World Cup stardom for BU’s Atkins

25 March 2009

Celebrations are underway at BU after staff member Caroline Atkins guided England to victory in the 2009 women’s cricket world cup.

BU’s Caroline Atkins turned in a first class performance to guide England to victory in the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Women’s World Cup for 2009.

The 28-year-old is currently on sabbatical from her role as the University’s Elite Athlete Support Services Manager. Her 40 runs in the final helped England to defeat New Zealand and claim the World Cup for the first time since 1993.

Caroline’s consistency with the bat throughout the tournament in Australia helped England to win six of their seven matches en route to the title. Her 251 runs included three individual scores of 50 or more which led all World Cup players and boosted Caroline’s personal ICC player ranking to 11th in the world. The 69 runs she collected against India was Caroline’s highest score during the World Cup, earning her ‘player of the match’ honours.

Caroline and her teammates will now prepare for this summer’s ICC World Twenty20 event hosted by England in June followed by their all-important test match against Australia.

“I really enjoy my job at BU but with this year being such a big one for women's cricket I wanted to concentrate more on my cricket preparations,” said Caroline who plays county cricket in England for Sussex. “It is fantastic for me to be able to take a sabbatical at such a crucial time to follow my own sporting aspirations and I'm really grateful for the support I have received from the university.

“I have been able to dedicate more time to training and I feel that is paying off now,” she continued.