New managing director for Somerset Cricket Foundation

Since then, life has been pretty hectic, but Maralyn took time out to chat about her first three months in Somerset, about the SCF and her role.

"The reception I have been given has been great - the team here have been so incredibly welcoming to me and that’s the Club and the Foundation.

"It’s been a bit of a whirlwind understanding the culture of both the ECB and also the organisation here as well," Maralyn said.

"Coming here feels like joining an extended family- sometimes incredibly supportive and at others dysfunctional but that’s what families are like, but the intentions for everyone is about all pulling together to give people of Somerset both a fantastic club but also fantastic Foundation as well."

"I have been involved with sport ever since I was a teenager, but I was a part of that generation who, as young women, didn’t get the same opportunities as they do now.

"I played all sports growing up, including cricket for East Anglia, where I was brought up, and I got to play against India, who I know we are hosting here next summer, which is quite a coincidence.

"However, at that time, women’s cricket wasn’t where it is now."

Maralyn started out her career in youth work and managed training and qualifications for England and Wales for the National Youth Agency.

"Through my work in Youth Work, I got introduced to the Premier League and trained football clubs coaches, which gave me an insight into how sport can be impactful for supporting young people with a love of sport.

"From this, I realised that the skill set I had in youth work could sit very nicely alongside sport, which I have loved ever since I was a kid.

"I found that the training work I had been doing gave me a route back into sport and started off working in football with MK Dons managing their charity foundation.

"My work also involved running the women’s football as chief executive with the women’s team for four years."

So how does Maralyn come to be at Somerset?

"I’d always wanted to be involved with cricket in some capacity and bring the skills I had learned from being a CEO in a football environment and the lessons I’d learned, so when this job came up, it felt like the natural progression.

"This was an opportunity to come to a club that I’d followed as a youngster watching Ian Botham and Viv Richards and that I’d always had a soft spot for through that connection."

How does Maralyn see the role of the Somerset Cricket Foundation?

"For me, it’s about everybody having the opportunity to participate in cricket, whether it’s because you love the game and want to play, or you want to take this forward into a professional career.

"The foundation’s role is very much about introducing people to cricket for the first time through to supporting through to later life.

"However it’s also about making sure that we have a a strong clubs and leagues structure so that if you get that love for cricket you’ve got places to go and play."

What about Maralyn’s specific role in the SCF?

"My role is also about enabling and developing positive partnerships to support SCF to grow the foundation and our work, but also about looking at ways that we can give back to society as well.

"This means working alongside the Club so we become the community-facing part of the business that’s driving and encouraging people to become fans, and players and keep that going throughout their lifetime."