Birmingham "beating heart" of women's cricket as Edgbaston breaks records

Women’s cricket is booming in Birmingham after Edgbaston broke more attendance records at Saturday’s England v Pakistan Vitality IT20.

chrisa

2024-05-13T13:48:20.000Z

The crowd of 12,241 is the highest ever for a women’s bilateral series between England and Pakistan both at home and abroad.

Almost half (48 per cent) of all ticket buyers were women – more than any other game at Edgbaston, including last summer’s Women’s Ashes – while over 1,600 under-16s also cheered Heather Knight’s side to victory.

Commercial Director Adam Lowe said the game cemented Birmingham’s status as a focal point for women’s cricket in the country. “The crowd and the atmosphere around the stadium was awesome,” he said.

“The trajectory women’s cricket is following is exciting both on the international and domestic fronts – and it’s beating heart is right here in Birmingham.

“Next season, for the first time, we have a fully-professional Bears Women’s team playing at Edgbaston in a new national structure in England and Wales.

“That’s more opportunity for women and girls to follow their dream of being professional cricketers. And from what I saw on Saturday, they can’t wait!”

Almost 20,000 people flocked to Edgbaston last July to see England face Australia in the Women’s Ashes. It was the biggest turnout for a women’s game in the country outside of ICC competitions and cemented the region’s position as a hotbed for women’s cricket.

England Women will return to Birmingham in 2025 but there is lots more women’s cricket at Edgbaston this summer, including the Central Sparks and Bears T20 double header on Saturday 8 June.

The annual Family Fun Day, brought to you by Circle Health Group – which sees Sparks play Northern Diamonds (11.30am) and Bears face Durham (3.30pm) – will have lots of family entertainment and live music. West Midlands Fire and West Midlands Police will also be on site with some of their vehicles for youngsters to get behind the wheel of and test out the blues-and-twos sirens.

Players including Issy Wong, Chris Woakes, Amy Jones – who was Player of the Match on Saturday – and Pakistan bowler Aamir Jamal could be in action.

Tickets are available from only £18 for this fixture, while under 16s are £5 and under 5s go free. While The Hundred will return to Edgbaston this August with four double-header match days and will see some of the biggest stars in the men’s and women’s game such as Australia all-rounder Ellyse Perry and Pakistan quick Naseem Shah.