Canada appoints new women’s cricket co-ordinator

Ex-Canadian international Durriya Shabbir has been appointed as canadian cricket’s women’s cricket co-ordinator. The announcement was made via an article on the Cricket Canada website which offers an insight into how Shabbir was selected. According to the article, Shabbir was ‘chosen from the pool of applicants for the position that was created by the Board this past July. Her appointment will last until Cricket Canada’s next Annual General Meeting, which is scheduled to be held in 2021’.

Shabbir will be expected to grow all aspects of women’s cricket within the country; including being responsible for growing the promotion and public engagement with women’s cricket along with ensuring that there is the development of gender-specific programmes aimed at increasing the numbers of active women’s players, coaches and officials. Other duties will include attending Cricket Canada Board meetings, convening and chairing a Women’s Cricket Committee and serving on other appropriate committees to represent the interests of women’s cricket.

There will be the hope that having the experienced voice of Shabbir at the helm of women’s cricket in Canada will help the development of the sport. Offering more than just experience, Shabbir provides a female voice to an all-male board of directors, which diversifies the points of view at the top of Canada’s game, Shabbir will hopefully ensure that women’s cricket will remain high on cricket Canada’s agenda.

Shabbir has previous administrative experience, as she was instrumental in creating Ontario’s first Women’s cricket team and co-created the July 2018 Canada Day Women’s Cup Tournament. The tournament was aimed at providing a national stage for female cricketers to showcase their talent and passion for the sport.

During her playing career, the right handed Shabbir won the tournament batting award after scoring 153 runs at an average of 51 when Canada won the 2012 ICC Americas Women’s Twenty20 Championship.

Women’s cricket in Canada has had its periods of success after winning the inaugural ICC Americas Championship in 2007 then defending the title in 2009. However, in 2019, the team lost out to their southern neighbour during the 2019 ICC Women’s Qualifier Americas, therefore, missing out on qualification to the 2019 ICC Women’s World Twenty20 Qualifier in Dundee, and the postponed 2021 Women’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier.   

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