Wednesday 24 / April / 2024
Muscat: Oman Cricket official, Richa Sharma, is one of the 25 women leaders, who have been picked by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for the 2023 Future Leaders Programme.
Richa, who is the sponsorship and marketing manager at Oman Cricket (OC), is one of the only two women from the GCC region to be part of the future female leaders in cricket, announced by the world cricket governing body, based in Dubai, UAE.
The other woman selected is Kuwait national women’s team captain Amna Tariq, who will have former South African captain Mignon du Preez as mentor.
Richa’s mentor will be South African Kass Naidoo, International cricket commentator and founder of GSport4girls in South Africa.
In her remarks to Times of Oman, Richa said: “I'm glad to share that I have been selected in the third batch of the 100% Cricket Future Leaders Programme. I am confident that it will be a valuable and enriching experience for me, and certainly it will be an enormous opportunity for me to grow and enjoy this journey under Kass Naidoo.”
She added: “I would like to thank the entire team of Oman Cricket, International Cricket Council and 100% Cricket Future Leaders Programme for encouraging equal participation in sports for women and girls starting from grassroots level.”
Kass Naidoo welcomed Richa on board the ICC programme and said: “I am looking forward to working with Richa.”
This is the second time that Oman Cricket will be represented in the ICC Future Leaders Programme.
Vaishali Jesrani, Oman women’s team captain and advisor to Oman Cricket board, was selected in the inaugural programme that featured 40 women from across the world in 2021.
Vaishali was mentored by Anthony Everard, then Cricket Australia’s executive general manager of fan engagement.
The 2023 programme is the third edition of the ICC 100% Cricket Future Leaders Programme and begins on May 18.
It comprises a record-breaking intake of 25 future women leaders in cricket.
According to an ICC media release, the mentees, who have increased from 20 in 2022, will be paired with senior leaders from across global cricket to work on a one-on-one basis over a six-month period and will receive training and support in their areas of expertise in dealing with real-time and real-world issues and projects.
The programme will also include two full online group workshops and a debrief session with programme guide, Belinda Clark AO as well as smaller mentee peer working group sessions.
The Future Leaders Programme is a mentorship programme for future women leaders in the sport and forms part of the ICC’s long-term commitment to accelerate the growth of women’s cricket and women in the game.
It falls under the 100% Cricket campaign, the objective of which is to promote gender equity, as well as to empower women and young girls through cricket.
The programme’s aim is to address the low percentage of women in leadership positions in global cricket and to promote and support emerging female talent in the cricket landscape from coaching, officiating, administration, and broadcast, to marketing, digital and technology, journalism, and events.
ICC Chief Executive, Geoff Allardice said: “We have had an overwhelming response to the first two editions of the Future Leaders Programme and are delighted by the continued growth in interest for year three.
“We look forward to another group of talented female leaders in our sport emerging with more tools and knowledge to apply to their respective areas, and hopefully resulting in them spearheading the change we want to see in cricket.
“The programme has been well-supported by our member associations, and we are grateful to our mentors who have volunteered their time and knowledge for this important assignment.”
