It is only when you look back that you realise how far you have come. So I looked back six months to our first game which was against Ipswich. They had several advantages over us. Firstly, they were top of the league and had been for three or four seasons. Secondly, they had an Essex county player in the team with a personal best of 168 not out. And thirdly, they had 11 players where we only had ten. But we went in to bat full of enthusiasm. Beth opened and scored one, I waded in with a Captain’s innings of two, and Erica slugged away and got four. Megan, the old hand on the team, steadied the ship with a top score of six. The rest ended up with a single run or a duck which gave us a grand total of 19 runs off the bat. Fortunately, extras played quite well and scored 45.
But we actually ended the game feeling really good about our performance because our bowling and fielding efforts brought us seven wickets. The champagne moment was when Lisa, who only started playing last winter, took two wickets including the Essex county player for a golden duck. That for me was an early taster of what a great game cricket is.
But we have come a long way since then. We have had 41 ladies and girls play in our six friendly games. Several more have turned out for knockabout games and coaching. There have regularly been five or six ladies playing in the ten 4th team league fixtures. We have also had players in the mid week and other NCI friendly games. Between us we have scored nearly 400 runs for the club and taken at least 30 wickets.
We tasted real success when we beat Peterborough Ladies XI. However, I think our best performance was in the 20:20 against Woolpit CC Ladies XI which we lost by only five runs. It is worth noting that Woolpit finished third in the Suffolk league this year not far behind Ipswich. We scored 68 runs off the bat and took eight wickets. There were some great team moments. Lois who had only recently started playing took two wickets with two consecutive balls and we so wanted her to make that hat-trick. Sadly the pressure got to her but she had bowled the Woolpit captain, Connie taking that great catch in her first game. Dharshie took three wickets, scored 19 runs and ran a four with me. Megan did a dramatic late arrival and scooped 13 runs. Maider a Portuguese lady who had never played cricket before scored six runs and kept wicket, without letting a single bye through. Our total was 111 runs off 20 overs and we took eight wickets which for a team of very inexperienced cricketers was a pretty good average.
In terms of individual effort many people are worthy of an award. The words that sum up the ladies team are Dedication, Enthusiasm, Determination. There has been a dedicated core of players who turned up for coaching last winter, continued with outdoor nets and graduated to playing competitive games. Naomi has played 14 games for the club this season, Beth has stalwartly batted 11 times for the 4th team, usually opening, as well as playing three ladies games. Lois, Sam and Deepti have all been down on Parkers Piece day after day practising their bowling. What we lack in cricketing experience we have more than made up for with DED.
We must acknowledge that we haven’t done it on our own. The initiative was taken by guys in the club most notably Richard Young. We also recognise the support from the coaches Richard Burgess and Thommo but also Matt, and John Baker. There has also been great support from Steve Taylor and JP with scoring, umpiring and just turning up to offer encouragement. It is something I know doesn’t happen in other clubs so we really do appreciate it. Thank you.
We have three awards tonight – bowler, Batter and Player.
Our Batswoman of the Year is not here but Karen Pearce is a great example of our feminine values DED. She is one of our few experienced players but has come back into the game after serious back problems, still causing her some trouble this season along with a displaced patella. But that didn’t stop her playing five games for the 4s and two games for the ladies and belting 88 runs in seven games. She has an average of 17.6 and her best score was a 33 not out. She is also the first and only lady to score a six this season.
Our Player of the Year is also absent. She had a better offer – an invitation to a wake. Erica was there at the start of our coaching last year and she too has a slight health issue but despite this she has turned out for ten games this season for the 4s and ladies' teams. She took up wicket keeping and suffered a broken finger standing up to Richie Young. But still she came back and scored a total of 48 runs this season. It has also been her final year at school and she finished her studies in style too.
Our Bowler of the Year is here. She been very keen to play our ladies' games despite the fact she doesn’t live near Cambridge and despite the fact her dad seems to like a laugh about her batting figures. But we are very grateful that Faith Pickering has played her part in our team and the performance against Peterborough which earned her this award and our first win. We’ve had some great bowling achievements from several players but this was exceptional - 5 overs 2 maidens 4 wickets for 8 runs.
We have an exciting year ahead. We will continue to field players for the 4th team but we ladies are now an official league team playing in the Three Counties League against six Suffolk and one Essex side. It’s a great opportunity for us to develop our skills and scores. I would like to think there will be several ladies scoring sixes next year.
My personal target is to finish in the top three of the league next year and to achieve a core player squad of 25 regularly turning up for nets and playing games. We are also still very keen to recruit new players. Our enthusiasm and dedication has attracted some new players from Cambridge Papworth Ladies who are willing to help us out with playing and coaching.
There will be days when we don’t win games I am sure but I found a story recently which I think will brighten up our darker days.
Goldsborough Second XI were bowled out for five in their Nidderdale and District Amateur Cricket League match with Dishforth. All five runs came from extras: four byes and a leg-bye. "We could have got a run but the batsman had just been hit on the foot the ball before and he turned down the chance," said the Goldsborough captain, Peter Horseman.
Good Luck everybody in the 2007 season.
