England cricket star Sarah Glenn, rugby international and women’s player of the year, Ellie Kildunne and Women’s Super League-winning Lioness, Niamh Charles join forces at The Kia Oval ahead of a huge summer for women’s sport.
All three women, who are 25 in 2025, spoke about the importance of female representation on the field and this golden generation of women’s sport
Hosted by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), the trio who are all at the top of their game are looking ahead to an exciting summer of cricket, rugby, and football, respectively.
Spin bowler Glenn is preparing as England Women will play the West Indies before taking on India in what promises to be a dramatic series on home soil, played alongside the men’s and men’s mixed disability teams for the first time, then heading to India for the ICC Women’s World Cup, and then hosting the ICC T20 World Cup in 2026.
Charles is finishing her title-winning season with Chelsea, before looking to replicate the Lionesses 2022 Euro’s victory this summer, while Ellie Kildunne, fresh off winning the Six Nations, is hoping to take her form into a home Rugby World Cup through August-September.
Each athlete talked about their experiences of growing up in the noughties, and how representation in women’s sport has grown rapidly in recent years. They spoke to the importance of continuing the momentum, playing in front of packed-out crowds, as well as continuing to be role models and supporting other women’s athletes across the sports industry.
Sarah Glenn said, ‘We’ve got a massively exciting summer ahead for the team with new leadership in Charlotte Edwards and Nat Sciver-Brunt bringing a fresh energy to the team ahead of two challenging series against the West Indies and India. Like any team, our priority is to win and it’s inspiring to chat to both Ellie and Niamh today who are both champions, and to hear about their experiences both on and off the pitch.’
Ellie Kildunne noted that, ‘It’s a great feeling to be with both of these women – it’s so important to be able to learn from each other, support each other and comforting to know that we are all going through the same thing despite playing different sports. I’m a sports fan so will definitely be watching Sarah and Niamh and the teams this summer’
Niamh Charles commented, ‘Women’s sport is having an incredible moment right now and we can see that in the tournaments we’ve got coming up this summer across all our sports. All three of us want to be role models to future generations for female athletes and we’re proud to be a part of that movement.’
For all England Women’s cricket fixtures and tickets, visit: https://www.ecb.co.uk/england/women/fixtures
With thanks to Maxwell Sports Communications
