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Eddie Chikamhi Senior Sports Reporter

ZIMBABWE women’s cricket team captain Mary-Anne Musonda is set to take part in the ICC 100 percent Cricket Future Leaders Programme later this year.

Musonda is among the 40 women from 29 ICC Member countries that have been selected to be mentored as part of the programme designed to support emerging female talent in cricket.

The programme, which is part of the ICC’s long-term commitment to accelerate the growth of women’s cricket and women in cricket, received an overwhelming response of more than 300 applicants from 45 different countries.

The initial intake will be split into two batches and the programme, which designed to address the low percentage of women in leadership positions in global cricket and build a pipeline of new female leaders in cricket will get underway with batch one beginning this month.

Musonda has been placed in the second batch that begins in November.

ICC General Manager, Marketing and Communications, Claire Furlong, told the ICC website that there have been overwhelming responses to the programme.

“The response from the global cricket community and all of our Member boards has been fantastic,” said Furlong. “We received an overwhelming number of applications from 45 countries spanning all five ICC regions.

“The first two batches reflect the diversity of our regions and their areas of focus, and all have received outstanding endorsements from their respective Member Boards. The next six months will be incredibly exciting, and we look forward to a productive learning experience for our mentees.

“I’d like to thank all of the applicants for their interest in the programme which demonstrates a clear appetite for greater support for our future female leaders as well as our mentors who have committed their time and support so readily.”

The application is open for all female future leaders of cricket to apply and will be matched with a mentor to support their development growth.

The role of a mentor is to unlock their mentee’s potential and help them to be at their best.

This could include being a confidential sounding-board, providing advice, guidance, and connections to reach their potential.

The philosophy of the 100% Cricket – Future Leaders Programme is to be participant lead, with the ICC acting in support to match the mentees with suitable mentors and provide guidelines and evaluation frameworks for the participants and opportunities to network and interact.

The programme will last for a period of six months, and include a kick-off workshop with Belinda Clark, followed by monthly check-ins and a three-month review with the mentees and mentors agreeing the frequency and method of communication.

All mentee applications were reviewed by a selection panel consisting of the ICC General Manager Furlong, Mentor Guide and former Australia Captain Belinda Clark AO, ICC General Manager Development, Will Glenwright, and Competition Manager – Cricket, Birmingham 2022 – Commonwealth Games Holly Colvin.

Batch 2 commencing in November 2021

1            Tuba Sangar      Afghanistan

2            Joan Norton       Australia

3            Lucy Pringle       England

4            Stephanie Frohnmayer  Germany

5            Tammy Chu       HKG

6            Laura Peacock   ICC

7            Harini Raina       India

8            Niamh O’Shea   Ireland

9            Nicky Britten      New Zealand

10          Ijeoma Azubuike             Nigeria

11          Marina Iqbal      Pakistan

12          Margaret Sibona             Papua New Guinea

13          Samantha Hickman        Peru

14          Shivani Mishra  Qatar

15          Stella Siale Vaea-Tangitau           Samoa

16          Abbi Aitken        Scotland

17          Karen Smithies  South Africa

18          Michell Pereira  Sri Lanka

19          Amanda Reifer  W.Indies

20          Mary-Anne Musonda     Zimbabwe