Lady Taverners (Outdoor)
Each year the Lady Taverners Outdoor competition runs nationwide. It is an opportunity for clubs and schools to enter girls sides to compete at Under 13 level in an outdoor festival. Congratulations this year must go to South Wilts Grammer School who won both age groups finals.
These 2 sides from Salisbury now go on to play in the Regional Finals that are also to be held in Wiltshire - the dates for these and times are as below.
Under 13 Girls Regional Final @ Stanley Park Sports Ground, Chippenham, 10am - Sunday June 29th.
On Sunday the 29th June the Lady Taverners U13 girl's cricket regional finals were held at Stanley Park Chippenham. This is a soft ball tournament using an incredi-ball. There was a finalist from eight of the eleven counties in the South West region. For the first time ever Wiltshire had a team at the finals.
The team was made up of girls from St Edmunds C of E girls' school and South Wilts Grammar school for Girls playing as South Wilts CC. The opposition looked strong, as all the other clubs at the finals had much greater experience than the Wiltshire team at girl's cricket.
The eight teams were divided into two groups with each team playing the other once. The winners and runners up would play semi finals and then a final was held.
South Wilts played in the second group on pitch two. Their first game was against Portsmouth Community which they went into not knowing what to expect against a club with a Women's premier league team. Bowling first the girl's fielded very well and bowled consistently with Victoria Bradley bowling a wicket maiden and finishing with 2 for 10 in her two overs. Having restricted Portsmouth to 35 the team then batted sensibly in scoring 43 and winning by 8 runs. Laura Jack top scored with 15 not out. This win was a pleasing surprise and gave the girl's confidence for the following games.
Straight back on for their second game they played St Michaels from Dorset. Again bowling first they restricted St Michael's strong batting line up to 40 with the important run out for 2 of the prolific St Michaels opener. Georgia Hedge finished with 2 for 11 in her 3 overs and was involved in the run out. Batting steadily South Wilts ended on 50 winning by 10 runs with Georgia showing her all-round ability by top scoring with 11.
The girls now had a two game break before taking on Thornbury CC another club with a strong Women's section. This crucial game would decide who finished first in the group. Put into bat first openers Georgia and Victoria got them off to a good start with Georgia going quickly to 13 before being out. Victoria then took the lead and in the sixth over pulled a no-ball for 6 scoring 8 under the rules off of the one ball and having to retire on 23. This one over went for 20 and effectively took the game away from Thornbury. South Wilts finished on 67 for 2. Thornbury made a good effort at chasing the total and the girls put in their most inconsistent bowling performance giving away too many wides but at the same time taking wickets. This left the game finally balanced right to the end, Thornbury finished on 54 for 5 and South Wilts won their group.
In the semi-final South Wilts played Bath CC another club with a Women's premier league team and a very strong female section. Batting first the girl's scored 52, a respectable score against strong opposition with Victoria again scoring a 6 and top scoring with 16. Bath set off after the target scoring rapidly in the early overs and looking like they would win easily. But a quick change of the bowling order by the captain Laura Pittman introducing Victoria early changed the whole game. Taking 3 wickets with one superbly caught by wicket keeper Laura Jack she induced panic in the Bath team. The South Wilts fielders' suddenly had belief and chased everything. The game now came down to the last over with Bath requiring 6 to win as long as they didn't lose any more wickets. This over was to be bowled by Victoria after the earlier bowling changes. The first 2 balls went for singles the next no run the fourth a single. Two balls left 3 to win the Bath girl hit it for 4. The only way for South Wilts to win now was to take a wicket. Victoria made the Bath bat play the ball but she defended well and Bath won by 2 runs.
The final played between Bath and Freeland from Oxfordshire was won by Freeland.
The girl's can take great pride from their efforts in what for them and Wiltshire was very much a step into the unknown. They played against some very experience clubs and got to the semi finals of a regional competition at the first attempt. Congratulations to all the squad who took part, you all played your part in making the day a success.
Under 15 Girls Regional Final @ Stanley Park Sports Ground, Chippenham, 10am - Sunday July 6th.
Rules for the competition can be downloaded here and so if you are interested in getting involved in the competition then please contact Steve Silk. The outdoor competition is a fantastic opportunity for girls to experience what it is like to play the Sport at an outdoor venue and in a proper Cricketing environment. It is our aim in Wiltshire that as more time in Wiltshire is devoted to girls Cricket we will see more and more schools enter teams into the competition.
South Wiltshire Lady Taverners Under 13's/15's - 16th May 2008
Organisers of the Salisbury District Girls’ Inter-Cricket competition have hailed it the best ever.
Salisbury District’s under-13 and under-15 Girl’s Inter-Cricket Competitions took place at South Wilts Cricket Club on Friday, 16 May 2008 from 12 noon to 4pm. The festival involved 11 teams from three schools, including South Wilts Grammar School, St Edmund’s, and Stonehenge.
This project is supported by Salisbury District Council, the Wiltshire Cricket Board and South Wilts Cricket Club.
The competition was a double triumph for South Wilts Grammar School for Girls.
St Edmund’s, South Wilts and Stonehenge batted it out in the under-13s festival. A valiant effort was made by all teams but South Wilts A triumphed on the day, beating St Edmund’s A team by just 8 runs.
The under-15s festival involved two teams from South Wilts Grammar School, St Edmund’s and Stonehenge School. With outstanding batting and fielding skills from all teams, South Wilts A team once again proved to be too strong and took the title, winning by 53 runs against St Edmund’s A team in the final.
Salisbury District Council’s sports and community officer, Karlene Jammeh, said: “Over the years the standard at this annual festival has increased immeasurably and this year was no exception.
“I think that the expansion of the competition to include a tournament for the under 15’s has made this year’s festival the best ever.
“Both competitions were extremely close and exciting and all the girls displayed some exceptional batting and fielding skills and tactical acumen to produce some very interesting games.”
Wiltshire Lady Taverners Under 13's Final - 13th June 2007
In 2007 schools competing in the Lady Taverners Under 13 competition were split into two regions, North and South. Two festival dates were held to establish winners of the two regions. From the South the winners were St Edmunds from Salisbury. The festival for the North was held on Tuesday 22nd May at Biddestone Cricket Club where Corsham Secondary School fought off stiff competiton from Hardenhuish to reach the County final.
On Wednesday 13th June, St Edmunds and Corsham came together at Potterne CC to compete for the right to represent Wiltshire in the regional finals of the Lady Taverners Under 13's. On a wet afternoon St Edmunds batted first, posting an excellent score of 96 - 3 from their 10 overs. Lauren Hirst top scored with 22 not out, whilst the pick of the bowlers for Corsham was T Swift who took 2 wickets from her 3 overs. In reply Corsham struggled to keep up with the rate and finished on 55 - 1. However, Marina Moore showed excellent resistance to finish on 21 not out.
The game was played in excellent spirit with some fantastic Cricket on show. St Edmunds now go on to the regional finals being held on Sunday 1st July.
