The Girls Under 13 team, under the guidance of coach Kathryn Semple, have had a busy schedule recently, playing in both the Durham Girls Under 13 league as well as being the only girls team in the North Yorkshire Under 12’s league (hence I am careful not to call it a boys league!).

On 3rd July the girls headed north to Seaham Park to play their Girls Under 13 team. They showed their class, experience and most importantly their improvements in winning by 86 runs. We scored 106 for only 2 wickets, everyone doing well, with Evie Semple (28/0), Emily Sirs (17/0) and captain Emily Moore (15/0) top scoring. Shout out to Elynn Henderson and Grace Storm who have played fewer games than others, but really showed their value to the team with great batting and bowling performances. We then restricted Seaham Park to 55 for 9 wickets to win by 86 runs. 2 wickets for the team dynamo Scarlett Sherwood, only just missing out on a hat-trick. Scarlett’s improvement has been immense, she’s definitely always had the charisma and hopefully that will be combined with greater confidence going forward!

Our Girls Under 15 team played Seaham Park straight after the Under 13s game finished, and 5 girls played for them too, in addition Bella Sirs filled in for the opposition who were a player short, and got top score for them (11)! I’m sure they slept well that night.

On 4th July they travelled to Stockton to play a boys team containing at least 4 excellent county players. Bowling first, the girls were outstanding both bowling and fielding, taking 11 wickets in 16 overs. Special mentions to Matilda “Toddy” Todd with 2-8, Emily Sirs 2-9 and Lucy Crawford 1-12 but in truth everyone was excellent. Evie Semple took a brilliant catch off Matilda’s bowling, the ball was seriously travelling before Evie’s glove intercepted. The Stockton boys dressing room was a lot quieter at the halfway stage than it was at the start! They scored 144-11, net score 289.

Our batting was courageous and skilful but Stockton were just too strong this time. It was close though - as shown by them putting every man on the boundary to 10 year-old Bella Sirs against a county bowler! Another indication of our skills was that the girls bowled less wides/no-balls than this experienced Stockton team. Emily (25/0) and Lucy (17/1) completed good all round games as we finished on 118/11, to finish up 26 runs short. Honestly thought it was the best the girls have played, they should be so proud of themselves, as should their families!

On 11th July the girls travelled to Richmond for another tough game (PS can we claim for petrol?!) against a strong boys team. Our batting wasn’t at previous levels and we lost too many wickets. The girls will always score plenty of runs so if they can tighten up a bit, the sky’s the limit. Lucy Crawford and Emily Sirs scored unbeaten 12 and 14 respectively but we finished on 106/16, so a net score of 226.

Matilda Todd though wasn’t giving up, bowling accurately at express pace and clean bowling 4 batters, a truly fantastic performance, probably the highlight of the season bowling wise. Matilda’s bowling action allows her to generate great pace and it was too much for Richmond. Other 3 highlights in the game were Evie Clarke’s catch, she was as cool as a cucumber in taking it, sparking great celebrations- she’s a really popular member of the team. Secondly was a fantastic spell of bowling from Surann Jones, taking 1/12 from 3 overs of accurate swing bowling. Surann is another who has improved dramatically and it’s great to see. And finally Bella Sirs (10 years old and knee high to a grasshopper) clean bowling a batter who could have passed for a doorman, well over 6 foot tall and a strong build! I should point out, in the interests of fairness, that the boys teams we have played have all been supportive of our girls, no nastiness or aggression, credit to them too ??????

On 16th July the girls played Hartlepool boys under 12s in a league game at High Tunstall. The game was played in a competitive but amicable manner, and it was good to see the teams chatting and laughing together beyond the boundary rope. I think the girls were a little nervous at first and lost early wickets but soon got into their stride, again scoring over 100 runs as is becoming the norm. To be fair the boys bowled well and we finished on 103/8. Everyone bowled well but we didn’t quite have enough runs on the board. Scarlett Sherwood and Emily Sirs both took 2 wickets, and Violet Parkinson was very economical and deserved wickets too. Violet also deserves a bravery award for some fantastic dives and fielding on the rock hard surface, she never once lets anyone down and is just what every team needs. The boys finished on 121/6 to win by 28 runs.

Finally, on 17th July we entertained Seaham Park once again, at High Tunstall, and played strongly to win by 55 runs. Captain Emily Moore chose to bat first and the team only lost 2 wickets, and scoring over 100 runs once again is a great formula for success. Bella Sirs top scored with 17/0 and the dynamic Emily duo (Moore/Sirs) smashed late runs scoring unbeaten 17 and 15 respectively. Everybody bowled well but especially Emily Moore (1/4 off 3 overs), who has been a model of consistency with bat and ball this year. Seaham Park finished on 56 for 4, giving us the win by 55 runs.

I make that 5 games in 2 weeks, a tough schedule but the girls have done brilliantly. Improving as cricketers and as people, it is great to see. Of course these matches don’t happen without the hard work and dedication of our band of volunteers:

Kathryn Semple - pulls rabbits out of hats to ensure we have a full team despite the many challenges of managing the girls’ social calendars. Encourages, supports and is the go-to person whatever you need (plasters, drinks, caps etc). However that didn’t extend to a certain item at Richmond, when the team were about to start but we’d forgotten to bother with a ball! Drama quickly resolved however ???

Gary Moore - who has umpired every game, with only a few debatable decisions (according to the girls). Thank you.

The girls director of coaching Chris Smith, a huge supporter and advocate of girls cricket.

Parents - a lot of travelling about, and cricket can be a long game, so thank you for your commitment.

And most importantly the girls themselves – it has been a delight to see their improvement, and they play cricket the right way too.