Maiden effort at coaching cricket

Melanie Abeysinghe among the youngest aspiring to become a coach:

Cricket is a man's game or is it ? Women have been making rapid advances in cricket and women's cricket is gaining more prominence. In fact, the recently concluded World Cup held in Sri Lanka, which India won, highlighted the progress of the women's game.

The women displayed the same level of grit and enthusiasm as their male counterparts. For the first time, there was heightened media and commercial interest from the wider cricketing world. It was an event worth savouring and remembering.

With women's cricket going places, more Lankan women are entering the field to play at professional level.

But they are apparently not stopping at playing. Cricket coaching has become an equally appealing prospect, as there will be more opportunities for women cricket coaches in the future with the expansion of the game all over the world. And they are starting young.

At just 21, that is. Sri Lankan woman cricketer Melanie Abeysinghe is one of the youngest studying for the Certificate of Higher Education in Coaching (Cricket) in the home of cricket - England. Melanie has taken to the turf at Newcastle College to learn more about the game she loves.

Melanie plays for the Sri Lankan women's national side and recently returned from a tournament in Asia to continue her studies in Newcastle.

She had to sacrifice the chance to play in several major tournaments to follow the course, but she believes it is worth the time and the effort. Melanie said: "I would like to thank all of the people that have helped me with the course. I am having a great time on the course as it is so much fun, but wonderful experience at the same time."

She hopes to utilise her learning experiences to become a more accomplished player cum coach back in Sri Lanka, where more women, especially from the rural areas, are taking to cricket.

She expresses the hope that the women's game would one day achieve parity with the more widely followed men's game, as exemplified by wildly popular one-day internationals and Twenty20 matches. Women's cricket is also slowly becoming a (live) television event.

The qualification is designed for students outside Europe who have experience of playing or coaching cricket and want to develop skills.

Students on the one-year programme followed by Melanie learn about sports science, psychology of performance, management and administration and do a work-based project. There are further opportunities for learning the art of coaching at Newcastle.

Newcastle itself renowned for its cricket talent and Newcastle College is working alongside Durham County Cricket Club - home of England stars Paul Collingwood and Steve Harmison - to deliver the qualification.

Head of international recruitment at the college, Pete Fiaschi, said: "Having Melanie here shows the high calibre of athletes that Newcastle College can attract with this course."

The Northern Echo