Hampshire Cricket Board Helping Grow Female Participation At Grassroots Level

Hundreds of women across Hampshire have enjoyed playing grassroots cricket as part of a successful drive to increase participation in the women’s game.

Hampshire Cricket Board (HCB), which oversees the sport at a local level throughout the county, wants to see more women and girls playing cricket as part of its wider efforts to grow the game locally.

To help it achieve that goal, HCB runs a string of competitions for local women’s teams, including its W10 leagues, which are proving more popular than ever.

The W10 format is a softball cricket aimed at women who are looking to start playing the sport for the first time, and in 2023 more than 200 women played in HCB’s W10 League.

Split into four divisions, 21 teams took part, with Easton & Martyr Worthy CC the eventual winners. Other teams who progressed to the finals day included Portsmouth and Southsea CC, Clanfield CC, and Redlynch and Hale CC.

HCB also ran a series of successful W10 cricket festivals aimed at other teams looking for a more social, less regular format. A total of 19 teams – with the majority given HCB grants to help support the cost of running their club and attending the festivals – took part, further boosting participation levels locally.

And running alongside the two W10 series, HCB also launched a second format, Women’s Slam. Eight teams were split into two highly competitive groups, with games taking place from July through to the beginning of September. Semi-finals and the final were then held on the nursery ground at The Ageas Bowl, with Ropley CC eventually crowned the inaugural Women’s Slam winners.

Almost 100 women took part in the Women’s Slam competition, making it a record-breaking year for female participation in grassroots cricket in Hampshire.

For more information on how to find a local team to play for, or how to take part in W10 or Women’s Slam in 2024, email: michael.pollard@ageasbowl.com.