Sparsholt Ladies Win the W10 Hampshire Cup
Posted by on 20 July 2017
Portsmouth Cricket Club hosted the Finals Day on 16th July for W10 Cricket - women's 10-over cricket for those new to the sport. Played with a soft ball and with simple cricket rules, teams were made up of all ladies of all ages and from all walks of life but still highly competitive! Sparsholt only started up this women's team in May 2017, locally known as "Prosecco Cricket", training on a Friday evening and coached by the U13 boys together with Freya Davies, who was ineligible to play as a previous Hampshire County player. The squad includes wives, mum's and their daughters and friends who have watched their husbands, sons and brothers play over the years.
7 teams were represented on Finals Day, having achieved wins at previous tournaments. Sparsholt were fielding 3 new players, two of which had never played a game before! They started by playing Old Netley & Highfield followed by Gosport and showed their skill by scoring 99 runs in the latter game in their 10 overs. They were then drawn against St Cross, the 2016 winners, in the semi-final, but beat them easily without losing a wicket. In the Final they had to play IBM Hursley, a very well organised and coached team who they had played at a previous tournament and drawn the match! Played on a different and much larger pitch, this was a very competitive but good spirited final, with Sparsholt posting 63/1 off their 10 overs. In reply, IBM posted exactly the same score for the same wickets lost! After reviewing the rules, the organisers awarded the win to Sparsholt as they had more runs at the end of 9th over.
The Sparsholt team were ecstatic and captain Helen Ley received the Trophy from Tony Adams - one for the Clubhouse and to show the men how it's done!
A great day of sport all round! Thanks go to Hampshire Cricket Board for organising the event, Portsmouth Cricket Club for hosting and IBM for providing organisers and umpires on the day.
Back row, left to right: Stella Gandee-Morgan, Helen Ley, Helen Denham, Abigail Nixon, Eliza Matthews, Freya Davies, Nicki Davies
Front row, left to right: Phoebe Jackman, Nancy Hudson, Penny Matthews, Georgina Newham
