For all the flash and fanfare that the ECB’s new Women’s Cricket Super League will bring, it is the Women’s County Championship which is, and will remain, the bedrock of women’s cricket in England. And it is very-much an amateur affair, in every sense of the word – the players aren’t paid, so they train when they want and they play when they want; and it isn’t unusual to enquire after an absent name on the teamsheet as to whether she is injured, only to be told she is on holiday.

Jason Yip and his team at Worcestershire are looking to change all that.

Worcestershire came third in Div 2 last year, going 4-3 in the 50-over competition; but there was a feeling they could have done better.

“We lost a game to Essex because we weren’t professional about the way that we were going about things. We had a few core problems; but the main one was availability – we went down there with just 11 players, including a fourteen year old and an injured player, because many of our team were unavailable or off on holidays.”

“So we asked the question: Girls, the losses to Essex and Durham cost you promotion to Div 1, so what do you want to do about this?”

What emerged from this discussion was that the players didn’t “feel” professional – taking themselves off on holiday was what they had always done, and they felt justified in this because they weren’t professionals. Might the answer be professional contracts?

Yip is quick to point out that contracts aren’t magic:

“Does a contract make you a professional? No! You are professional because you go through your practice, your performance, your review, and your evolution in a methodical and accountable way.”

But it was nevertheless clear that contracts could be an important symbolic step in making the players “feel” professional, and this was the genesis of what is now being announced by the Worcestershire Cricket Board: professional contracts for the county women’s team – a major first in the English domestic game.

It is important to understand that the contracts themselves aren’t about money. But nevertheless it was recognised that money was a potential issue, and so alongside the contracts, Yip is introducing new community participation programs within the county which offer a part-time employment opportunity for the players, who will be working in a variety of roles – from office and admin to coaching – tailoring their hours to suit their personal situations, such as fitting-in around their university studies, for example.

The pay isn’t stratospheric, but it is “a lot more than they [the players] would earn stacking shelves in Sainsbury’s”; and furthermore the programs themselves are self-financing, rather than being based on ECB grants or charitable donations.

Yip says:

“It is about showing you [the player] that we’ll meet you half-way on a whole number of fronts. In order to progress we need both the individual and the team to move their performance in a positive direction; and we’ll help you through this as much as we can; but with this comes ownership and accountability.”

It is certainly a fantastic time to be involved in the Women’s and Girls’ programs at Worcester, with further fixtures (hopefully plural!) planned for the Rapids’ women’s team at New Road, after history was made there last season; and a drive towards a more valuable level of participation, with girls schemes running across several weeks rather than just one-off sessions. It’s an exciting journey, and we’re already looking forward to catching up with Jason and his team later in the season to see how it is all going!

Now that the ECB have announced the WCSL team names, people are starting to get excited, and they’ve got a few questions too. Here’s what we know in answer to some of the things we’ve been asked.

Who will be playing for “my” team?

Officially… we don’t know yet! The ECB have already allocated the 35 Performance (i.e. contracted) and Academy players to the teams – they know who they will be playing for, and so do the team managers and coaches – but the rest of us are waiting for an official announcement over the next couple of weeks.

Will the England players stay with their local county teams?

In most cases, yes… but rumour has it, maybe not all!

What about the “overseas” stars?

Around 60 overseas stars applied for the 18 roster-spots on-offer in WCSL. The hosts (franchises) are now negotiating with the ECB over who will go where. Whilst the England players were allocated by the ECB, this part of the process is host-driven – they say who they want, presumably after weighing up which England players they have (there’s perhaps little point in having Sarah Taylor and Alyssa Healy, for example) and this is then subject to ECB approval.

Where are the other players coming from?

The hosts will be selecting the remaining 5-6 domestic players themselves – probably drawing them mainly from their local county teams, subject to formal ECB approval.

Will it be on TV?

This was always going to be a tricky one. Sky own the rights to all cricket played under the auspices of the ICC in England and Wales; and they jealously guard their exclusivity, so realistically it was Sky or bust – there was never any chance that one of the “free-to-air” broadcasters would be able to show it. And although we understand Sky were reasonably happy with the viewing figures for last summer’s Women’s Ashes, this is seen as a much less commercially enticing proposition, so it seems unlikely that the league stages will be broadcast.

But… wasn’t the WBBL a big TV success?

Yes… but… that was based on “built-in” support for the existing (men’s) franchises and it was paid for by Cricket Australia, who fronted-up the bulk of the broadcasting costs. The WCSL just doesn’t have the budget to do this.

Might the finals be televised?

The finals will be played on a “showcase” day at Chelmsford, and it is rumoured that the ECB are still hoping that Sky might be enticed to get their cameras out for this, but it isn’t a given yet.

The men’s counties stream some games online – could they do this for WCSL?

The streaming of men’s county games is explicitly built into the contract between the ECB and Sky, and is only permitted when there isn’t any other cricket being broadcast at that time. Streaming WCSL would require additional special dispensation from Sky; however, there is a precedent – Sky allowed the ECB to live-stream the England/ India ODI series in 2014 – so it isn’t out of the question.

All answers provided in good faith, to the best of our knowledge.

If we’ve got anything wrong, we will more than happily correct it – you know where we live 😉

Following on from yesterday’s news that a second Australian domestic player has been sanctioned for betting on The Other Game* the question was raised as to whether similar regulations actually applied to domestic players in the women’s game in England.

Before I get into it, I feel compelled to state that I am not a lawyer. (I’ve never even played one on TV!) So what follows does not in any way constitute legal advice.

The code itself is pretty clear about betting itself. The following are offences under the code:

2.2.1 Placing, accepting, laying or otherwise entering into any Bet with any other party (whether individual, company or otherwise) in relation to the result, progress, conduct or any other aspect of any Match.

2.2.2 Directly or indirectly soliciting, inducing, enticing, instructing, persuading, encouraging, intentionally facilitating or authorising any other party to enter into a Bet in relation to the result, progress, conduct or any other aspect of any Match.

The question is… who does this code apply to? Does it apply to women’s county players? This is where it gets a bit more tangled!

Although a “Match” is defined as any cricket match… from village to Test; there is another term which comes into play here: “Domestic Match” which means any First Class or List A match – i.e.  not women’s county matches.

This is important because the code applies firstly to “any ECB-registered cricketer… who… is selected… to participate in a Domestic Match”. This therefore would appear to explicitly exclude all women, other than those who have played international cricket who are definitely covered under other clauses.

So, if your only involvement is as a county player, it seems clear that you are not subject to the code of conduct.

However, there is an additional, secondary clause, which states that the code also applies to: “any other person who… is employed by, [or] represents… [a] team… [that] that participates in Domestic Matches.”

This suggests that if you are employed by or “represent” a First Class county then the code applies – something which may well cover several prominent county players via their day jobs or even voluntary activities.

Of course, there has to be some elasticity here – for example as written, the code would appear to apply to a lab tech on work experience in the physics department at Oxford University, because their cricket team have First Class status… but not the coach of the Berkshire men’s team, because they are not “First Class”.

So the answer is… it’s complicated.

The bottom line here is that the ECB probably need to clarify exactly what the situation here is for women’s domestic players, particularly with the introduction of the Super League, which as things currently stand would not appear to be covered; and provide appropriate advice and training to players. Because as answers go… we’ll be the first to acknowledge that “it’s complicated” really isn’t a very good one!

———–

* Yes… we are going to keep calling it that!!

One of the nice things about an extended tournament like WBBL is that you can really start to see some patterns emerge. We look here at hitters – those who get most of their runs from boundaries; and runners – those who let their legs do the talking; and whilst you might think you know who they’ll be, there are a couple of surprises too!

THE HITTERS

1. Naomi Stalenburg (Sydney Thunder) – 71%
2. Grace Harris (Brisbane Heat) – 71%
3. Rachel Priest (Melbourne Renegades) – 66%
4. Stafanie Taylor (Sydney Thunder) – 60%
5. Elyse Villani (Perth Scorchers) – 60%

The big surprise here is Naomi Stalenburg, who at 21 years of age is already a bit of a cricketing nomad, having played domestic cricket in England (for the Netherlands, in the Women’s County Championship), New Zealand and Australia.

Stalenburg has not yet been selected at international level, but her WBBL performances thus far could have the Southern Stars looking at her more closely in the not too distant future.

THE RUNNERS

1. Sarah Elliot (Melbourne Renegades) – 82%
2. Emma Thompson (Hobart Hurricanes) – 72%
3. Lauren Winfield (Brisbane Heat) – 69%
4. Mignon du Preez (Melbourne Stars) – 69%
5. Alex Blackwell (Sydney Thunder) – 68%

It’s probably no surprise to see Test Specialist™ Sarah Elliot at the top of this list; but that she has got there whilst still maintaining a healthy Strike Rate of 90, shows that there is still room for real runners even in the shortest format of the women’s game.

Perhaps the biggest surprise here though is English overseas Lauren Winfield – generally considered a bit of a “hitter” by English standards – but here playing a very different kind of game for the Heat.

NOTES

1. Stats restricted to players scoring more than 100 runs in the tournament so far.
2. Percentage show is of runs scored – i.e. Sarah Eliot has scored 82% of her runs by running; Naomi Stalenburg has scored 71% of her runs in boundaries.

This piece was corrected on 10/1/2016 regarding Stalenburg’s international qualification for Australia not New Zealand.

With your hosts… Raf Nicholson and Syd Egan!

Best Batting Performance:  Sophie Luff

For her 152* for Bath in the National Club Final

Luff might have faced an understrength Meakins side with an average age of just 16, but you can only play what they put in front of you, and her towering performance showed a player truly in command of the crease and her game, both physically and mentally. Were we witnessing the coming-of-age of the next-but-one England captain? You read it here first!

Best Bowling Performance: Daisy Gardner

For her hat-trick for Berkshire v Sussex in the Women’s County Championship

Paige Scholfield is dismissed LBW for Daisy Gardner’s hat-trick!

Heather Knight might have put Sussex on the back foot with her 162* but it was Daisy Gardner who broke them, dismissing England Academy batsman Georgia Adams and Paige Scholfield, bisected by the wicket of a certain Sarah Taylor – bowled for a golden duck – as the Berkshire Bullet took her first ever hat-trick in 10 years at the top level of the women’s county game.

Best Supporting Role: Didsbury WCC and Lanky the Giraffe

For their mammoth trip around the country during the Women’s Ashes

Canterbury is approximately 265 miles from Manchester, but that didn’t stop the girls from Didsbury WCC making the trip down the M6 for all four days of the Ashes Test, plus the Chelmsford and Hove Twenty20s. Complete with England flag, a special song devoted to Lancashire’s Kate Cross, and an inflatable giraffe with its own arm bands, they were impossible to miss – and why would you want to? CRICKETher for one are looking forward to seeing the #DidsburyBarmyArmy again in 2016!

Best Screenplay: Sky

For televising the Canterbury Test

While England fans might have hoped for a different result, there’s no doubt that the broadcasting of the entire Ashes series added to the excitement of the summer. The pinnacle was the live ball-by-ball coverage of Canterbury, as Sky made history by becoming the first ever broadcaster to show a women’s Test match from beginning to end in its entirety. Hats off to them for bringing women’s Test cricket to a bigger audience.

Horror of the Year: Surrey

For their 25 all out v Middlesex in the County T20 Competition

County T20 triple-headers can be long days, but Surrey seemed just a little too keen to get home on this occasion, as in their last match of the day at Merchant Taylors’ back in August they collapsed to 25 all out in the space of 13 overs. CRICKETher were there to watch as Aussie quick Julie Hunter ripped through the Surrey top-order, who barely troubled the scorers. It later transpired to be the lowest total a side has ever made in the competition. Toe-curling stuff.

Best Writing: Mel Farrell

For her report (here) on the Women’s Cricket Super League

A perfectly pitched piece which blends positivity and scepticism as it compares the WCSL to an impressionist masterpiece that “dazzles upon first glance” but is “transformed into a myriad of indistinct dots and dashes when examined up close.”

Best Song: Graham Barber

For ‘Jerusalem’ 

Lords might traditionally have its bell to signal the start of play, but everyone knows that at an England Women’s Test – from Wormsley, to the WACA, to everywhere in-between – the day doesn’t really begin until “Big G” – our one-man Barmy Army – has sung Jerusalem; reminding the players that they aren’t just playing Test cricket… they’re playing Test cricket for England.

Life-Time Achievement Award: Holly Colvin

Despite a successful comeback for Sussex – she was the leading wicket-taker in county cricket in 2015, with 31 victims and a best of 5-33 – 2015 was the year Holly decided to move on; taking a management role at the ICC in Dubai and saying farewell to a playing career in which she had basically achieved everything before the age of 20 – Ashes winner (in 2005), World Cup winner (2009) and World T20 winner (also 2009).

Holly will go down in history as the youngest person (male or female) ever to play Test cricket for England – a record which will probably never be broken now the women’s game has entered the professional era – and more importantly she’ll go down in our hearts as one of the most loved players of our era. So long “Trolley”… and thanks for all the wickets!

Here at CRICKETher, we’re passionate about women’s cricket at all levels, including club cricket. It’s our mission to offer coverage of women’s (and girls’) club cricket wherever we can! Our ‘Club of the Month’ feature will focus on one women’s or girls’ club every month, giving you the lowdown on their highs, lows, and everything in between.

If you’d like to see your club featured here, get in touch – we’d love to hear from you!

The ladies section at Wanstead CC has its roots back in 2002, a time when the club’s current Head of Women’s and Girls’ Cricket Pauline Osborn had sons who were members of the club’s colts section. Several girls, whose brothers were club members, decided that they wanted to play themselves. “We agreed that there was no reason why girls should be excluded,” Pauline recalls. “Wanstead always strives to do things properly and with girls playing it was decided that there should be female coaches to support them – which is how I quickly found myself on an ECB Level 1 coaching course!”

Once it became known that girls were welcome, numbers swelled, and it was decided to form a women’s section too – initially made up of the mums and aunties of the girls who were playing, as well as Pauline herself. They named themselves the Wanstead Heronettes.

In 2007, after a few seasons of struggling to find local clubs to play “friendlies” against, Pauline was instrumental in the Wanstead Heronettes applying to join the recently-formed North London Women’s Cricket League. Since then, Wanstead have won the league on several occasions – doing so in 2011 and 2012 without losing a game!

They currently play every Sunday at the club’s second ground at Nutter Lane, as well as occasionally at the club’s main ground at Overton Drive. Current captain and coach Saba Nasim says that their facilities are very good, with the Overton Drive square recently having been redone, and new nets installed a few years ago.

About 40-50 girls are registered players at the club and the club offers both softball and hardball cricket. Saba says that the upcoming girls section has really boosted players for the ladies side and that they regularly use their youth talent to play in league fixtures. Many of the Wanstead girls currently play for Essex age-group sides.

Unusually for a women’s club, Wanstead have both female coaches and female umpires. Pauline herself is now a level 2 ECB coach and a qualified scorer and umpire (as well as being manager of the side and chairman of the North London League). And team coach Saba – an inspirational role-model for many of the girls she coaches – recently won the ECB’s Coach of the Year Award at the Asian Cricket Awards.

The club are looking forward to their annual pre-season 2016 cricket tour to La Manga, Spain and aim to get more of the younger girls playing in competitive league cricket for the ladies team on a regular basis.

Wanstead are a friendly club and welcome players of any ability young or old. If anyone is interested in joining then please do contact captain Saba Nasim on sabanasim@hotmail.com.

• 0 – The amount you’ll have to pay to watch the first 4 Hurricanes games, with free entry at Aurora Stadium.
• 1 – The number of England players guaranteed to be involved in the Big Final at the end of January.
• 3 – The number of overseas players each side is permitted to field in any match.
• 8 – The number of matches to broadcast live on Australian TV.
• 8 – The number of teams fighting for a place in the Big Final.
• 10 – The number of England players involved*.
• 24 – The total number of overseas stars signed-up**.
• 51 – The number of days the tournament lasts.
• 59 – The number of matches to be played.
• 10,000 – The minimum amount (in Australian $) a player involved in WNCL + WBBL will earn this season.
• 14,160 – The number of balls scheduled to be bowled! (But there could be super overs!)
• 2.2 million – The size of the player payment fund (in Australian $) established for the tournament.
• 1 billion – How excited we are… on a scale of 1-to-10!

* Katherine Brunt, Kate Cross, Charlotte Edwards, Heather Knight, Nat Sciver, Sarah Taylor, Lauren Winfield, Danni Wyatt, Laura Marsh & Nicky Shaw. [Though re. “3”, we believe Nicky Shaw doesn’t technically count as an “overseas”, having lived in Australia for a number of years now.]

** Rachel Priest, Sara McGlashan, Amy Satterthwaite, Marizanne Kapp, Dane van Niekerk, Mignon du Preez, Susie Bates, Hayley Matthews, Deandra Dottin, Sophie Devine, Stafanie Taylor, Stacy-Ann King, Morna Nielsen & Hayley Jensen.

As the 2015/16 Australian WNCL draws to a conclusion this weekend, one statistic stands out above all others: 11 centuries have been scored in 21 matches. In contrast, in this year’s Women’s County Championship (Division 1) just 3 hundreds were scored in 32 (completed) games.

It’s not just down to a couple of individuals either – 9 different players have made tons; and the team aggregates reflect a similar trend – the average innings score in the WNCL has been a shade over 200; in the WCC it was 158 – a difference of a staggering 27%.

The question is… why?

Better Batsmen? Australia are the world’s Number 1 team and much of that is down to their super-confident batting – they didn’t really outbowl England this summer; but they certainly out-batted them. However, some of the WNCL’s centurions (Alex Blackwell (twice) and Sarah Taylor) also played in the WCC without making hundreds, so there must be more to it!

Lesser Bowlers? As the batsmen are Australia’s key weapon, so the bowlers are England’s! Perhaps it is just harder to score centuries against the likes of Katherine Brunt and Holly Colvin? Although are Megan Schutt and Ellyse Perry really that much of an easier ride?

Better Pitches? Whilst the WCC is hosted mostly on club grounds maintained by part-time ground staff on very low budgets, WNCL is played largely on professionally curated “First Class” pitches, including Test grounds like the WACA and the Gabba. Inevitably, these Aussie pitches will play truer than those in England, especially when combined with…

Better Climate? Although at least one match in this year’s WNCL was played in very wet (one might even say, English!) conditions, in the main (as anyone who watches Neighbours knows) Australia is the land where the sun always shines; and the only thing that disappears faster than a beer at a BBQ, is a cricket ball to the boundary over a lightning-quick outfield. Illustratively, WNCL’s leading run-scorer, Ellyse Perry, scored 42% of her runs in 4s – significantly more than her English equivalent, Heather Knight – 36%.

More “Professional” Teams? With two fewer teams in WNCL, there’s a greater concentration of good players and maybe this creates a more competitive environment which encourages more attacking play? Also, anecdotally if not empirically, the teams certainly seem more “professionally” set up in WNCL – training harder, more regularly, and for longer, with better facilities both in and out of season, than the English county sides.

Whatever the reasons, one thing is for sure – it has made for a fantastic WNCL and it bodes well for the WBBL which begins next month. Hundreds are obviously that much harder to score in T20, but we wouldn’t be surprised to see one or two made as we build our way towards that big, televised finale at the end of January!

Here at CRICKETher, we’re passionate about women’s cricket at all levels, including club cricket. It’s our mission to offer coverage of women’s (and girls’) club cricket wherever we can! Our ‘Club of the Month’ feature will focus on one women’s or girls’ club every month, giving you the lowdown on their highs, lows, and everything in between.

If you’d like to see your club featured here, get in touch – we’d love to hear from you!

Kent Nomads WCC were formed way back in 1948, by a group of women who wanted to play organised cricket matches. They were originally a wandering side, before finding a home at Orpington Cricket Club over 40 years ago. In the 1990s they merged fully with Orpington CC, and changed their name to Orpington Nomads WCC. One of their founding members was Cecilia Robinson, former captain of Kent and England.

One of the oldest women’s cricket clubs still in existence, Orpington Nomads have a whole host of former members who were leading lights of the game in the Women’s Cricket Association days. The list includes Norma Izard (England Manager and last ever Chairman of the WCA, who oversaw the merger of the WCA and the ECB in 1998), Sheila Hill (Member of the MCC Laws Committee until very recently, who oversaw the last rewriting of the MCC Laws of Cricket), former England captains Sue Goatman and Mary Pilling, and too many other internationals and county stalwarts to mention in a short article.

At their home ground they have two squares, with the likelihood of a third being added soon, meaning that they are always able to get a pitch on a Sunday. They have a fantastic 4-lane enclosed outdoor net facility, replacing two decrepit nets destroyed by the snow a few winters ago. They have sole use of the facility on Tuesday nights from 7pm until dark, when they can also use the practice wicket on the square and the roll-on cage. They also have a great bar lady who will open up whenever they ask her to!

Though they do not have a girls section, they welcome all ages and all experience to the club, with members ranging in age from 17 to 50+.

They currently play in the Women’s Cricket Southern League, and have played in all leagues since women’s cricket introduced them. As current secretary Caroline Barrs puts it, “We play competitive cricket but always for fun. We like to win, but it is not the end of the world if we do not!” They always try to give everybody a go at either batting or bowling in their games.

The club also enjoys club outings and socials; Caroline tells CRICKETher that “the last social was to Greyhound racing, suggested by one of our members who said ‘shall we go dogging – it’s great fun’!”

Caroline herself has been involved in women’s cricket since the 1970s and represented England between 1988 and 1990. She says that women’s club cricket has changed immensely in the time since Orpington Nomads was formed: “We used to play friendly cricket both days of the weekend, most of the season – up to 30 games in a season! Now with league cricket we are lucky to get 14 games. The demographic of those playing has massively changed too: there used to be many adults in their 20s and 30s playing, but teams often mostly consist of 15 – 18 year olds now.” However, “in the early days there were very few clubs,” she says. “There are a lot more now.”

Back in the days when women’s club cricket was played in skirts…

Sadly Orpington Nomads are currently struggling for players, so if there is anybody out there looking to play cricket with a friendly group of women who enjoy a good laugh, of any age of experience, get in touch with Caroline Barrs (cjbarrs@yahoo.co.uk). They’d love to hear from you!

Here at CRICKETher, we’re passionate about women’s cricket at all levels, including club cricket. It’s our mission to offer coverage of women’s (and girls’) club cricket wherever we can! Our ‘Club of the Month’ feature will focus on one women’s or girls’ club every month, giving you the lowdown on their highs, lows, and everything in between.

If you’d like to see your club featured here, get in touch – we’d love to hear from you!

The current Ickenham Ladies club formed back in 2002. There had been a club at Ickenham playing in a local women’s league during the 1980s, and they even won the national Knock-Out Cup, but it had disbanded. Then, in 2002, the daughter of then President of Ickenham CC (who had played friendlies at ICC as a colt) decided it was time for a new ladies team to form.

Coached by Pete Cook, Ickenham Ladies are part of the wider Ickenham CC, which supports four Men’s Saturday and two Men’s Sunday XIs, as well as age group colts cricket from U10 upwards for boys, U13 and U15 girls teams and a busy Foundation section for boys and girls under 10. They play at the club’s home ground at Oak Avenue, Ickenham and are enjoying the club’s new refurbished Clubhouse, which opened at the beginning of the 2014 season. Since the refurb, which included reconfiguring the changing rooms, men’s and women’s cricket can now be played simultaneously at the club, which happens most Sundays in the summer.

The club initially played in friendlies, but since 2009 have been involved with the North London Women’s Cricket League. Current captain Julie Fielder, described by teammate Paula Redpath as “one of our most prolific batsmen, and our bravest (and most injury-prone) fielder”, has recently led the team to success in the North London League, and they finished as champions in both the 2014 and 2015 seasons. A number of Ickenham players have also represented Middlesex over the years.

This season Ickenham have also participated in the Women’s Cricket Southern League, and in the newly-created Middlesex Development League, a 20-over competition designed to help teams get their cricket off the ground. Their membership of these three different leagues helps fulfil their stated aim of providing cricket to all women and girls who want to play, which is at the heart of everything the club does.

The club also host their own 6-a-side tournament at the beginning of every season, on a Bank Holiday Monday, a well-attended event which consists of two leagues playing round robin matches, and finished with a final. Breakfast, a BBQ lunch and a bar are all provided. This year Hursley Park won the tournament, and donations were also made to two charities: CURA and Cricket Without Boundaries.

Ickenham have gone on club tours every year since 2007 and have visited Amsterdam, Madrid, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Wales, Devon and Skegness. The tours are purely team bonding exercises, with no cricket involved, and when asked about the highlights, club member Paula (mysteriously!) told CRICKETher that it was probably best not to mention “the iron fairground horse, baby Dave, cooo-eeeeee, Martin, or Tour Tourette’s”!!

The club have been supported excellently over the years by their umpire Michele O’Grady, their dedicated scorer Jo Potter, Fixtures Secretary Pax, all-round behind-the-scenes organiser Geoff and the women behind the club’s admin, Tracey, Julie and Peeeee.

Overall, Paula describes it as “a very exciting time at ICC. We are lucky to have a lot of girls playing age group county cricket and starting to become the mainstays of the ladies team. It is a pleasure to see how all the different players and ages mix together and the way they all encourage each other.”

More info about Ickenham can be found on the club’s website, www.ickenhamcc.com and in particular their women’s page.

Congratulations on everything you have achieved, Ickenham, and keep it up!