A charity tournament was held on February 7th for Women’s Cricket as a part of the RH Women’s Inspire campaign. Conducted indoors at the Sports Hall, Royal Holloway’s team played against Portsmouth University and a team from King’s College and won the tournament. Women’s cricket was one of the first teams on campus at Royal Holloway so tournament has particular historical significance. A tribute to this is the re-enactment photo in which current members are seen posing next to their predecessors. I spoke to Bethan Sproat, the Women’s Representative for Cricket.
Could you tell our readers about the tournament?
It was a charity tournament. Our chosen charity was The Primary Club who raise money to enable sports and recreational facilities for the blind and visually impaired. They are a cricket team so the link was strong. We raised £100 which was brilliant because that is £100 that can go towards sports facilities. It was the first cricket tournament I’ve organised so I’m pretty happy with how the day went. A few of the men’s team helped out with umpiring and scoring which was great! It was an all-day event in the RHUL sports hall. It was nice to have it at home because we got a few spectators come and watch us!
Are there any challenges specific to the female team?
One of the main challenges we face is that there are not many women’s cricket teams around that are the same sort of standard which means we have to organise all of our own games! A lot of the women were also new to cricket this year which was difficult at first because we don’t have a coach! I am so proud of the team; everyone has pushed themselves at training and really improved over the winter indoor season. So much so that we won the tournament!
What does the RH Women Inspire campaign mean to the team?
The RH Women Inspire campaign was especially great because it made us realise that we are a legacy at Royal Holloway, as women’s cricket was one of the first sports on campus! I think it was a real driving factor for us to push forward at training because we are part of something big!
“It’s about recognising the art women have played literally and figuratively throughout the history of sport and Royal Holloway and doing something that will inspire future students to take part.”
Kate Haswell, Fourth Year
“The fact that cricket was one of the first teams the university had was inspiring, as it is currently seen as a male dominated sport, and it gives us the confidence to play and participate and be part of the legacy.”
Amy Flynn, Third Year
How many female members do Cricket have?
We currently have 10 players on the team, just shy of the 11 that would be a full pitch! We are looking to recruit more members for the summer term though so if anyone is interested definitely come along to the training! (more will be posted about this on the Facebook page)
What do you have planned for next season?
We are hoping to have at least 6 games in the summer term. Additionally we are hoping to do more fundraising so keep an eye out for that around campus!! There are also 6 members of the women’s team going to Budapest this summer for a cricket tour which is exciting because we’ll be able to play!
For any information on upcoming Cricket events or matches just check out: https://www.facebook.com/RHULCricketClub/