SEFTON PARK WIN LANCASHIRE WOMEN'S T20 CUP

Date: 11th September 2024

from Tom Evans

Sefton Park are celebrating their first ever regional trophy after beating Leyland in the Lancashire Women’s T20 Cup – capping an extraordinary rise for a side only four years old.

Skipper Sarah John scampered the winning single off the penultimate ball of a five-over chase on a rain-affected day, after 14-year-old Caitlin Summers had made 14 of the 34 required.

It was Summers who hit the innings’ only boundary on a drenched outfield at Wythenshawe, getting Park ahead of the rate for the first time.

John was quick to praise Leyland’s young team for their efforts on the day, making 97/9 in the 17 overs available, and their determination to get the game on after the rain came.

“They ran really well between the wickets and put us under a lot of pressure in the field,” she said.

“They made a very good score – we knew chasing just over a run a ball would be difficult without being able to hit many boundaries.

“It was basically a run off every ball, regardless of where it went.

“Then Caitlin smoked one through the covers, and that put us ahead. But it was still really tight all the way down to the end.

“I was edging everything – Caitlin did it for us.

“She’s been brilliant for us as a bowler the last couple of seasons, but her batting has come on massively this year.”

It has been another summer of progress for John’s young side, now with their first regional trophy under their belt and sitting second in the Lancashire 40-over league.

John added: “The whole team came together – the fielding was another level to what we’ve done before and everyone has worked really well as a team.

“In a lot of our matches, it’s not been one person scoring 100 and winning us the game, it’s been four or five people getting 30, which has got the team to a winning score.

“For the last couple of years we’ve entirely done the coaching ourselves, whereas this year we’ve had support from Matt Young and Noah Olejniczak.

“And we’ve had matchday sponsorship for the first time, from Steve Row, and that money has paid for coaching support.

“We’ve never had coaches who have been able to watch us play before, and it’s so helpful to have a more experienced player watching you and feeding it back into training sessions.”