By Steve Hill
THE Gloucestershire Cricket Foundation’s inaugural Women’s 100 Ball Cup finals day takes place at Stroud on Sunday.
The action gets underway with the softball semi-finals involving eight-a-side teams from Frenchay, Hatherley & Reddings, Hawkesbury Upton and Huntley on adjoining pitches at 10am.
The hardball semi-finals follow at noon with 11-a-side squads from Bradley Stoke, Golden Hill, Huntley and the Cotswolds Hub – an amalgam of several clubs – all chasing honours.
And the softball final will then take place at around 2pm with the hard ball play-off at 4pm, bringing to an end a hugely successful first year for these two new competitions which are aimed at players aged 14 and over.
Laura Charles-Price, the GCF’s Women and Girls Development Officer, said: “We wanted to provide an extra playing opportunity as the demand from girls and women for cricket is continuing to grow, and we also wanted to do something which tied in with the new 100 tournament.
“The response from clubs has been outstanding and there’s been great enthusiasm across the board for something new.
“The only issue we’ve had has been with our clubs trying to find pitches for these extra games, but if that’s our only problem then we’ll take it!
“We’ve extremely grateful to Stroud for offering to host the finals day. We’re keen for as many people as possible to pop along and support the competing teams, or to have a look to see if soft ball or hard ball cricket might be for them if they’ve never tried it before.”
Stroud Cricket Club is located next to the Ryeford Industrial Estate, GL10 2LA.
