Newton to coach women's European academy

Laura Newton, the recently retired England player, will return to cricket as a coach on the European Women's Academy in 2008. Newton, who gave up playing international cricket earlier this year, will be part of a coaching team for the ICC venture, the second of its kind following the success of the first one in Edinbrugh in 2006.

This time 17 young women from Europe's Associate and Affiliate member countries will head to La Manga, Spain in April next year. The academy will take place over six days from 12 April where the players, aged between 16 and 21 will work with an elite ICC Europe coaching team. The main focus for the team will be on preparing the participants for involvement in their country's national and club women's programmes next summer.

Richard Cox, Warwickshire's academy director, will head up the coaching team which includes Newton along with Philip Hudson, the ICC European development officer and Paul Shaw, an ECB regional training manager.

In addition, three of the four countries represented at the academy - Ireland, Netherlands and Scotland, will send a national coach to accompany their participants on the academy in both a leadership and coaching role.

The fourth country in attendance, Guernsey, is represented by 18 year-old Hannah Mechem who this year competed for Somerset Under-19s and plays in a men's league in Guernsey.

Participants Hannah Mechem (Guernsey), Emma Flannagan, Amy Kenealy, Joanne McKinley, Eimear Richardson, Melissa Scot Hayward, Jill Whelan (all Ireland), Marloes Braat, Lotte Egging, Christine Erkelens, Carlijn de Groot, Denise Hannema, Marihn Nijman (all Netherlands), Abbi Aitken, Charlotte Bascombe, Leigh Kasperek, Fiona Urquhart (all Scotland).