Local cricket: Huge interest in women’s game when Sefton Park claims hardball title

Women’s cricket is on the rise in Liverpool – and there’s no better example than the success story of one of the city’s newest clubs.

Although Sefton Park was founded in 1860, it had no women’s section until 2019.

Last Sunday, their party, led by Sarah John, stopped Bootle’s challenge in an exciting meeting of the last day to win the Love Lane Liverpool competition in the Hardball League.

When the last pair of Bootle came to hit, the points between the two unbeaten teams were tied – but Sefton dominated the 21-run margin, which John says only points to the proximity of the clash.

There has apparently been quite a bit of competition between Bootle and ourselves over the years, he said. And I think the teams were pretty tightly matched.

So it’s always a good match when we go against them.

It was a very fought game and there were a lot of nervous moments – Hannah Gallimore bowled particularly well and caused us all sorts of problems.

John and his sister Anna acted in a decisive encounter with a bat and a ball – but with 17 players used to play more than eight players during the year, the skipper was able to fend off gratitude from himself and his immediate family.

Aaishah Amjad rose to the top of the league running tables, and John says many new players have joined once thanks to the re-focus of the competitions on women’s and girls ’cricket.

He said: Weve had a huge number of new people coming to join – and it just shows that anyone can do it.

I used to play as a kid – but now coming people who have never taken a cricket mill before. And they get on our teams.

One of the girls, Eleanor Cantwell, had never played and trained before a couple of months ago – now she’s one of our stars getting runs and gates.

Both I and he play on Sefton’s men’s senior teams – were the first women ever. So it just shows it spreading.

This is both a sign of progress and a sign that there is still a long way to go before women’s cricket has almost equal opportunities in itself – in public conscience and in the national (and local) media.

Like it or hate it, a hundred is just around the corner, and one of the new big selling points in competitions is the equality offered to women (if not cash).

Manchester Originals, made up of Rainford guard Ellie Threlkeld, Sutton’s versatile Nat Brown and Norley Hall’s sailor Laura Jackson, will raise Satava’s veil in a game against Oval Invincibles 21. July – gives women the opening game of a divisive gesture for which the ECB flagship tournament has set new standards over the last two years.

John supports the rain and believes that such movements – tokenistic or otherwise – will help attract women and girls to the game.

When I was a kid, I always played in groups of boys, he said. There wasn’t much in women’s understanding or familiarity with the game, while now it’s a much bigger thing.

I help lead five- or eight-year-old All-Stars – about a third of them are now girls, which is amazing. They all get into it and join other sessions now as well.

We took a group of us from Sefton to watch one of a hundred matches at Emirates Old Trafford – its massive.

The hardball league may have ended, but John and his side have plenty of summer left to sit at the top of the softball table and advance to the T20 quarterfinals.

In addition, Sefton has had several players named to the inter-league team of the competitions – an important step towards higher grades.

It gives girls and women something to strive towards, John said. You can’t expect people to be found in our little club games, so it’s a great way to see.

The biggest change, I think, is that the Sefton Club has recognized us a lot more now – we had over 30 people coming to our internships, we got women to play on older teams, we got women to coach boys and girls – so it’s been the whole club’s efforts at all Sefton women’s games to push.

Its teamwork is also from the field. Coach Paul Bate has helped prepare for hardball matches, while the social media presence of the clubs has been key to attracting new players, according to John.

The future looks bright: Seftons U10 girls will take part in their first tournament this weekend and 11-year-old Caitlin Summers will be invited to the Lancashire age group system.

And you can’t win success in recruiting.

We’ve got supporters for the first time ever, he said. Men come to watch us, as well as their games.

They say you can’t be what you can’t see, and I think it’s actually shown in Sefton.