Metro Bank & The ECB Recognise Chichester Primary School Teacher for Her Outstanding Contribution to Girls’ Cricket

The inaugural Metro Bank Champion of Girls’ Cricket national award winner has just been named as Chichester resident Anna Davies.

Anna impressed the judges at the 2024 Cricket Collective Awards organised by the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) for her outstanding contribution to cricket in her community.

The annual Cricket Collective Awards honour and celebrate the hard work and dedication of cricket volunteers. County Cricket Boards from across England and Wales nominate the standout volunteers across 12 different categories.

Metro Bank has partnered with the ECB to drive transformational growth for girls’ recreational cricket across England and Wales. This partnership is aiming to triple the number of girls’ teams at cricket clubs and has already achieved a 21% increase in the number of girls’ cricket teams to 463 in the past twelve months. This new award category was introduced this year as part of the partnership’s Metro Bank Girls in Cricket Fund, co-designed and jointly funded to focus on recruiting, educating, supporting and celebrating the people that make girls’ cricket in clubs happen.

Anna was recognised with the Metro Bank Champion of Girls’ Cricket award for successfully building her club’s girls’ section from the ground up. Anna is the first ever recipient of this award which is just one of the ways Metro Bank and The ECB are championing girls’ cricket.

Four years ago, Anna – a lifelong cricket fan - was inspired to introduce girls’ teams to cricket at Chichester Priory Park Cricket Club. As a result of her championing girls, this year the club will run three girls’ teams for the under 9s, 11s and 13s with nearly 70 girls aged from five to fifteen years old participating. However, Anna’s not going to stop there as her ultimate ambition is to have a girls’ team at every age group from U9s to U17s. Her ambition is even more impressive as Anna is also a primary school teacher and mum to two young children, so the demands on her time are huge.

“To me, it’s all about the relationships,” explains Anna. “Sports clubs are so special because they bring together so many different backgrounds, families, and family set-ups. It’s lovely to see the girls come along and join in with any girl that’s there.”

She adds: “We want every one of these girls to feel appreciated. We want them to feel special every time they come to training. Their skill level doesn’t matter. Just being part of the club is giving them something much, much bigger.”

Her comments are echoed by Metro Bank’s brand & marketing director, Danielle Lee; “The aim of our partnership with the ECB is to inspire women to fulfil their potential in cricket, business and life. Participation in team sports - such as cricket - is a gateway for women and girls to succeed in all aspects of their life. We want to improve confidence and social mobility and in turn help communities thrive, whilst also creating more role models who will have a positive impact on the future generations.

“Anna is a worthy winner of our award. She is not only a role model, but also a driving force behind the development of girls’ cricket. Anna has led the charge, promoting girls' cricket and is an inspiration to her local community. She champions equal access and advocates for providing the highest quality experience for our girls, we are delighted to recognise her hard work and wish her every continued success.”

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