W10 Finals Day 'Overwhelming Success'

Having been cancelled once due to rain it was with relief that the W10 finals day was set fair and fantastic to see 80 ladies excitedly warming up for the Plate & Cup finals, kindly hosted in the picturesque setting of IBM Hursley CC.

Both round robin competitions were tight, with the results eventually going down to wickets taken and runs scored. In the plate competition Sway were victorious, whilst Lymington won the Cup competition by virtue of taking 19 wickets!

An overwhelmingly successful day with much laughter and sense of pride in what they had achieved over a short period of time.

W10 was set up by the Hampshire Cricket Board this year with the aim of offering women and older girls the opportunity to experience cricket in an innovative, exciting format designed specifically to bring cricket to a new audience. The project linked in with the “This Girl Can” campaign and saw 153 women playing cricket for the first time, 92% of whom were over 31 years old and 45% who had not played sport before.

Eight clubs were selected from across Hampshire and were provided with an HCB appointed coach; pink stumps, bats & balls; publicity specific to their club and coloured shirts with their club logo on.

Ladies and girls over 14 were given 10 weeks of free coaching, culminating in two regional round robin T10 competitions and the finals day on 13 September.