Celebration of Women's & Girls Cricket at Wiltshire Awards Night
Avebury Sports Club played host to the Wiltshire Cricket Women's & Girls Awards Evening on Friday 13th October.
The evening celebrates and recognises the outstanding achievements, contributions and performances from the Women's & Girls game in Wiltshire.
Guests were welcomed to the Awards Evening by Wiltshire Cricket's Development Manager, Sam Dent, who greeted guests with a fast-paced summary of the inspirational Women's & Girls' programmes, competitions and events that have taken place across the County in 2023. From delivering an extensive "Secondary Girls Programme" to over 1000 girls across Wiltshire to hosting multiple Support Coach Courses at clubs with female coaches, through to the establishment of the very first "Senior Women's County Team" in the country. There was a huge amount to celebrate in 2023, owing to the continued growth and success of Women's & Girls' Cricket in Wiltshire.
Following the initial welcome, Clubs and Players from the local Women's & Girls' leagues were recognised for their performances and achievements in 2023, before being presented with their awards by Western Storm's Chloe Skelton:
______________________________________________________________________________
Winter Club Competitions:
U11 Girls Indoor League Winners 2023 - Avebury Cricket Club
U13 Girls Indoor League Winners 2023 - Potterne Cricket Club
Women's Indoor League Winners 2023 - Royal Wootton Bassett Cricket Club
Women's Indoor Cup Winners 2023 - Calne Cricket Club
Summer Club Competitions:
U11 Girls League Best Batter - Isobel Collis (Marshfield)
U11 Girls League Best Bowler - Meg Binks (Potterne)
U11 Girls League Champions - Marshfield CC
U13 Girls League Best Batter - Sophie Gaiger (Potterne)
U13 Girls League Best Bowler - Molly Steer (Marshfield)
U13 Girls League Champions - Potterne CC
Women's Soft Ball League Best Batter - Hannah Morgan (Potterne)
Women's Soft Ball League Best Bowler - Jo Parsons (Chippenham)
Women's Soft Ball League Champions - Chippenham CC
Women's Soft Ball 100 Cup Champions - Chippenham CC
Women's Hard Ball T20 League Best Batter - Hannah Morgan (Potterne)
Women's Hard Ball T20 League Best Bowler - Charlotte Phillips (Chippenham)
Women's Hard Ball T20 League Champions - Chippenham CC
_________________________________________________________________________________
Following the awards presentations, Wiltshire Cricket recognised the outstanding contibutions made by volunteers across the county, thanking them for their efforts, support and time that is given to grow, sustain and develop the Women's & Girls' game. This message lead smoothly into recognising Wiltshire's Young Storm Champions, who attended a training course in the early summer before giving countless hours of their time to volunteer at their clubs, supporting with scoring, umpiring and coaching. Each Young Storm Champion was rewarded with Western Storm merchandise to recongised the volunteering milestones that have been achieved throughout the summer.
________________________________________________________________________________
The Women's & Girls Awards evening also recognises performances, success and acheivements from players involved with the Talent Pathway teams in Wiltshire, which includes teams at Under 11s, Under 13s, Under 15s, Under 18s and County Women's Teams.
Wiltshire Cricket's Sam Dent, alongside Wiltshire U15 Girls Coach, Lois Wright and Western Storm's, Chloe Skelton presented the awards. The County Age Group awards recongise individual performances (50+ Runs, 4+ wickets) and "Player of the Year" achivements, which are selected by the coaching teams for each County Age Group.
The winners of this year's awards were:
________________________________________________________________________________
Individual Performances:
Under 11s County:
- Olivia Wade
54* vs Gloucestershire
63* vs Dorset
Under 13s Development:
- Chloe Bensted
51* vs Cricket Wales South
- Jess Selby
50 vs Hampshire
Under 13s County:
- Ava Pike
50* vs Cricket Wales East
50* vs Gloucestershire
56* vs Somerset
59* vs Oxfordshire
66* vs Hampshire
- Chloe Bensted
5-7 vs Cricket Wales East
4-15 vs Gloucestershire
- Sophie Gaiger
72* vs Oxfordshire
5-6 vs Gloucestershire
- Erin Stockley
4-19 vs Gloucestershire
Under 15s County:
- Poppy Walker
4-17 vs Oxfordshire
4-53 vs Berkshire
- Florence Sharman
72* vs Buckinghamshire
67 vs Buckinghamshire
54 vs Oxforshire
- Carys Shah
53 vs Oxfordshire
- Lucy Nash
5-7 vs Oxfordshire
Under 18s County:
- Jemima Richardson
4-21 vs Berkshire
- Holly Evans
4-12 vs Dorset
- Emily Smith
4-7 vs Hampshire
- Anna-Mae Shearn
50 vs Cricket Wales
County Women:
- Isla Thomson
62 vs Dorset
- Maxine Blythin
72* vs Dorset
- Poppy Walker
4-53 vs Cricket Wales
- Lauren Shrubsole
5-12 vs Gloucestershire
________________________________________________________
Players of the Year:
Under 11 Player of the Year - Olivia Wade
Under 13 Player of the Year - Ava Pike
Under 15 Player of the Year - Florence Sharman
Under 18 Player of the Year - Emily Smith
County Women's Young Player of the Year - Poppy Walker
County Women's Player of the Year - Isla Thomson
_______________________________________________________________
To conclude the evening, Wiltshire Cricket also congratulated each of the players who have been selected for Western Storm Emerging Players and Academy Programmes. Further information can be found below:
Western Storm Emerging Player Programme Selections
Western Storm Regional Academy Programme Selections
_______________________________________________________
Wiltshire Cricket would also like to thank each of our sponsors for their support of W&Gs Cricket and Talent Pathway Cricket too. During the Awards Evening, Wiltshire Cricket's, Head of Sponsorship, Ged Montgomery gave thanks to PensionBee for their support of Wiltshire Women's & Girls Pathway Teams and Club Competitions.
_______________________________________________________
The Awards Evening concluded with a Q&A session with Western Storm's, Chloe Skelton who gave insightful, encouraging and detailed answers to a range of questions from the guests. Chloe then gave time to talk to guests individually and take photos with young players from across Wiltshire.
_______________________________________________________
Women's & Girls Cricket in Wiltshire continues to thrive and with the launch of the 2024 competitions just around the corner, there's a appetite for conitnued growth, development and increased visibility of the Women's & Girls' game.
For a full photo album, please visit our Wiltshire Cricket Facebook Page here.
