Belles of the ball set for Sunday best at Durham Sports Festival

DURHAM CCC are to stage a Women and Girls Sports Festival at their Emirates Riverside ground on Sunday - the day of the ICC Women’s World Cup final.

As well as cricket, the event will involve football and netball with the aim of encouraging women and girls across the North East to become active in sport.

Sunderland Ladies will organise the football, while the netball will be overseen by the sport’s governing body for the North East region. Durham are organising the festival in conjunction with the Durham County Cricket Board and chief executive David Harker said: “We are really looking forward to hosting the event and seeing the ground transform into a women’s venue.

“We are committed to involving more girls and women in our sport and our venue and the festival is a great way to do this.”

After becoming a community interest company as part of their financial restructuring last year, Durham are determined to make their stadium more accessible to more people.

They are discussing a merger with DCB to bring the professional and recreational game closer - and funding girls’ cricket is high on their agenda.

The Board is running a season-long campaign to make cricket more accessible and appealing to females and the campaign has already seen more than 270 women play the game for the first time.

The festival, which runs from noon until 4pm, is open to all ages and abilities.

It will offer introductions for beginners and cricket master classes led by qualified coaches, helped by batting and bowling simulators.