CRICKET legend and former England women’s captain Charlotte Edwards will be the guest of honour at this year’s East Hampshire Sports Awards in March.

Edwards will be at the Old Thorns Hotel in Griggs Green, near Liphook, inspiring local sportsmen, women, coaches, officials and the people that support them, telling them about her successful cricket career that saw her become England’s record run scorer and a veteran of 309 caps in a glittering career spanning 20 years.

The top batsman’s glistening international career began at just 16 and she went on to captain the England women’s team for more than 10 years and currently holds the England record for the most one-day international appearences.

She captained England 220 times, leading the team to three Ashes series wins in 2008, 2013 and 2014, as well as a World Cup and World Twenty20 (T20) double in 2009.

Edwards was the first female cricketer to score 2,000 runs in T20 internationals and was the first player, either male or female, to score 2,500 runs in T20 internationals.

She was also the first female cricketer to score 1,000 runs, take 50 wickets and take 50 catches in women’s one-day internationals.

Edwards, who ended up scoring more than 10,000 international runs, was widely considered as one of the best women’s cricketers in the world as she continued to break records, pick up accolades and establish herself as a stalwart of the national team.

In 2009, she was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) and Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2014 for her services to cricket.

Her speech at the sports awards ceremony will not only talk about her illustrious career on the pitch, but also how she inspired the next generation of female cricketers and how she was central to a new professional era of contracts for the women’s team – having started her career in an amateur era and helped the sport develop into full-time careers for women.

District council deputy leader Julie Butler said: “We are honoured to have someone of Charlotte’s calibre at the sports awards ceremony this year.

“She has reached the absolute pinacle in her sport and will no doubt inspire everyone who comes to the event in March.

“She is a great role model and motivation for young sports people who aspire to be the best at their sport and it will be really interesting to hear her story and how much hard work went in to achieving what she did.”

The East Hampshire Sports Awards, organised by East Hampshire District Council, will take place on March 14 and will be hosted former Olympic silver medallist Roger Black.

Nominations are still open and this year’s categories are Junior Sportsperson of the Year, Junior Disability Sportsperson of the Year, Junior Team of the Year, School Team of the Year, Sportsperson of the Year, Disability Sportsperson of the Year, Coach of the Year, Team of the Year, Service to Sport, Club of the Year, Volunteer of the Year, and Outstanding Personal Achievement.

The deadline for nominations is January 31. To download a nomination form, visit easthants.gov.uk/sportsawards2019.