Report by Ryan Fitzpatrick -

There was a mixed bag of emotions going into the first game. All players were new to the crucible of cricket. Whilst many had spent past seasons as spectators on the boundary line...now they were to be playing their first ever competitive game and in the searing heat.

The organisers had caught wind of these fiery upstarts from the Town down the road and decided they could play their first three matches back-to-back to back! Ok. if those are your tactics, challenge accepted!

Match 1: Whitchurch vsAlton.
Whitchurch Ladies (WL) won the toss and elected to bat. The game plan was sound, first run their opponents ragged in the field and then second, pin them back in their crease with some tight bowling... which is exactly what they did. Boundaries were flowing thick and fast from the WL and they left the field having only lost 2 wickets and with 275 on the board. Alton never stood a chance. The fielding was drum tight and the boundary was with Susie and Lucie patrolling in the deep. First win and first scalp taken! But there was no time to rest as it was straight back to the middle

Match 2: Whitchurch vs Overton A.
Another coin toss won... why change a winning game plan? The first match nerves were a million miles away by now and WL put Overton A to the sword with more brilliant batting which was backed up with a water tight fielding performance. Scalp 2, done.

Match 3: Whitchurch vs Langley
Less luck with the coin this time but Langley opted to field first. So, WL took it in turns to enjoy the shade as they did their best to build a score against Langley’s very capable bowling line-up, who managed to contain the WL to our lowest score of the day of 241.
With a lot of work to do to continue their unbeaten reign WL bowled and fielded as well as any other game but Langley snuck the win by just 10 runs.

Finally, some rest - 45 mins of blissful shade then:

Match 4:
WL's closing game was against Overton B. Batting first, Wl were relentless.... boundaries, more boundaries yet more boundaries. Sarah Martin was mercilessly with 5 boundaries in one over! But the best was yet to come. The team's fielding perforce was awesome. In 8 overs, Overton B only managed to find the boundary twice, and you don’t win a game with singles!

At the end of the festival WL (in the first tournament0) were second and very narrow runners up. Everyone was buzzing, from an amazing performance and a great day. Superb performances from a team who now know they are very very capable of competing with established sides and really enjoyed their cricket.

Discussions are already in place for a Festival of Ladies Cricket at Whitchurch....