Women's sport at 'highest point ever' says ex-cricketer Ebony Rainford-Brent after receiving MBE
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Rainford-Brent received her MBE at a service at Windsor Castle
Women's sport is at the "highest point it has ever been", says commentator and former England batter Ebony Rainford-Brent after receiving her MBE.
The 38-year-old was given her award by Prince Charles after being named in the 2021 Queen's Birthday Honours.
Rainford-Brent played 29 times for England between 2001 and 2010 before becoming a pundit with the BBC and Sky.
She praised the progression of women's sport but called for more to be done to "close the gender pay gap".
"Awareness and visibility is starting to happen - next is investment," said Rainford-Brent.
"If you look from a women's sport perspective, we need more money going in to increase the standard, which then gets more broadcasting and then it creates this cycle."
Domestic women's sport attracted a record British broadcast audience of nearly 33m in 2021 but pay often lags behind men's sports.
In cricket's The Hundred, a new tournament which helped drive the audience increase in 2021, prize money is equal but the top salary band for women's players is a quarter of the amount given to the men.
"I want to see the gender pay gap closed," Rainford-Brent said. "At the moment, there's still a huge gap in pay for females. It is closing, but it's still a long way to go and I would like to see that accelerated."
Rainford-Brent, the first black woman to play for England, was also recognised for her charity work, having set up a programme to encourage more black teenagers to play cricket.
The African-Caribbean Engagement (ACE) programme began at Surrey but has since been expanded to Birmingham and Bristol with further locations in Leeds, Manchester, Nottingham and London to follow.
"I was honoured to be the first black woman to play but I always wanted to make sure that there were more young people that had that chance," said Rainford-Brent, who has spoken passionately about the racism she has encountered.
"It's been a long, long journey but it's an honour to be able to see the young people hopefully enjoy cricket and sport as much as it's given me not just from a professional side, but also just developing yourself as a person."
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