by Catherine Hanley
Thursday, November 15, 2001

The gulf in standards between men's and women's cricket at university level is well documented. Male students often play at minor-county or first-class – or even, in the case of Durham student James Foster, international – level, while many women's teams contain a large percentage of newcomers to the sport. The new University Centres of Excellence go some way towards redressing the balance, theoretically accepting men and women on equal terms, although the number of women is at present small. But for other university women's teams life is a struggle.

Someone in an ideal position to compare standards is Pete Coverley, a fourth-year engineering student at Sheffield University, which fields one female and three male XIs. A qualified coach, 22-year-old Pete trains both the men's and women's teams, and he believes that there is hope for the women.

"I think they've done well, considering that a lot of them are first-time players who have had to be taught from scratch. As a male it's easier – you're taught at school from an early age and encouraged to play, so you can pick up the basics early and then concentrate on your technique. It's harder to do that if you don't start playing until you're 20."

In common with many of his male team-mates, Pete started playing cricket while still at primary school, which gives him roughly a ten-year headstart on most of the members of the women's side. The difference is shown in his training methods: "With the men's club we mainly have nets and some fitness work. When you get to this level you know whether you're a batsman or a bowler, or what type of bowler you are, so you can get on with it. At the women's practice it's more basic skills, as a lot of them haven't played. Some of them have, and do have the background knowledge, but if you're teaching the whole group at once you have to start from the beginning again. You don't want to hold the others back, but you have to get everyone up to a certain standard."

When asked whether that standard could be brought nearer to the level of the men's game, Pete hesitates. "I would say yes, but not any time soon. More girls need to be encouraged to play at school, and that takes time. But if you can get a core of seven or eight players who have played from an early age then the standard should get a lot higher."

Catherine Hanley lives and works in Sheffield.

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