With an international career stretching back nearly 20 years, Charlotte Edwards has been at the forefront of the evolution of women's cricket. Since making her debut as a 16-year old in 1995, the England captain has received just about every accolade in the game.
Edwards inherited the England captaincy when Clare Connor, now Head of England Women's Cricket, retired in March 2006. After a few tough losses, including a home series defeat to New Zealand, her first major success as captain came when England retained the Ashes in Australia. A year later, in 2009, Edwards led an inspired team to both the 50-over and T20 World Cup titles. That June, she was awarded an MBE for services to cricket which was, this year, upgraded to a CBE following the back-to-back Ashes wins.
Edwards has always been committed to raising the profile of the women's game and, aswell as being a Chance to Shine Ambassador, holds seats on both the MCC and ICC committees. Her outstanding personal form helped England regain the Ashes in August 2013, following the introduction of the new points system, and keep hold of them a couple of months later in Australia. Despite a number of near misses in international tournaments since then, Edwards is often lauded as the best captain in women's cricket and still contributes regularly with the bat.
In March of this year, Edwards hit 80 from 69 balls to lead England to victory over Bangladesh in the group stages of the T20 Women's World Cup. These runs took her all-time total to over 2000 runs in Twenty 20 Internationals. The milestone, in which she overtook New Zealand batsman Brendan McCullum who was also nearing the total, means she became the first cricketer, either male or female, to reach the landmark. And the following month, Edwards became only the second woman to be named as a Wisden Cricketer of the Year, after her former teammate Clare Taylor in 2009. The prestigious book, which was started in 1897, sees 5 cricketers named as players of the year each season and serves as fitting recognition for a worldwide icon of the game.
Edwards is spending the English winter playing in Australia in the Women's National Cricket League. As captain of the Western Fury, who play in Perth at the WACA, she will be aiming to end the dominance of New South Wales side the Lend Lease Breakers. The Breakers, which includes some of Cricket Australia's biggest stars, have won 16 titles in 18 seasons including the last 9 in a row. Edwards will be joined down under by her England teammates wicketkeeper-batter Sarah Taylor and vice-captain Heather Knight, who have signed for the South Australian Scorpions and Tasmania Roar respectively.
Edwards is spending the English winter playing in Australia in the Women's National Cricket League. As captain of the Western Fury, who play in Perth at the WACA, she will be aiming to end the dominance of New South Wales side the Lend Lease Breakers. The Breakers, which includes some of Cricket Australia's biggest stars, have won 16 titles in 18 seasons including the last 9 in a row. Edwards will be joined down under by her England teammates wicketkeeper-batter Sarah Taylor and vice-captain Heather Knight, who have signed for the South Australian Scorpions and Tasmania Roar respectively.
Finally, Charlotte Edwards has been nominated for the ICC People's Choice Award at the LG ICC Awards 2014. She has been named alongside Australian fast bowler Mitchell Johnson, Indian pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Sri Lankan skipper Angelo Mathews and South African fast bowler Dale Steyn. Fans can vote for the Award, the only one which is decided by the public, by visiting the website (www.lgiccawards.com) or through Twitter using the hashtag #lgiccawards.