An alumna of St Catharine’s is combining her business acumen and life-long passion for sport at the helm of a Leeds-based cricket side that fields men and women’s teams representing North-East England and Yorkshire in The Hundred, a 100-ball cricket tournament launched in 2021. Kirsty Bashforth (1988, Economics) has just completed her second summer season as chair of Northern Superchargers, an unpaid role that she was appointed to in July 2023.
Kirsty was already a sports enthusiast when she arrived at St Catharine’s in 1988 from the Isle of Man, where she’d grown up amidst motorcycle races and car rallies. Alongside her undergraduate studies, she played for the College’s cricket team (as wicket keeper and opening batswoman) as well as tennis, football, squash and hockey clubs.
She recalled, “The collegiate system at Cambridge is fantastic for sport – you can join as many clubs as you want and have fun regardless of your skill level. Sport was integral to my undergraduate experience and I have so many special memories during my three years at Catz, both on and off the field. Winning the Cuppers hockey competition in my final year stands out, as well as of course, the Alley Cats camerarderie on the social side. In fact, I have managed to keep a lot of my sports ‘stash’ as mementos of this time in my life.”
Kirsty as an undergraduate
After graduation, Kirsty spent 24 years with BP in various global commercial roles and went on to found QuayFive (advising CEOs on change, organisational culture and leadership). She is now Chief People & Culture Officer for Delinian and serves in non-executive director positions on the board of both Serco and PZ Cussons. Having lived and worked in the United States, Denmark and Belgium, she came back to the UK and has settled in Harrogate, 14 miles north of Headingley Cricket Ground where the Northern Superchargers are based.
She said, “I have always enjoyed cricket and went to Headingley matches as often as possible before Northern Superchargers came along. I seized the opportunity to combine my professional expertise and passion for sport as chair. Although the Superchargers’ board meets six or seven times a year, activity naturally peaks during the season (July and especially August) which tends to be a quieter time for my other roles. I took up my role at Superchargers just before the 2023 playing season started and was able to go to most of the matches. Highlights in that first year included the women’s side reaching the final of the competition”.
Over the last year, Kirsty has overseen decisions about the side’s future, such as bringing Andrew ‘Freddie’ Flintoff on board as the men’s team head coach, and broadening the board with the appointment of Neel Rajani and Mark Alford (Director, Sky Sports News) as Independent Board Members. The 2024 season ended on 18 August with finals played at Lord’s and has seen both the women’s and men’s teams for the Superchargers perform well, but agonisingly just miss out on the eliminator due to final round outcomes (both finished fourth).
At Headingley, the home games have continued to deliver fantastic atmospheres, not least the derby matches against the Manchester Originals where the crowd for the women’s game was the largest there ever (11,071) and took the total of tickets sold for the women’s game in the whole Hundred competition in the last 4 years to over 1 million.
“Outside of board meetings, I see my role as primarily ambassadorial and have high hopes for the side in the future. I take great pride in how the Northern Superchargers’ schedule has already become woven into fans’ summer plans. Widening participation in sport is also close to my heart and our players are key to engaging and inspiring our local community, from Davina Perrin joining events at the nearby Caribbean Cricket Club, to Adil Rashid being immortalised in a mural in his home cricket ground, Bradford Park Avenue.”
Kirsty today, Chair of Northern Superchargers
Kirsty’s role supports the development of both the men’s and women’s teams and has coincided with soaring interest in cricket, particularly women’s cricket. In fact, the England and Wales Cricket Board has recently reported a 139% increase in those watching the Women’s Ashes and a 22% increase in the number of women’s and girls’ teams.
“Yorkshire now boasts over 300 women’s and girls’ cricket teams, which is a higher number than some counties have in the men’s game. While we can trace The Hundred’s match-day set-up to a fluke of COVID-19 restrictions (male and female players were required to ‘bubble’ together), it turns out playing the men’s and women’s matches back-to-back at the same venue means that fans get a fantastic day out and younger players get an amazing opportunity to shine in front of bigger crowds than I imagine we’d see if the games were played separately. It’s been a definite win-win and we may yet see it spread to other competition formats as well.”
