The Samoa International Cricket Association General Manager Sala Stella Siale has been selected to participate in the Cricket Future Leaders Programme.

The application is open for all female future leaders of cricket to apply with the successful applicants matched with a mentor to support their development and growth. 

The role of a mentor is to unlock their potential and help them to be at their best in the code. This could include being a confidential sounding board, providing advice, guidance, and connections to reach their potential. 

The philosophy of the 100% Cricket - Future Leaders Programme is to be participant lead with the ICC acting in support to match the participants with suitable mentors as well as provide guidelines and evaluation frameworks for the participants and opportunities to network and interact.

The programme will run for six months and include a kick-off workshop with Belinda Clark,  followed by monthly check-in and a three-month review with the mentees and mentors agreeing with the frequency and method of communication. 

The International Cricket Council General Manager (Marketing and Communication), Claire Furlong, thanked all the successful participants for their interest in the programme.

"I’d like to thank all of the applicants for their interest in the programme which demonstrates a clear appetite for greater support for our future female leaders as well as our mentors who have committed their time and support so readily," she said.

There are 40 women from 29 I.C.C. Member countries who were selected to be mentored as part of the I.C.C. 100%  Cricket Future Leaders Programme, which is designed to support emerging female talent in cricket. 

The programme, which is part of the Council's long-term commitment to accelerating the growth of women’s cricket and women in cricket, received an overwhelming response with more than 300 applicants from 45 different countries.  

"The response from the global cricket community and all of our Member boards has been fantastic. We received an overwhelming number of applications from 45 countries spanning all five ICC regions," added Furlong.

"The first two batches reflect the diversity of our regions and their areas of focus, and all have received outstanding endorsements from their respective Member Boards. The next six months will be incredibly exciting, and we look forward to a productive learning experience for our mentees."

The initial intake will be split into two batches and the programme, which is designed to address the low percentage of women in leadership positions in global cricket and build a pipeline of new female leaders in cricket, will get underway with batch one beginning this month.  

The selection process goes like this: all mentee applications were reviewed by a selection panel consisting of Furlong, mentor guide and former Australia Captain Belinda Clark, ICC General Manager (Development) Will Glenwright, and ICC Competition Manager (Cricket,  Birmingham 2022–Commonwealth Games) Holly Colvin.

The first batch commences the programme this month and include Tuba Sangar (Afghanistan), Joan Norton (Australia), Lucy Pringle (England), Stephanie Frohnmayer (Germany), Tammy Chu (Hong Kong), Laura Peacock (ICC), Harini Raina (India), Niahm O'Shea (Ireland), Nicky Britten (New Zealand) and  Ijeoma Azubuike (Nigeria).

Sala is in the second batch who will start in November and include Marina Iqbal (Pakistan), Margaret Sibona (Papua New Guinea), Samantha Hickman (Peru), Shivani Mishra (Qatar), Stella Siale Vaea-Tangitau (Samoa), Abbi Aitken (Scotland), Karen Smithies (South Africa), Michelle Pereira (Sri Lanka), Amanda Reifer (West Indies) and Mary-Anne.