Latest news with #DaniHazell
The Independent
31-03-2025
- Sport
- The Independent
Dani Hazell backs next women's head coach to ‘put their mark on English cricket'
Durham head coach Dani Hazell has declined to rule herself out of the running for the vacant England job, a role she believes will allow someone 'to put their mark on English cricket'. Jon Lewis' sacking after a miserable Ashes tour has created a high-profile vacancy at the exact moment the domestic women's game is embarking on its own profound revamp – potentially awkward timing for some of those helping to launch the county structure. Former England captain Charlotte Edwards is widely seen as the favourite to succeed Lewis despite her role in charge of the new Hampshire side, while Hazell has also been tipped as a possible candidate. The 2017 World Cup winner has spent the winter preparing her hometown club for duty but, while she relishes that role, Hazell stopped short of taking her name out of England contention. 'Obviously there's these things on the horizon that could happen in the future but I'm really happy to be home and really want to put Durham in a really good position in the next few years,' she told the PA news agency. 'I'm very, very happy at Durham at the moment. (England's recruitment) is nothing to do with me. It's well above my pay grade, all that. 'But it's an opportunity for somebody to put their mark on on English cricket, especially now with the changing domestic game. You might see a slight change in how things are going about. The Ashes were very challenging for England, but sometimes… have you got a clean slate? You can really put your mark on it.' Hazell played their majority of her international career under Edwards' captaincy and had no qualms about adding an endorsement of her suitability for the role. Edwards has yet to show her hand but has previously indicated she would do her best to help England bounce back from their recent struggles. 'I played under Lottie for many, many years and she was a brilliant leader when when I played with her,' said Hazell. 'She's obviously now got a very good coaching CV and if that's the direction that England go in, then I think she'll only bring positives to it. I don't have crystal balls and I can't say what's going to happen, but if that was the case, then I'm sure she'd do a really good job.'
The Independent
08-03-2025
- Sport
- The Independent
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. Hazell, now 36 and with 146 international wickets on her CV, has the honour of leading the way for her home county as Durham's head coach and appreciates just how much has been achieved. '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.' The domestic revamp could hardly have arrived at a more apt moment, with England still reeling from a 16-0 thrashing in the Ashes Down Under. 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.'
Yahoo
08-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
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. Hazell, now 36 and with 146 international wickets on her CV, has the honour of leading the way for her home county as Durham's head coach and appreciates just how much has been achieved. '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.' The domestic revamp could hardly have arrived at a more apt moment, with England still reeling from a 16-0 thrashing in the Ashes Down Under. 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.' Ahead of International Women's Day, we asked four former and current England Women's cricketers to discuss how much the game has changed and to reflect on their own journey in the sport. — England and Wales Cricket Board (@ECB_cricket) March 4, 2025 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.'
