MORE than 2,000 women from South Asian backgrounds have been recruited and trained for volunteering roles in an England and Wales Cricket Board initiative.

As part of the ECB’s South Asian Action Plan, the Dream Big Desi Women programme has seen each of the volunteers delivering sessions for children across urban areas to increase participation in the sport.

At least 200 of the volunteers have gone on to full-time roles in sport in local communities across Britain, while many have taken up further qualifications in cricket coaching, according to the ECB.

The four-year, £2.4 million Sport England-funded project overseen by the ECB, which hit its target ahead of schedule, went to the most ethnically diverse communities and took cricket into non-traditional venues including mosques, temples and gurdwaras.

David Mahoney, chief operating officer at the ECB, said: “The Dream Big Desi Women programme has been a remarkable project led by an incredible group of women at the ECB.

“The programme has created an amazing team of volunteers that have inspired thousands of children in communities across the UK to play cricket, connecting communities and improving lives.”

A celebration of the programme will take place at Lord’s today at the women’s one-day international between England and India, with fans offered the chance to enjoy traditional South Asian activities and food.

Dream Big Desi Women participant Harpreet Kalsi-Virdi said: “This transformed my life in ways I couldn’t have imagined.

“I went from having no real experience of sport to coaching at three separate cricket clubs in Nottingham and running cricket sessions in a local school alongside my day job.”