Pace bowling in cricket is supposed to be the ultimate masculine job. It is all about brawn, and maybe some part of the brain as well. But this bastion is all set to fall like many others, with women joining in to not just bowl fast, but also teach future generations.
Meet Catherine Clare Dalton, a professional cricketer who plays for Middlesex in English domestic cricket, having previously also played for Essex. A right-handed batter and right-arm fast-medium bowler, Dalton recently played for Ireland in the ICC Women's World Twenty20 in India.
A former West Ham United and recent Tottenham Hotspur footballer, Dalton has since focused her efforts on cricket and was rewarded with selection on the prestigious International Cricket Council (ICC) Camp, in Potchesfstroom, South Africa in 2009.
She also plays for the men's cricket team Halstead CC in Essex. If all of this wasn’t enough, she is also a current England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) Level 2 coach and has a first-class honours degree from St Mary’s University College, London.
In 2015, she became the first female to score a hundred while playing for the Halstead men's team against Fleixstowe in a league game in England. At 24, she still dreams of pursuing a career as a fast bowler for her adopted country, Ireland, but also wants to build a career as a fast bowling coach. She has been taken in under the wings of former Essex fast bowler, Ian Pont.
Now a reputed fast bowling coach, Pont’s efforts have been hailed by a number of fast bowlers including the likes of Pakistan’s Shoaib Akhtar and current star Dale Steyn. Pont has worked with Kent, Warwickshire and Worcestershire during the 2000s, apart from spending time as Essex’s bowling coach. He has previously spent time in India, coaching the Haryana Ranji Trophy squad, where he helped develop India's limited-overs pace bowler Mohit Sharma.
When not playing professionally, Dalton travels with Pont to India and other places to train budding fast bowlers. She was recently in India to train pacers alongside Pont in Jaipur for the Rajasthan Cricket Association, and in Bangalore at the Ultimate Pace Foundation.
“I became interested in fast bowling after my first session with Ian Pont. I had a one-to-one session with him and learnt the four tent pegs drill and the biomechanics of fast bowling and that really fascinated me,” said Dalton in a chat with The Quint on what drew her to fast bowling.
I really wanted to improve my own bowling action and my own speeds. That session kind of ignited my fire and love for fast bowling and I have just really enjoyed it ever since.Catherine Clare Dalton
A big fan of former Australian pace bowler Brett Lee, Dalton always aspired to be like him.
The fact that he (Lee) could bowl at really good speeds well into the latter part of his career shows how fantastic a cricketer he was. I always enjoyed turning on the television and seeing him take wickets and being very aggressive towards batsmen, always having a desire to bowl fast.Catherine Clare Dalton
But there is another passion – of being a fast bowling coach and helping young bowlers – which drives Dalton. Her coach Pont got her interested in coaching with his drills. Having successfully applied these to her own bowling, Dalton became keen to “pass on that knowledge and understanding to others”.
I would like to think I have broken a glass ceiling when it comes to being a fast bowling coach as a female. I am hoping that this opens more doors for female coaches. And I think overall we have broken a ceiling for fast bowling coaching by teaching the technique of how to bowl faster and straighter at the same time.Catherine Clare Dalton
During her time in India, Dalton has spent time coaching young fast bowlers in Jaipur and Bengaluru. Some of her ‘wards’ even include Rajasthan’s Ranji Trophy fast bowler Deepak Chahar. Dalton said all the male fast bowlers have been welcoming of her.
Male fast bowlers have been fantastic. They have really welcomed me and accepted me as a coach. And I think that’s because of my understanding of the four tent pegs drill and how to bowl faster and with more accuracy. They have been really attentive to that and they have been welcoming and I have really enjoyed it.Catherine Clare Dalton
Now her ultimate aim is very clear. “It is an absolute ambition of mine to become a men's team coach one day. That would be incredible,” she said. “I hope that as I get more experience in coaching and as I get better at it and gain more understanding and knowledge, that could be a possibility one day,” she signed off with hope.