Women sign up to hard ball league
SOUTHPORT and Birkdale’s women are ready to play hard ball when the 2022 cricket season gets under way next month.
Building on the firm foundations laid last summer, S&B’s newest team is keen to take on the rather more demanding format while also offering the popular soft-ball variety to those who might be trying the game for the first time.
“The decision to enter a team in hard-ball league was the logical step and in no sense was it a tricky decision to make the commitment to do so,” said Emily Whelan, the hard-ball captain.
“We’re very keen to develop our technical skills and it will help us to do that.”
As if further evidence of the growth of women’s cricket at Trafalgar Road were needed, both Whelan and Tina Bancroft, the soft-ball skipper, have qualified as ECB coaches and the winter net sessions they oversee at S&B’s splendidly refurbished indoor school are well attended.
The team’s kit is being sponsored this season by Dr Hennessy Aesthetic Clinic and there is no doubt that ladies’ cricket has become firmly established at the club.
“We’ve got the commitment, enthusiasm and interest and we’ve also been given designated times when we can play,” said Whelan. “Things were a little more ad hoc last year but we have the support of the club and we’ve been made to feel an intrinsic part of the place.
“Each of us is making a contribution in a different way because we’re bringing what we do in our personal or working lives to our cricket.”
However, both Bancroft and Whelan are keenly aware that while some players may be refining their skills with almost every net session, others are at the stage when they simply want to play the game for the first time and they are determined that S&B should welcome everyone and give them the opportunity to enjoy cricket as Whelan did in 2021.
“Emily developed massively as a cricketer last season and now she’s taken on the role of hard-ball captain, which is perhaps not something she would have done twelve months ago,” said Bancroft.
“And in addition to playing
hard- and soft-ball league cricket, we’ll also be combining with Northern to enter a team in the T20 league. Given these commitments, we’ll need a bigger squad and so it’s been great that we’ve already been able to attract four new members, bringing our core playing strength at winter nets up to 17.
“Then there are others who will join us once the outdoor nets get going and that’s absolutely fine. We welcome new players of all ages and abilities. If anyone wants to get in contact we can be found on Twitter @ SNBLadiesCC.
And the arrival of professional women cricketers will raise the game’s profile even higher on Saturday, July 16 when Thunder play South East Stars in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy. Understandably keen to capitalise on the interest engendered by that game, S&B’s ladies are holding a soft-ball tournament on the following day.