THE number of girls playing club cricket in Worcestershire has increased by more than 300 per cent over the last year.

Worcestershire Cricket Board cricket development director Tom Hill has reported the major upturn, which has been boosted by the 2015 Women’s Ashes legacy programme.

Clubs in the county offering girls’ cricket have increased in 12 months to seven involving around 100 players from the previous figure of three outfits and about 30 girls.

Hill said the Women’s Ashes match at New Road between England and Australia in July helped inspire many of the girls.

Initial interest in the sport was sparked by coaching sessions around the county put on by the cricket board using members of the county women’s first team as role models.

Now Hill is looking to build further on the feel-good factor for girls’ cricket with a similar programme based around next summer’s one-day international between England women and Pakistan at New Road.

He said: “There is no doubt 2015 has been a monumental year for women’s and girls’ cricket in the region.

“History was made as it was the first year Worcestershire women first XI played at New Road under the name of Worcestershire Rapids.

“It underpinned the relationship with Worcestershire CCC and the importance placed on providing opportunities for women and girls to take part in our game.

“Likewise, we were pleased to see one of our local girls in Emily Arlott make it through to the England women’s development programme, proving to be a strong role model for local girls by inspiring the next generation.

“We were also fortunate enough to have the Ashes match at New Road. We thought it provided a one-off opportunity to engage a large number of girls.

“We set up eight hubs around the county, where we delivered girls-only taster sessions. We then took those girls across to local clubs, where we used some of our women’s first XI players, who coached them as role models.

“We then invited all those girls to come down and play at New Road before the Women’s Ashes match on the same day.

“The whole programme was geared around these girls having an event, which was part of the Ashes.

“About 140 girls were involved in the programme but over that programme we’ve increased our girls’ sections from three to seven.”

Hill added: “It is encouraging to have another England women’s match at New Road next summer against Pakistan and we’ve got to use these opportunities where we can to inspire the next generation of girls.

“We are planning a similar scheme with the hubs and events on the day of the game. These are things that will stay with these girls for the rest of their lives.

“Even if they don’t choose to play cricket now, they will have a memory of ‘my day out at New Road’ with Charlotte Edwards and all the other players and you can’t take that away from them.

“We do urge local companies to come forward and help embed these opportunities for legacy programmes.

“They really do change lives and provide representation for girls in a male-dominated sport.”