Lisa Pagett named regional director of women's cricket for the South West & Wales

Pagett is to leave her role as Gloucestershire Cricket Board's Women and Girls' Development Officer

Western Storm have announced that Lisa Pagett has been made regional director of women’s cricket for the South West & Wales.

A statement read that Pagett’s primary role will be to “provide leadership and strategic direction to the regional senior team and the academy.”

Pagett, who spent four years as general manager of Western Storm in the Kia Super League, said the new role offers an exciting challenge.

“Obviously Western Storm is something that is very close to my heart, so to be leading it into the future is really exciting,” she said. It’s a challenge and an opportunity that I am really looking forward to.

“I’ve held a number of roles within the women’s game so I feel that I have a pretty comprehensive understanding of the game at lots of levels. One of the things I’m really looking forward to is working with the six regional partners to drive the game forward across the whole of the South West.

“When Western Storm was a KSL side, we made sure that our grass roots initiatives reached beyond just the Somerset and Gloucestershire boundaries. This role is very much about getting out and about because Western Storm represents the region as a whole and we want people to be able to connect with it.

England players' "minds were elsewhere" says Joe Root

“We have so many exciting opportunities ahead of us and to be able to support the development of the region’s talented women and girls is fantastic. Hopefully this will allow them to follow in the footsteps of players like Anya Shrubsole, Fran Wilson and Heather Knight, who came through the region so successfully.

“This is a very exciting time for women and girls who are involved in the game.”

Glamorgan CEO, Hugh Morris, said: “Western Storm will take the women’s game across the whole of the South West and Wales to the next level, and we are delighted to have someone of Lisa’s calibre at the helm.

“Glamorgan, Somerset and Gloucestershire will be working hand in hand with our neighbouring counties and Cricket Wales to ensure that the game goes from strength to strength by building on the excellent foundations that are currently in place.

“Throughout the duration of the KSL, Western Storm set the benchmark for excellence both on and off the field and that legacy, which Lisa played a huge part in, will now live on and help to produce the stars of the future.”