English Cricket’s New Star, Mahika, Wins Recognition at the PCA Awards
The PCA is the representative body of professional cricket players in England and Wales and each year, they recognise players voted best in the country by their own peers. Sedbergh’s own Mahika (Carus House) is the 2023 cinch PCA Women’s Young Player of the Year for 2023.
“We are absolutely delighted for Mahika and love that she shines a light on girls’ cricket in this country. Her talent and dedication to her cricket have done a lot to inspire the girls at Sedbergh to play. It is easy to understand why Mahika’s peers supported her, she is one of those rare pupils who embodies all of the values of Sedbergh School – but particularly humility and kindness.
We are also proud to see Old-Sedberghian, Harry Brook, recognised and send him our congratulations too.” Dan Harrison, Headmaster
Mahika’s award is the culmination of an exciting first season playing for the English side. Her most enduring memory is having her family there when she received her cap from Kate Cross, “I didn’t think at the start of the year that I’d be playing for England so I’m really grateful. Making my England debut was very special”.
Mahika is in Upper Sixth studying for her A Levels and in the short video below she explains how the support of her Housemistress and friends, are vital to juggling School and cricket – which she admits is hard!
Her Housemates are incredibly proud and supportive. Hannah, the Head of Carus House sums it up best, “We are all so amazed by what Mahika has managed to do, it’s quite hard to put into words how proud we all are! We always eagerly wait her return to school to hear all about the tournaments she has played at and the countries she visited while doing so.”
“Mahika is the most excellent role model to all in house, not only with her cricket ability but with her humble attitude and optimistic outlook of life.”
“Mahika is drowned in congratulations when she returns to school and we all refer to her as our ‘local celebrity’. She encourages all young cricket players to keep training and many view her achievements as a goal and a reason to keep going to early morning training or on 6 hour bus journeys to matches.”
Playing on Sedbergh’s first XI
Early in 2023, Mahika’s participation in Sedbergh School’s first XI met with a lot of excitement and community support. Mahika is the first girl to have played in the School’s first XI – but not the first girl to play on one of Sedbergh’s boys’ cricket teams.
Martin Speight, says, “We’ve played schools before with the girls on the first team, but we haven’t had a girl at that level on our own team. I can honestly say that none of the boys on the opposition team were phased. Certainly, they may not have played against a girl before, but when you’re staring down the pitch and watching her speed and accuracy when she bowls, it doesn’t take long to understand why Mahika was selected.”
Girls’ cricket at Sedbergh School
Girls’ cricket is flourishing at Sedbergh. There is an all-year round cricket programme run by Martin Speight (Sussex, Durham and Wellington), the current Director of Cricket, with additional support from Asher Hart (Durham and Hampshire). This includes a strength and conditioning (S&C) programme, pre-school cricket sessions every day in the winter, individual 1-2-1 sessions and team training sessions, all of which go towards training the players for a strong fixture list.
The girls’ cricket programme extends down into the Prep School at Casterton giving depth to the programme.