There"s little that Charlotte Edwards hasn"t achieved in her nearly three-decade career in cricket. The first 20 of those she spent as a cricketer and the rest as a coach. Once the youngest woman to have played for England, she also captained her national side for 10 years. During her tenure as the captain, she won two World Cups, and Ashes series, both home and away.
Once she retired from international cricket, Edwards moved on to coaching T20 franchise teams, there too building a CV as illustrious as her playing career. Be it with the Southern Vipers and the Southern Brave in the UK or the Sydney Sixers in Australia "s WBL, Edwards has cracked the code of taking the team to the top. It was no different for the inaugural edition of the WPL last year, where Edwards, the head coach of the Mumbai Indians, won her team the title.
As the second season of the Women’s Premier League (WPL) commences, Edwards joins Forbes India in an episode of Sports UnLtd podcast and shares her thoughts on cricket, women"s cricket and the WPL. Edited excerpts:
Q. If you look back on the first season of the WPL, and its aftermath, what have been the big gains for women’s cricket?
The WPL was massive for women"s cricket. Every eyeball in the world was on India during that time. When you"re in it, you don"t probably quite see that as much. When I got home, spoke to people in other countries, I realised how big a reach the tournament has had. It has been a real gamechanger for women’s cricket. Personally, it’s just amazing to be part of it and then to have the success we had as a team made it even more special. It would have to be one of the highlights of my career in terms of being there from the start, from the auction to playing and the final, playing in front of that many people. It was a pretty special month for all the players, not just Mumbai Indians.
Q. The dressing room is also a melting pot for these franchise tournaments. On one hand you have international icons like Nat Sciver-Brunt, and sharing it would be young, aspiring players like Saika Ishaque and Jintimani Kalita. As a coach, how did you handle this dressing room?
I loved every minute of it, and that"s the great challenge for coaches now in all franchise teams—to bring the team together so quickly with the different characters you"ve got. That’s what I love about coaching—everywhere you go, everything’s slightly different. But what I will say about the international players is that they were amazing with their local domestic players and really made them flourish within the tournament because they made them feel so welcome. And it was a big strength of us as a team that there were no egos. A lot of the younger girls have gone on to bigger and better things since that tournament. For someone like Saika to get the recognition she did with India later, these are the moments as a coach that make you feel proud, and that’s what WPL has done for some of these players.
Q. Under you as the head coach, it"s not just Mumbai Indians that has won the WPL. But you’ve achieved fantastic results with other teams like Sydney Sixers, Southern Vipers, and the Southers Braves, to name a few. How have you cracked the code?
I don"t ever feel like I"ve cracked the code. I"ve been very lucky to have reasonable success so far in my coaching career. As a player, I always wanted to be successful and that"s no different for me as a coach. But I had to do it in a slightly different way now. When I first started coaching, I found it incredibly frustrating because I had no control whatsoever on what was going on. And now, as a coach, you"ve just got to sit back and hopefully you"ve prepared the team well enough. It"s giving me a few more grey hairs, but I’ve loved every minute. But one thing I"m never is, is complacent.
Q. You only get to spend a short time with franchise league teams, a month or two at the most. How do you turn them into cohesive, winning units in such a quick time?
It"s pretty simple in many ways. It"s building good relationships quickly and making everyone feel like they"re part of the team. Whether you"re the 18th player of the team or the number one player, everyone"s got to feel a part of that team. I want the team to have a lot of fun. We’re in a business where results do matter, but alongside you"ve got to enjoy what you do. And that"s one thing I really portrayed to anyone around that I"m not too serious, I don"t take myself too seriously. Also, one thing I"d say to the players is that I"ve never forgotten how hard the game is. As a coach you should never, ever forget that because the game’s not easy. And that"s why people like myself and Jhulan [Goswami] are there to support the players and know the ups and downs of what can be a tough sport when things aren"t going your way.
First Published: Feb 23, 2024, 11:30
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