Crazy to see growth – Dani Hazell proud of progress in English women’s cricket

Dani Hazell was at the vanguard when England welcomed their first fully professional female cricketers in 2014 and finds herself on the front line once again as the women’s game prepares for its next major leap.

Just over a decade ago Hazell, a canny off-spinner and handy lower-order batter, was one of 18 players selected to become the country’s first full-time, fully-paid playing squad.

It was both a groundbreaking and overdue development as well as a springboard for continued change.

From relatively humble beginnings, the professional era has continued to grow and will reach a fresh frontier this summer with the launch of the new tier-one county structure.

While the original cohort would only just have filled a single dressing room 11 years ago, there will be more than 150 professionals in 2025 boasting a gender-matched minimum salary of £28,000 for rookies.

“It was very exciting to be involved when women’s cricket started to take a very different direction. It changed everything and it paved the way for where we are now,” she told the PA news agency ahead of International Women’s Day.

“The word ‘trailblazer’ makes us sound very old but it has really been quite a short space of time given how far it has actually come.

“To go from the top-end England players being financially supported for the first time to seeing 150 professional cricketers out there, it’s crazy to see that kind of growth and I feel pretty fortunate to still be involved.

“To have been there from the start is really exciting and I’d love to have a crystal ball and see where it goes next. There has been great progress, I think we should be extremely proud of how far our game has come and still pushing for things to be even better.”

There have been plenty of questions around how to close the gap on Australia and, while some focus on narrow matters like personnel, preparation and tactical prowess, a bigger, better, more competitive county programme should drive up standards more widely.

“Things should spiral,” Hazell said. “We had a smaller group of people who had that type of opportunity and support but over the next two, three, four years it should create a huge amount of competition and make those England squads harder than ever to pick.

“The pool will get far bigger. Speaking for Durham, we have great facilities, great coaches and we can give them a chance to be whatever they want to be.

“Not everybody will play for England, there’s only so many spots, but you can now have a really good career as a domestic cricketer. If you get the opportunity to go higher than that, you know you have to take it with both hands.”

Current England captain Heather Knight, who was one of the initial 18 alongside Hazell 11 years ago, sat down recently with former team-mate Lydia Greenway to discuss the journey with World Cup-winning predecessors Carole Cornthwaite and Lynne Thomas.

“It was so special to spend time with Lynne, Carol and Lydia,” Knight said. “The game has come so far and we have so much to thank them for and everyone else who played the game before the professional era.

“You look at where the game is now and there are so many more opportunities for girls in the game.

“They got all the way in spite of the system and made it more achievable and more possible for everyone after them. We have something in common, having all represented our country, and it was really heart-warming to find out the experiences we shared as well as what separated us.”