BY MARCUS HOOK
Richard Bedbrook, the regional director of women’s cricket for South East Stars, is to leave Surrey County Cricket Club to take a new role with England Cricket.
Bedbrook, who has been at Surrey for the best part of two decades, working at an elite level in both the women’s and men’s arena, is to become head of England Women’s performance pathways.
Jonathan Batty, who coached Oval Invincibles to The Hundred title last summer, is also on his way out of the Oval. He has been named Melbourne Stars’ new coach in the Women’s Big Bash League.
Batty, who played county cricket for Surrey and Gloucestershire, will be heading down under in September with extensive experience coaching women’s cricket, having also coached Surrey Women and South East Stars, and worked with England Women’s wicketkeepers and their Under 17s.
Bedbrook will provide leadership and oversight to the England U19 and England Women’s A programmes as well as working closely with staff within the regional set-ups to ensure a consistent pathway of young talent is challenging for selection into the Women’s Test and white ball teams.
“I first made my way to the Oval as a 17-year-old to watch men’s Test cricket and little did I know then how my connection to the club would progress from there,” said Bedbrook, who was appointed Surrey’s first ever full-time women’s head coach in 2017.
“Since my early foray into the game as a coach, when I joined the club 19 years ago, I am truly thankful for all the experiences and memories I have gained. I am very proud of the roles I have had and how those have impacted on a number of players across both the women’s and men’s games.”
South East Stars have named their squad for the upcoming Charlotte Edwards Cup, which starts on Saturday against Sunrisers at Chelmsford.
The 20-player squad features 11 from Surrey, including captain Bryony Smith, Alice Capsey, Aylish Cranstone and Sophia Dunkley, as well as England-contracted players Freya Davies (Sussex) and Tash Farrant (Kent).
In last year’s competition, the Stars won six of seven games en route to claiming the title. Capsey (203 runs at an average of 40.60) and Smith (162 runs) were among the leading run-scorers in the competition, and Smith’s 14 wickets at just 9.80 runs apiece saw her top the 20-over tournament’s wicket-takers.
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