Australian Poulton appointed England women's chief

The England and Wales Cricket Board has appointed Australian Leah Poulton as the managing director of England women.

The 42-year-old former batter, who played 90 times for her country, will start in November, succeeding Clare Connor.

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Poulton has previously been the assistant coach of Sydney Thunder and Sydney Sixers in the Women's Big Bash League and was at Cricket New South Wales (NSW) as pathway manager and assistant coach for NSW Breakers.

She had a spell as high performance coach at Cricket Australia before becoming head of elite female cricket at Cricket NSW in a position she has held for the past six years.

The ECB said Poulton would be "accountable for the performances of England women, England women A, England women U19s and the overall effectiveness and reputation of the women's high-performance system".

It added: "Working closely with England women's head coach Charlotte Edwards and captain Nat Sciver-Brunt, she will set a clear, unified vision for England women to consistently succeed on the world stage."

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England will host Australia in a women's Ashes next summer.

"I'm incredibly excited and honoured to be joining England and to have the opportunity to help shape our programmes and, most importantly, invest in our people," said Poulton.

"I'm looking forward to working with Charlotte, Nat and the wider team, building on the strong foundations already in place and taking the programme forward.

"I know how vital strong pathways and a healthy domestic game are to sustained success, so I'm looking forward to connecting with people across the game and helping give the next generation of English players every opportunity to thrive. It's a huge privilege to be part of England women and I can't wait to get started."

Connor to leave ECB role after Women's T20 World Cup

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