Hallam who?

From the 9th of October to the 13th of November, Sheffield University Women’s Cricket Club have devoted their Sundays to running a two-tiered indoor cricket league, for local women’s teams of all ages and abilities, helped along by funding from Sport England’s Small Grants. The 13th of November marked the final Sunday of the indoor league, in which three final matches were held at Bawtry Road Sports Park. The first saw the winners of Division Two, Chesterfield and Sheffield 2, play the last placed team in Division One, North South Yorkshire Girls, in a promotion/relegation battle. The day got off to a flying start as the hall filled up to watch Chesterfield and Sheffield 2 clinch victory and be presented with their trophy. Before the big match of the day, Chesterfield and Sheffield 1sts faced Transport 1sts in the third-place play-off, with Transport 1sts coming out as the victorious side. Finally, it came to the game everyone had been waiting for, as the final to end all finals saw us go up against the other ‘University’ in the city, Sheffield Hallam, in the ultimate Varsity re-match. The venue was the same, but would the score line be the same also?

In a shocking turn of events Captain Millie Boddington CALLED and WON the toss against new Hallam captain Georgia Tagg, putting Hallam in to bat first. Hallam’s opening over against Boddington was edgier than a dodecahedron as batters Anisha Patel and Kennedy Nuttall struggled to know what to do with what faced them. As soon as they looked like they were getting the hang of it Sonia Twigg got the breakthrough, as Hallam’s newest recruit Nuttall had the back wall in her sights only to be denied by a Boddington catch at mid-off. Hallam’s number one batter Patel shortly retired to celebrations from the Hallam contingent on the balcony and the Uni girls on the field, as it meant she couldn’t score any more runs… Another catch, again at mid-off from Uni debutant Hannah Sowden, dismissing Hallam number 6 Charlie Roberts, two run outs and some Boddington sass later, Hallam finished their 10 overs on just 75-5. With that Boddington and fellow opener Hannah Lautch padded up ready for battle. The yellow ball choice proved unpopular with the batters, but still Boddington shook off her varsity blues and steered clear of the aerial shots, reclaiming her bottle and potentially our banner by retiring.Anisha Patel bowled well for Hallam, enjoying the turn the yellow ball offered her and foxing the Uni batters in the process. Zara Aslam made a brief cameo at the crease before going bowled by Patel, but Lautch then followed in Boddington’s footsteps, retiring thanks to a Hallam fumble gifting her a welcome boundary. Eliza Goode and Sonia Twigg were left to finish the job off, reaching 79 and surpassing Hallam’s total with 1 over to spare.All in all the day was a huge success and a great celebration of women’s cricket in the South Yorkshire area. Well done to all teams involved over the course of the league and to all those who helped in the running of the league by scoring and umpiring the games. Another huge thank you to both Sport England and Sport Sheffield, without whom the league would not have ran at all. But even though the matches are all over and the trophies have been handed out, the fun doesn’t stop here. With huge plans in the pipeline to grow and develop the women’s game even further, not just in South Yorkshire but beyond, we look forward to what the new year has to offer and ultimately until next October, when the whole process begins again.