FOR Charlotte Edwards, women’s cricket in this country could not be in a much better place.

As captain of the national team, Edwards has overseen huge success internationally in recent years as well as at grassroots, and believes the game is in as good a state as it has ever been, at all levels.

The 31-year-old, an ambassador for the Chance to Shine development programme, which recently visited St Mary’s Roman Catholic School in Swindon, has enjoyed a decorated few years, as she explained to the Advertiser.

“In 2009 we became double world champions and Ashes winners, and that has to go down as the biggest highlight of my career,” she said.

“We’ve really got to build on that success, we’ve got some massive tournaments coming up in the next couple of years. I guess that’s what we’re all training for and playing for at the moment.

“We’ve got the Quadrangular Twenty20 this summer, the World Cup in March in India and then the Twenty20 World Cup next summer in Sri Lanka, so there’s going to be quite a lot of time in the sub-continent which is good. I’m really looking forward to those challenges ahead.”

The bi-product of the success of the England women is that there has been a huge upsurge of interest amongst youngsters, who may otherwise have remained inactive, and Edwards has been delighted to witness this change.

“I think it has a massive impact in terms of the fact that the girls get to see us play on TV and then therefore have role models,” said Edwards.

“Boys have so many role models with footballers, rugby players and cricketers, but it’s so important that these young girls have role models to look up to as well.

“For them to be able to see us in their primary schools and getting coaching off us is very inspiring, and hopefully that will generate a lot more publicity and more participation in the women’s game.”

Edwards even admitted envy at the chances that girls had at their disposal, as it is a structure that was not in place when she was a youngster.

“If I had had the opportunities the children have today to get quality coaching, it would have been fantastic,” she revealed.

“The participation rates in girls’ cricket are going up every year and that’s mainly down to the Chance to Shine scheme.

“The challenge for us now is to get those girls playing competitively at local clubs and also having competition at school level.”