Since starting in 2020, the women’s team has gone from strength to strength. In 2023, we will play our inaugural season in the Surrey Women’s Cricket League, as well as fielding a side for the Central Smash IT Softball League.

The team is comprised of women and girls of all ages and abilities, and everyone is welcome to join, regardless of experience. Whether it’s hardball or softball, there are opportunities for all to play at the level they feel most comfortable, or to challenge themselves outside their comfort zone.

Many younger members have played for Effingham at age group levels and in mixed Colt teams, and with high participation from young girls, there is now a pathway through to senior cricket and a bright future ahead.

To enquire about our women’s team, please email info@effinghamcc.co.uk

SMASH IT Softball Festival @ Chiddingfold

Amidst some late team withdrawals, Sunday 20 August’s softball festival at Chiddingfold was able to go ahead, with the Ships facing the hosts, and Woking & Horsell.

ECC opened the event against W&H, where a close result saw Effingham’s 232/5 beaten by W&H’s 237/2. We then played eventual winners Chiddingfold, who got 266/1 to Effingham’s 234/2.

A great opportunity to continue improving skills with both bat and ball, we demonstrated some good work in the field against two good sides and continued to show great commitment to developing as a team.

Smashing Saturday For Ships’ Softball & Hardball Sides

Saturday, 9 July was a winning day for the women’s team, which simultaneously fielded two different sides – one visiting Walton-on-Thames for a hardball friendly, whilst the other travelled to Dorking to compete in the SMASH IT softball festival.

At Walton, the Ships picked up their first hardball victory of the season, winning by 7 wickets. Annie and Liv both took their first wickets in women’s cricket, and Frankie’s 2/33 was joined by Ellie and Alexie in adding to their season totals, as Walton set the score of 180/8. A second innings 122 run partnership between Ellie (49) and Abi (30*), and a quickfire 15 from Georgie P saw the team home with 5 balls remaining.

Meanwhile, in Dorking, the softball side were crowned winners, after facing three different teams across the afternoon, starting with the hosts. After being set a target of 47, opening batting pair of Sarah and Pat sent the team on their way scoring 17 runs, followed by the young pairing of Bella and Nyang’ara with 13. The runs continued to come, as they recorded a total of 72 without losing a wicket.

Chasing a target of 40 against Ottershaw, a solid run of batting partnerships was rounded off by Erica and Emma, who posted 14 runs without loss to set the winning total of 54. The final fixture against Leatherhead saw the Ships be restricted to a total of 39 runs, but excellent fielding saw three crucial wickets taken off the final two pairs by Imari (2) and Rachel (1), reducing Leatherhead’s score late on to 18 runs and sealing a clean sweep of victories.

Captain’s Welcome

Women’s and girls cricket at Effingham CC has an exciting future ahead. From the team playing their first hardball match last season, to entering into the Surrey Women’s Cricket League for their inaugural season in 2023, we have made great progress in a short space of time. 

Being able to support both softball and hardball has meant our women’s team has been active in developing their skills to become proficient bowlers and batters. Direction and coaching support from senior men’s players has aided our development, including some great individual performances and teamwork in the field.

There is a lot of interest amongst the younger girls’ age groups, who we hope will all join the senior team, and over the past few years we have a established a great group of girls who are coming along regularly to play. 

Georgie Dodson, Women’s Captain

Senior Training

Summer 2023

Effingham Cricket Ground – Mondays – 6.30pm-8pm

Training for women & U15 girls (all aged 12+ are invited)

Monday, 1 May saw the first successful training session in 2023 for the U15 girls & women’s team, where players of all ages practiced and improved their skills, showing promising potential for the upcoming season. Several new players were welcomed at the session, and will continue to be welcome throughout the season.

2023 Fixtures

Effingham will be entering into the Surrey Women’s Cricket League for the first time in 2023, as well as fielding a team for the Central Smash IT Softball League. The following are the scheduled fixtures for the 1st XI (unless stated to be softball):

14 May – Cranleigh (a) – Cranleigh won by 98 runs

25 May – Softball Festival @ Merstham

1 June – Westcott (Softball, a) – Effingham win by 74 runs

4 June – Malden Wanderers (h) – Malden won by 7 wickets

18 June – Wimbledon (h) – Wimbledon won by 10 wickets 

22 June – Dorking (Softball, h) – Effingham win by 62 runs 

2 July – Malden Wanderers (a) – Malden won by 9 wickets

9 July – Walton on Thames (a) – Effingham won by 7 wickets

9 July – Softball Festival @ Dorking – Effingham overall winners

20 July – Dorking (Softball, a) – Dorking won by 50 runs

23 July – Wimbledon (a) – Wimbledon won by 183 runs

6 August – Walton on Thames (h) – Walton on Thames conceded

13 August – Cranleigh (h) – Cranleigh won by 8 wickets

20 August – Softball Festival @ Chiddingfold

28 August – Richmond (T20, a) – Richmond won by 40 runs 

KEY PERSONNEL 

The following is an introduction to the key figures in our women & girls’ section: