A SHROPSHIRE teenager has been named as the first recipient of a Malvern College scholarship set up in the memory of a much-loved cricketer who campaigned for equal opportunities for women in the sport.
Grace Seedhouse, who lives in Worfield near Bridgnorth, is the inaugural winner of the prestigious Rachael Heyhoe Flint Cricket Award.
The 13-year-old Birchfield School student was selected from dozens of talented young cricketers who attended a highly competitive trials day at Malvern College last month.
Grace emerged victorious and will join the college in 2019.
The award is worth several thousands of pounds a year and includes a package of mentoring and specialist coaching on the college’s performance pathway which is designed to help recipients reach the highest level of the sport.
Grace, who plays for Worfield Cricket Club, also participates in the Shropshire County Cricket Club pathway which identifies talent in the sport.
“I am really thrilled to be coming to Malvern as the first holder of the girls’ cricket award,” said Grace.
“It’s a great honour and the girls’ cricket at Malvern is so strong, it’ll give me the chance to try to fulfil my dream of playing cricket for England.
“Rachael Heyhoe Flint set the standard as one of the greatest women cricketers of all time and I really hope I can live up to her example.”
The Rachael Heyhoe Flint Cricket Award will be made an annually so by 2023 there is one recipient in each year at Malvern College.
Rachael captained the successful England women’s side from 1966 to 1978 and was the first female cricketer to hit a six in a Test match.
In 1999, after years of campaigning for equal opportunities for women cricketers, she became one of the first ten women admitted to the MCC and later a committee member.
She became an influential businesswoman, philanthropist and director of Wolves as well as being a member of the Malvern College Council for nearly ten years.
Rachael died in January last year aged 77 after a short battle with cancer.
