WOMEN'S and GIRLS’ CRICKET A MASSIVE SUCCESS IN FIRST SEASON

Date: 29th August 2019

Firwood Bootle Belles take the honours

About the time Ben Stokes was hitting the winning runs at Headingley to secure an extraordinary Ashes Test victory last Sunday, the culmination of a remarkable first season for the Liverpool Competition Women's Softball League was finishing with equal drama at Liverpool Cricket Club. Calculators were required to separate the three top teams and after much checking of scores, the Firwood Bootle Belles were declared winners on Net Run Rate with Old Xaverians runners up, and the Northern Ninjas in third. Over 100 players were on show across 14 games in a truly great spectacle and celebration of women's cricket in our area.

http://www.lpoolcomp.co.uk/uploaded_files/documents/W&Gs_Results_Table_2_2019.docx

Building on the success of the L&DCC Women's and Girls' Indoor Cricket Tournaments held in March, the number of clubs significantly increased when the five match league programme got underway at Maghull Cricket Club in May.

John Williams, Liverpool Competition Chairman said: "The development has been brilliant and has surpassed all of our expectations. From a standing start and in its first year, the league has five girls' and eleven women's teams representing twelve clubs from Colwyn Bay in the west to Skelmersdale in the east. Much of the success is down to our appointment of a Women’s and Girls Cricket Officer, Paul Bate. He has done a magnificent job. We are also grateful for the help from Lancashire Cricket and their Women’s and Girls section.”

The top two clubs, Firwood Bootle and Old Xaverians, have now qualified for the Lancashire Women's Softball Leagues Finals being held at Northern CC on the 15th September. They enter at the semi-final stage and will play Ribblesdale Wanderers and Winton CC respectively.

Paul Bate, Women & Girls Cricket Officer for the Liverpool Competition is delighted with the response from the clubs for this new initiative. "The growth of female cricket and buy in from the clubs has been exceptional. It bears out the League's growth strategy and funding of the Women’s and Girls’ game. It is also hugely encouraging to see the quality of play and tactical awareness increasing as each round of games goes by and the recent introduction of hardball cricket amongst some of the Women’s teams shows that we have a hugely exciting next season to look forward to”.