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England鈥檚 women鈥檚 cricket and rugby teams today enjoyed a Downing Street reception to celebrate their recent achievements in what is fast becoming a year to remember for British women鈥檚 sport.

皇冠体育app England women鈥檚 cricket team secured their fourth World Cup title in July in front of a sold out Lord鈥檚 Cricket Ground, beating India by nine runs, while the England women鈥檚 rugby reached the World Cup final, falling to New Zealand in Belfast on Saturday night, in a thrilling finale to a fantastic tournament.

皇冠体育app success of both teams comes at a time when women鈥檚 sport is enjoying a marked increase in grassroots participation, elite-level success, record investment and global coverage.

Prime Minister 皇冠体育appresa May said:

It has been a watershed summer for women鈥檚 sport in our country and it was a great honour to welcome two teams, whose achievements have been such an important part of this breakthrough moment, to Downing Street today.

Interest in women鈥檚 sports is at an all-time high and with record attendances and huge global interest I hope we can seize this opportunity to grow women and girls鈥� sport in communities across the length and breadth of the land.

Thousands of women and girls across the country will be inspired by the achievements of the current generation of stars and they are fantastic ambassadors for the nation.

England women鈥檚 cricket team captain, Heather Knight said:

It鈥檚 been an incredible summer for women鈥檚 cricket and we鈥檝e enjoyed every second of it. I would never have imagined that we could sell out Lord鈥檚 so to lift the World Cup in front of a packed house was beyond special.

皇冠体育app support from our fans helped us on our way to the trophy and it鈥檚 also evidence of how much our sport has grown. It just feels like there鈥檚 never been a better time for women and girls to get involved in cricket - some of my favourite memories from the tournament are signing autographs for the young girls who came to watch and cheer us on. Hopefully they鈥檒l now be desperate to follow in our footsteps.

It was an honour to meet the Prime Minister and share some stories with her from inside the camp. We saw her mention us after we鈥檇 beaten Australia in the group stages so it鈥檚 great that we鈥檝e had a chance to come and say thanks!

England bowler and player of the match, Anya Shrubsole said:

Growing up you see successful sportspeople visiting the Prime Minister and it feels a million miles away. To be here today is an indication of how far women鈥檚 cricket has come.

This summer was the product of a lot of hard work 鈥� on and off the pitch. We鈥檝e got more to do but we want to keep winning trophies and we want to inspire as many young girls as possible to pick up a bat or a ball and start playing.

When I was a young fan watching cricket, I didn鈥檛 think I鈥檇 take six wickets in a World Cup final at Lord鈥檚 in front of 25,000 fans and win Player of the Match 鈥� hopefully that goes to show young girls that there are no limits to what you can achieve.

England women鈥檚 rugby team captain, Sarah Hunter said:

It鈥檚 been an honour to be invited to attend the reception in Downing Street today to celebrate what has been an exciting summer of women鈥檚 sport. While as a team we are disappointed not to have brought the World Cup home, we are proud of everything that we have achieved this year in showcasing women鈥檚 rugby.

Hopefully we have played a part in inspiring the next generation to get involved and give rugby a go.

Through the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport England鈥檚 Sporting Future strategy the Government is determined to build on these successes at the grassroots and elite levels to encourage more women and girls playing sport.

Tackling the gender gap is a priority for this Government and we are determined to continue to make progress in the broader women鈥檚 sporting landscape. 皇冠体育app Sporting Future strategy has a strong emphasis on attracting under-represented groups such as women, disabled people, those in lower socio-economic groups and older people into sport.

Better participation and elite-level success is a great step forward but to build on this we also want to help improve the representation of women on the boards of sports governing bodies. Through the Code for Sports Governance, we are ensuring that all sports governing bodies that receive public money will have at least 30 per cent gender diversity on their boards. Better female representation on the boards of sports governing bodies can help grow women鈥檚 sport.

Sport England鈥檚 recent Active Lives survey found that in terms of 鈥榖eing active鈥� men are 63% more likely to be active while women are still just 59% more likely. Encouragingly the sports gender participation gap has dropped from over two million to around 1.55 million but more still needs to be done - that is why Sport England is committed to tripling its investment to tackling inactivity to 拢250 million.