom and Emily.
Coventry Girls Cricket Club recently enjoyed their first awards evening with over 125 people attending.
Emily explained “the awards weren’t statistically based, and we aim to develop better young people. Our awards were in categories that recognised kindness, determination, leadership and most improved.”
Anthony and Emily agreed the key highlight from the summer was the opportunity for the girls to be part of the Guard of Honour at Edgbaston for a Bears Women T20 Blast game. As was the Girls Festival at Stratford-upon-Avon Cricket Club and the chance to play on the Edgbaston outfield as part of a Festival Day.
So, what’s next for Coventry Girls Cricket Club? Anthony told us: “We are aiming to have 60 girl members signed up in our second year and grow that to 80 members for 2027. We are adding extra coaching sessions to our 2026 winter programme to ensure the girls continue to improve and that our groups don’t become too big and impersonal.
“We want to work with our local primary schools to try and attract more young girls into the club and ensure we grow organically. Long term we hope to form a women’s section as our girls grow with the club.”
Coventry Girls Cricket Club are certainly proving that there is no limit to the ambition of the Club and their cricketers.
If you are interested in joining Coventry Girls Cricket Club, please email [email protected].