ECB Confirms Paul Shaw As Performance Head, Wants Demanding Coach

England will step up its hunt for a high-profile former men's int'l "to sharpen up the underachieving women's cricket team after confirming the appointment of Paul Shaw in a new role as the head of England women's performance," according to Andy Wilson of the London GUARDIAN. Shaw will take up his position at the National Cricket Performance Centre in Loughborough this week, and work alongside Carl Crowe, the former Leicestershire spinner who heads up the women's academy. One "key appointment remaining" will be the headline-grabber, as it seeks someone with extensive int'l experience of the men's game "to demand more consistently high standards of the women's team." England and Wales Cricket Board Head of Women's Cricket Clare Connor: "The rationale for the England women's head coach role evolving into a 'head of England women's performance' is to reflect the scope and expansion of the England women's program" (GUARDIAN, 6/3).