At Lancashire County Cricket Club, Dame Sarah Storey sits at the intersection of elite sport, governance and social impact. Britain’s most decorated Paralympian arrived in county cricket as an outsider in one sense, but with decades of experience building teams, advocating for athletes and serving on boards, she has quickly become one of the most influential voices in the English game.
Storey became Chair of Lancashire after serving as President, stepping into the role during a period of debate over scheduling and amid the continuing transformation of English cricket. For her, governance is not about bureaucracy. “Governance in sport helps us to have an orderly and civil way of operating… we need to know the rules of engagement so that we can all be on the same page and working towards the same goals.”
Although many were surprised to see cricket on her résumé that is heavy on swimming and cycling, the connection runs deep. As a child in Greater Manchester, she spent weekends scoring games and helping at her local club while her brother played. “Cricket’s always been there,” she says. “It was just part of our life.”
Her broader experience has shaped her outlook. A 19-time Paralympic gold medallist across both swimming and cycling, Storey has run her own teams, served as an athlete advocate and held numerous board positions, including with the Department for Transport and Transport for Greater Manchester. She sees Lancashire as part of a wider sporting ecosystem and believes cross-pollination between sports strengthens leadership. “High performance itself isn’t all that different from sport to sport,” she says. “It’s fantastic to be able to share that wealth of knowledge across all of British sport.”
Storey has also been a strong advocate for women’s sport. Having witnessed cycling’s long journey towards greater parity, she sees cricket following a similar path. The mother of a boy and a girl, she emphasises: “You want to look at any sport and say, yes, there’s an opportunity for both of my children to have the same chances as they grow up.”
She believes progress off the field requires openness and diversity of experience. “Women will bring a different viewpoint,” she says. “It’s really important that we continue to have that open-mindedness to bring more experts in from more places.”
In an era when cricket increasingly intersects with business, infrastructure and social impact, Storey brings a perspective shaped not only by a love of cricket but also by much more.