Surrey’s Ryana MacDonald-Gay, Emma Jones and Alexa Stonehouse form part of the newly launched England Women Pace Bowling Performance Programme
Launched last month, the programme targets the development of key pace bowlers outside of the core England Women central contract list and is already bearing fruit.
Ryana MacDonald-Gay (Surrey) and Grace Potts (Lancashire), who were both called up to England’s senior Test squad for the recent tour of South Africa with the former taking two wickets on Test debut, are part of the cohort alongside Emma Jones (Surrey), Alexa Stonehouse (Surrey), Issy Wong and Katie George (both Warwickshire).
England Women Performance Pace Bowling Coach Chris Liddle leads the programme as head coach and oversees regular camps at the National Cricket Performance Centre in Loughborough.
The purpose of the programme is to develop a wider group of pace bowlers that enables the England Women’s team to inspire through on-field performance and thrive on the international stage.
Collaboration with tier one county programmes is a significant feature, ensuring a cohesive approach across different environments, whilst the programme also looks to help the players develop a greater understanding of the holistic demands of being a pace bowler across their development journey.
Liddle said: “It’s been a great to get the pace programme up and running this winter.
“I feel we have selected an incredibly talented group of bowlers who are all at different stages of their development but more importantly have the potential to add variety to England’s pace attack in the future.
“We’ve put a really strong programme together to develop the players in every aspect of their game and supported by coaches who are all aligned to how we want to progress these players over the winter.
“Having Ryana MacDonald-Gay and Grace Potts both called up to the latest Test squad was really pleasing not only from a development point of view but also having players ready if called upon.
“I’m really pleased with the early progress of this year’s intake and the way they have embraced the programme and changes asked of them.”
Richard Bedbrook, head of England Women Performance Pathways added: “We anticipate that the pace department is one area of the game where building depth is crucial and already this winter that has borne fruit with Ryana and Grace being in a position to not only support the England programme but also play a crucial role.
“The pace programme has really presented the players with an environment that not only inspires them to keep striving for their personal ambitions but also looks to really fast-track their development with the close individualised support of key coaches across all disciplines of the game.
“We are really thankful to the various counties with players involved at this time for supporting the programme and trusting how the collaboration of the players development plans can work, where players are able to feel that each environment is aligned in message.”
