Yorkshire Stars Shine as Girls Give it Some Stick

Spectators looked on in awe as ball after ball flew over the boundary rope with shots that Kevin Pietersen would be proud of. They may only be playing with plastic bats but the Year 5 and 6 girls were determined to give the ball some stick.

A total of six schools turned out on a glorious day at Castleford Cricket Club to battle it out for the title of North Regional ASDA Kwik Cricket Champions 2008.

This is the third year that ASDA has sponsored Kwik Cricket and they have just extended their support until 2009. Staff from the local ASDA store were on hand to dish out much needed refreshments and fruit.

With each team playing each other once there was ample opportunity for everyone to have a go and show what they could do. There were some tight battles and some great catches taken, most importantly all done with huge smiles and whoops of encouragement.

As ever the event was only a success due to the support of the schools,  teachers and coaches and the enthusiasm and energy of the girls themselves. All of them stars!

Will Kitchen, YCB Cricket Development Manager and event organiser said:

‘ Today is a fantastic example of how Cricket Development can work successfully; to bring so many teams to such a fantastic event relies heavily on a huge network of volunteers from both clubs and schools, the success of today's event is testament to the volunteer's commitment.

The Girl's game in particular is set to thrive in Yorkshire with the advent of Girls specific Kwik Cricket events. Close work with the YCB and YWCA should ensure that over the next few years, thousands more Girls will get the opportunity to compete in events like today, the result of which for many will hopefully be a lifetimes enjoyment of the game.'

Two other stars created a stir with a surprise visit as the girls were joined by Yorkshire and England's Katherine Brunt and Yorkshire's David Wainwright who is a former player at the Castleford club.

Katherine Brunt, one of the few England players to be given a ‘Chance to Shine' contract allowing her to balance coaching in schools with a challenging training programme, shared her experiences of learning her trade in the boys structure before progressing to represent her County and Country in the Women's game. Katherine and Dave both started out in the game playing Kwik cricket and felt it had allowed them to develop the core skills that have stood them in good stead throughout their careers to date.

The girls managed to impress and Katherine with their skills:

‘Throughout the day I was greatly impressed by the high standards I saw, it made me very optimistic about the future of women's cricket. It is obvious that there is increased interest in cricket and the number of girls participating has risen dramatically. This can only bode well for England's future.'

Both stars remained long after the tournament had finished signing autographs and answering some probing questions and Katherine remained un-phased as one girl asked her when she could take her England place as opening bowler!

ECB's Women's Regional Development Manager Pauline Peel was also in attendance:

‘Alongside the mixed version the ASDA Kwik Cricket event is also a girls only competition which has afforded more girls the opportunity to participate in cricket, the proof of that being the event today.

Other national projects such as ‘Chance to Shine' are helping clubs start up girls teams using England players as coaches in schools and at their clubs. The girls relate to the female coaches and are thrilled when the role models such as Katherine Brunt turn up at their school.'

Eventual winners representing Harrogate now go on to represent the North in the National Finals to be held at Kibworth CC, Leicestershire later in July.

Chair of the Yorkshire Women's Cricket Association (YWCA):

 

‘It is great to see so many girls having the opportunity to take part in cricket and having fun!  We very much hope that some of these girls enjoy their experience enough to want to get involved at club level. Getting more girls playing cricket regularly is key to the success of Yorkshire representative sides in the future.

It is brilliant that companies such as ASDA have shown consistent support of the women's game and we are delighted that ECB and Yorkshire County Cricket Club (YCCC) supported the event by facilitating the visit of Katherine and David who are great role models for the girls and who made the day extra special'.

Other events aimed at getting more females into cricket have also been held across the County over the past months including the Lady Taverners u13 and u15s Girls only club competition. The North Regional Finals held at Sheffield United CC (u13s) and Leeds Grammar School (u15s) saw Beverley Town CC and Pannal CC respectively progress to the National Finals to be held at King Edward School, Birmingham. This is the third year on the run that Beverley has progressed to the finals.

Yorkshire Cricket Board (YCB) and Yorkshire Women's Cricket Association (YWCA) would like to thank all those school teachers and volunteers who are working hard to provide opportunities for women and girls to participate in cricket, and clubs like Castleford CC for their kind hospitality and for supporting the women's game in across the County.

Further information about women's cricket in Yorkshire can be found via a number of websites including http://www.ycb-yca.org.uk/, http://www.yorkshirewca.co.uk/ and http://www.yorkshirewomen.play-cricket.com/

 The schools who entered the ASDA Kwik cricket festival 2008 were:

 

School	Area
Northstead Community Primary School	Scarborough, North Yorkshire
Harrogate School	Harrogate, North Yorkshire
Southroyd Primary & Nursery School	Leeds, West Yorkshire
Normanby Primary School	Middlesbrough, Cleveland
Kirkburton CE First School	Huddersfield, West Yorkshire
Allerton Primary School	Bradford, West Yorkshire