Cricketing success leads to Walmley expansion

The past few years have seen English cricket begin to reap huge rewards on the international stage. The Ashes success of the men has taken most column inches, but for the women too, winning honours has become almost second nature.

There are signs that their success is starting to filter through the women's game in this country, and an example of that can be found at Walmley C.C.

Due to the continuing success of their first and second ladies teams, the club have set up a third senior team, with the aim of giving junior players a positive and enjoyable introduction into senior cricket.

"We want to give less experienced senior players an opportunity to take on more responsibility during matches," explains Walmley's Julie Brazier.

"This will also allow them to share their knowledge with younger, less experienced players. Eventually we hope to lay the foundations for a third XI to enter the Midlands League structure in the future."

Despite having an average age of just 15, the team put up an admirable fight in their first ever fixture, eventually going down by eight wickets to Sileby Town.

Encouraging performances from Zoe Thomson and Louise Brazier with the bat, and from Rebecca Brazier and Charlie Matthews with the ball proved that there was plenty to be positive about.

The same is certainly true elsewhere at the club, with the under 13 team claiming their first silverware of the season and both the under 11 and under 13 sides securing wins over Kings Heath.