South Asian Cricket Academy launches Women’s Programme

South Asian Cricket Academy (SACA) will launch its inaugural women’s programme for the 2026 season, marking a significant expansion of its high-performance pathway.

The fully funded pilot scheme will run over the next 12 months. It is seeking between six and 10 non-professionally contracted British South Asian women aged over 18.

The programme has been developed with support from Take Her Lead, the registered charity founded by former England international and broadcaster Isa Guha.

Take Her Lead focuses on advancing equality and diversity in cricket. It also aims to increase participation among women and girls across the sport.

Since its establishment in 2022, SACA has played a key role in addressing the underrepresentation of South Asian players in professional cricket.

To date, it has helped 18 male players of South Asian heritage secure professional contracts with county clubs.

During that period, the percentage of professional county players from a South Asian background has risen from four to 13%.

The number of South Asian players within county academies has also increased, from 18 to 26%.

SACA’s own research highlights the scale of the challenge in the women’s game.

There are currently five professional South Asian women’s players at county level, accounting for 3.3% of all players. A further five, or 7.1%, are based within county academies.

Tom Brown, the founder and managing director of SACA, said the women’s programme builds on years of observing structural gaps in the game.

He said: “Having worked in the women’s game as a scout and coach for the past six years I’ve seen first-hand how the game has grown.

“We’re excited that SACA will take on a leading role in helping to develop talented young British Asian female cricketers and helping them achieve their ambitions to break into the professional game.

“We are confident that we can very quickly start to emulate the success our men’s programme has delivered for so many talented cricketers.”

Guha will chair an advisory group for the programme. The panel will include experts with experience in high-performance environments and a South Asian perspective.

The group features England selector Lydia Greenway, alongside former players Abtaha Maqsood and Sonia Odedra.

Guha said the initiative addresses a long-standing absence of targeted support for South Asian women in cricket:

“The inaugural SACA women’s programme will provide a much-needed focus for South Asian women in cricket.”

“Our role is to ensure the environment created makes these women feel like they belong in cricket, taking their background and gender into consideration.

“Our fabulous group of advisors and experts will support their development, while also ensuring this programme is built for success.”

SACA hopes the programme will not only create clearer routes into the professional game but also serve as a model for more inclusive talent development across English cricket.

Who are the 18 SACA Male Graduates?

• 2022: Kashif Ali (Worcestershire), Andrew Umeed (Somerset, now released)
• 2023: Zaman Akhter (Gloucestershire), Hassan Azad (Northamptonshire, now released), Arafat Bhuiyan (Kent, now released), Jafer Chohan (Yorkshire), Zain ul-Hassan (Glamorgan)
• 2024: Zen Malik (Warwickshire), Hisham Khan (Worcestershire, for 2024 One-Day Cup), Yavinder Singh (Worcestershire, now released)
• 2025: Daz Ahmed (Gloucestershire), Amrit Basra (Derbyshire), Kam Dhariwal (Gloucestershire), Nikhil Gorantla (Surrey), Vansh Jani (Warwickshire), Mo Rizvi (Kent, now released), Aman Rao (Gloucestershire), Arav Shetty (Lancashire)