Former England captain Charlotte Edwards has become the first female president of the Professional Cricketers' Association, taking the reins from the outgoing Graham Gooch.
Edwards, who made more than 300 appearances in her international career and amassed in excess of 10,000 runs across all formats between 1996 and 2016, takes the role at the players' union for an initial two-year term after being elected at Thursday's annual general meeting.
She said: "I'm hugely honoured to be given such a prestigious title in being the president of the PCA. It's an exciting time for women's cricket and I'm really excited about what I can bring to the role."
📰 @C_Edwards23 has been elected as the first female President of the PCA. The PCA Players' Committee confirmed Edwards' appointment at the Association's 2021 AGM, which took place on Thursday afternoon. Find out more 👇 — PCA (@PCA) February 25, 2021
A four-time Ashes winner, Edwards was England captain when they won both limited-overs World Cups in 2009, while she remains the country's leading run-scorer in both women's one-day internationals and Twenty20s.
Edwards was among the first cricketers to be handed a central contract in 2014 while she takes up her new position just a few months after the England and Wales Cricket Board gave full-time domestic deals to 41 female players.
She added: "I think the introduction of 41 new female members to the PCA has shown it's the right time to have a female PCA president, but I'm passionate about looking after the interests of the men's game as well in order to help cricket thrive as a whole.
"I've done a lot of work with the PCA, on and off the field, and it's been quite the journey from being an amateur, to becoming a PCA member in 2011 and now helping to support the next generation of players in this role.
"The game has given me so much and now this is the perfect opportunity for me to give something back."
Gooch has been in the position since 2018 after succeeding Andrew Flintoff, but now hands over to Edwards, who will remain Southern Vipers head coach while she is set to take up the same role with Southern Brave in The Hundred.
PCA chair James Harris said: "There is huge respect amongst the PCA membership for what Charlotte has achieved in the game, so I'm delighted to have the opportunity to work with her to drive forward the aims of the PCA."
