Berkshire Women Make History in Inaugural Walking Cricket Clash
In a first for Berkshire, an unofficial county women’s walking cricket team took to the field at the beginning of March for a landmark fixture against Surrey side Old Woking Ladies.
The Berkshire team – made up of four players from Holyport and four from Purley-on-Thames – travelled to Woking Leisure Centre for what proved to be a memorable and highly successful occasion.
Batting first, Berkshire posted an impressive 161 runs from their 20 overs. In response, Old Woking Ladies were restricted to 118, handing Berkshire a convincing 43-run victory and marking the occasion with a superb team performance.
The standout contributor was Player of the Match Julie Cook, who delivered an exceptional all-round display. Julie scored 26 runs, claimed five wickets for just seven runs in two overs, and took a catch to cap a remarkable performance. Impressively, she – like the majority of the team – has only been playing cricket for just over a year, highlighting the accessibility and rapid growth of the walking game.
While the players regularly take part in mixed walking cricket sessions at their respective clubs, this inaugural women’s fixture represents an exciting milestone and underlines the growing enthusiasm for women’s participation in the sport across the county.
Get Involved
Walking cricket continues to welcome new players of all abilities.
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For Holyport, contact Tony Davies at tonydavies4@outlook.com
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For Purley-on-Thames, contact Martin Bishop at martin.bishop1158@yahoo.co.uk
Clubs interested in launching their own walking cricket section are encouraged to contact Chris Baker at Berkshire Cricket via chris.baker@berkshirecricket.org.
This historic match is hopefully just the beginning of many more opportunities for women’s walking cricket in Berkshire.