England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) selects Ascent

Ascent, a leading European digital services business, has been selected by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) to deliver data visualisation and mobile application development services for the Women’s game. This is part of a strategic ECB initiative to harness the potential of data to improve performance in women’s cricket.

The aim of the initiative is to deliver 360-degree player insight to support continual optimisation of performance and management of the England Women’s team. Transforming women's and girls' cricket is one of six priorities outlined in the ECB's 'Inspiring Generations' strategy for 2020-2024 - the program is just one example of the ECB’s ongoing investment in closing the gap between the women’s and men’s games.

As the Official Performance Insight Partner to ECB Women’s Cricket, Ascent will deliver actionable real-time insight to management and players via dashboards and a mobile app. This will enable performance tuning decisions both in training and live match scenarios. Championed by Jonathan Finch, Director of England Women’s Cricket, this initiative is a first for the women’s game and is set to deliver significant performance and efficiency benefits for the critical 2022 series calendar and beyond.

Jonathan Finch, Director of England Women’s cricket said: “The women’s game is experiencing tremendous growth and ensuring that everyone in our pathway has a positive experience should underpin everything we do. The partnership enables us to understand more about the players and individualise the support we provide. Most importantly, from my perspective, is that we utilise the data to help players feel part of something special, giving them the environment to thrive as individuals and engage in their own development journey.”  

Led by Dr Thamindu Wedatilake, Lead Physician for England Women’s Cricket, and Anna Warren, Head of England Women’s Science & Medicine, the first phase of the project will enhance and integrate multiple sources of data relating to the ECB’s 200+ elite women players. A single intuitive dashboard with custom role-based views correlates data across medical, coaching, physiological, wellness and competitive match scenarios. This enables management staff and players to improve a range of data-led decisions, from optimising player schedules and training to minimising injury risk and accelerating recovery.

Anna Warren, Head of England Women’s Science & Medicine, said: “This project will enable us to use data in new and innovative ways, improving our holistic support of our players. Not only will this help us make better decisions, but it should give us better insight into the women’s game to support future generations of female cricketers.  At a personal level I am looking forward to our staff and players having an interactive platform which enhances their work and maximises positive impact on the player journeys”. 

Rich Pugh, Chief Data Scientist at Ascent said: "We love working with organisations who have a clear vision and purpose we can really engage with and support with our technical expertise. Empowering ECB and the elite women’s team with the right data and insights today helps set the stage for future generations of cricketers. As a data project, it is fascinating in its own right but it becomes even more compelling when you consider the positive sporting and inclusivity outcomes. It’s also a great first step towards future data-driven opportunity, like predictive performance and competition analytics. We’re very proud to partner with ECB and look forward to seeing the on-pitch impact of this brilliant initiative."