PCA to host #AccelerateAction event

The PCA will host the #AccelerateAction in Sport event to celebrate International Women’s Day at the iconic Nursery Pavillion, at Lord’s Cricket Ground on Thursday, 6 March 2025.

This comes after the success of the #InspireInclusion event last year, held at the Kia Oval, which was attended by more than 200 people who enjoyed the engaging and insightful panel discussions.

The Association, in partnership with the ECB, aims to bring the same energy by exploring the theme for this year’s International Women’s Day, #AccelerateAction. The idea behind the theme is to bring some urgency in bridging the gap and speed up the process of gender equality in the world of sports.

#AccelerateAction in Sport aims to support the cause with highly anticipated panel discussions from some of industry’s finest speakers, forward-thinking brands, and a chance to network with like-minded people present at the Nursery Pavilion.

The first panel will be on the topic of Personal Brand and Media, consisting of former England star and current PCA England Legends captain Alex Tudor, former women’s international rugby player Manjinder Nagra and Sky Sports reporter Chris Reidy, additional panellists will be announced shortly.

Tudor made 10 Test appearances for his national side during the late 1990s and early 2000s. He went on to take 28 wickets, including a five-wicket haul.

Meanwhile, Nagra is a lawyer who was previously the President of the Sussex Law Society and is currently on the EDI Advisory Board at Students’ RFU. She became the first Sikh woman to be selected for England Students.

Reidy has been at Sky since 2017 across two separate spells. He specialises in stories surrounding equality, diversity and inclusion in the sporting industry.

The second panel discussion will take place in the afternoon, where we will look at Disruptive Leadership along with a Q&A session towards the end.

The panel will consist of the CEO of Women in Sport, Stephanie Hilborne OBE, Laura Weston, the co-founder of sporting consultancy ‘See You At Jeanie’s’ and former Arsenal and West Bromwich Albion defender Brendon Batson OBE.

Hilborne first joined Women in Sport in 2019 and is a big advocate of pay parity between genders in sport and making sports a more diverse field.

Weston is the co-founder of See You At Jeanie’s – a women’s sports consultancy company which aims to help sporting organisations and brands associated with sports capitalise on the ever-growing popularity of women’s sports.

Batson, meanwhile, was inducted into the National Football Museum Hall of Fame for his services to the game both on and off the field. He served as the Deputy Chief Executive of the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) for nearly two decades.

#AccelerateAction in Sport comes at a time of change in women’s cricket in the country. 2025 marks the year of the new tiered system in the which sees regional teams get merged with the counties, thereby increasing the number of professional female cricketers in the country by a substantial margin.

The year also holds significant importance in women’s sports on the international level. 2025 will see two major international tournaments – the ICC Women’s World Cup in India and the UEFA Women’s European Championships which is to be played in Switzerland.

#AccelerateAction in Sport will take place at the Nursery Pavilion at Lord’s Cricket Ground on Thursday, 6 March 2025 from 10:30am onwards.

Tickets for the event are available on Eventbrite here.

PCA Director of People, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion, Donna Fraser OBE, said: “Following the success of #InspireInclusion in Sport last year, it fills me with great pride to see the celebration of International Women’s Day return with the #AccelerateAction in Sport event.

“#AccelerateAction in Sport will be yet another breakthrough event in the PCA calendar with so many esteemed speakers joining the cause and sharing their expertise in equality, diversity and inclusion in women’s sport.

“I look forward to seeing an engaged crowd at Lord’s as we attempt to raise the bar in celebrating the occasion across the sporting fraternity.”

PCA Director of Player Rights & Women’s Cricket, Emma Reid, said: “2025 is certainly a year to celebrate women’s cricket in the country with it being the first year of the new tier 1 county structure.

“The PCA is constantly striving to support the growth of the women’s professional game in England and Wales and have played a crucial role in accelerating the development of the game over the past 12 months, which is a great example of this year’s theme for International Women’s Day.”