I gently correct anyone using sexist language and try to educate them

Sue Strachan last year became the first female president of Cricket Scotland in 140 years, quickly implementing a strong focus on diversity and inclusion of women and minority groups.

She said: “I’ve always found it slightly bizarre that women are considered a special group, considering we make up 50% of the population. Sport has been dominated by men and men have been in positions of influence for a long time, but things are changing and we are getting there.

“When I came on to the board, I was the first woman and to be reaching board level is certainly encouraging. We are progressing as a sport and many sports are but there is a lot of work to be done. It’s key to have women in all parts of sport if we want women to be playing sports.

“In cricket, we don’t have a lot of female coaches, but we are encouraging them with courses. We have introduced female-only coaching courses, which women say they prefer. And the female-only umpiring course this year attracted massive interest, whereas we only had one or two female umpires before that.

“It’s a work in progress. One of the advantages of having more women involved is we understand what it’s like to be in an under-represented group – and I have empathy for other under-represented groups and feel that sport should be for all.”

Strachan stressed the importance of girls being inspired by female role models.

“Having a female coach makes young girls and women realise they can do it, too. It’s all about inspiring girls to be whatever they want to be,” she said. “It’s a huge responsibility being the first female in this role because I want to make sure I do it better than anyone else has done it before.

“I feel I have to do it better because I have a responsibility to show, no matter your sex, you can do the job really well.

“In Cricket Scotland, we have other women in senior positions. And we have more and more clubs setting up a ‘girls only’ focus.

“When I was younger, I would have loved to play cricket but there was no opportunity for girls to do it. I played hockey, squash, netball, badminton, I swam. I was a sporty girl. I have never been the fastest runner but I had a really good eye for a ball.

“One day, somebody asked me to set up a women’s cricket team. I got together with a couple of girls I knew and we formed a team. And that’s how I learned to play cricket.

“My dad and brother played cricket so I had watched then but I played for the first time when I was 48. I’m now a very average club cricketer.”

Since taking on the role at Cricket Scotland, Strachan has been open and honest about her lack of ability on the field but her skills away from the stump set her in good stead. She said: “My knowledge of the female sport environment and my experience from other sports both as a participant and a board member meant that I brought something different to the role than anyone else had done before.

“I have experienced sexism in the cricket world, but what’s important is what we do rather than who we are.

“If I have come across any resistance I will try to talk about what I am doing, rather than who I am.

“I am not in this role because I am a woman, but because of the skills and expertise I bring. I will gently correct people where I think their language is sexist and will try to educate and help them better understand inclusion and diversity.

“For example, a coach recently said to be something about a ‘batsman’ and I said it’s actually a ‘batter’ as it could be male or female.

“It’s all about constructively changing the narrative and working with people to help them adapt to society and the rapid speed it is moving at.”