The first female cricket director at a private school in England has been appointed in Brighton.
Sussex women's captain Alexia Walker will oversee training programmes and coaching at Brighton College.
Ms Walker has been cricket performance manager at Loughborough University for the past four years.
She also captains the England Women's Academy team, which is currently competing in a three-match series against Pakistan.
A spokesperson for the school said: "Brighton College has been at the forefront of women's cricket since allowing girls to play alongside boys in the First XI if they were judged to be sufficiently capable, despite vocal criticism from Robin Marlar, incoming president of MCC, in 2005."
Emphasis mine, because the fact that this is apparently considered something to be proud of is ridiculous, and the 'if they were judged sufficiently capable' is just offensive; surely nobody's suggesting that a girl should play alongside boys in the First XI if she is not sufficiently capable? Why the implication that she somehow needs more judgement than a male peer, who is somehow automatically more qualified? I'm not a fan of comparing prejudices, but seriously, would that be tacked on to the same decree regarding non-white, non-heterosexual or non-middle class boys? In 2005?
That one statement aside though, the headline itself highlights the gender inequality at work here, as it would otherwise be "Experienced teacher offered position at school" which isn't news at all. When women getting typically male-dominated jobs is no longer news, then maybe we can count ourselves one step closer to gender equality.
