A King’s first: Super Kings debut at Collingham & Linton

The weather has been glorious over the past few weeks; chatting to one groundsman last weekend, they had noted that there had only been 0.7cm of rain in the past month, which was actually too little for keeping the grass in good condition and that the playing surface was suffering.

Being a little selfish, it means I have been able to make plans reasonably early and other than a team not being able to play for some reason, the game I want to go to on any particular day…will go ahead.

Saturday’s game had been to a ground I frequent regularly, but the visitors for the Yorkshire Premier League fixture are a team I haven’t covered in quite a while. Sunday’s fixture was one that actually offered a ground I haven’t been to in six years, and two teams I have never covered before.

So I was really looking forward to my trip.

Setting off at around 8am, I asked Siri to plot my journey to Collingham & Linton’s ground and although I know where the ground is having passed it regularly for the past decade. But I was in one of those curious moods to test out the accuracy of Apple’s Maps directions.

Heading into the village, I resisted the urge to follow my own instincts and head to the entrance of the club’s car park, slavishly following the dulcet voice that was telling me to ‘at the junction turn left and then take the next left’.

Final destination?

By the time I was being informed that ‘you have reached your destination’, I had pulled up outside a rather nice house at the back of the ground, and knowing the rough layout of the club, I was probably at the far end from the pavilion, by the football pitches. 

There was definitely no way into the club from where I was parked.

Curiosity sated…and thankfully no cats killed in the process…I turned the car around and headed back towards where I knew I should have turned. Stopping briefly at the surprisingly Tardis-like Tesco Express to get a cold drink, I pulled into the car park by the pavilion and reversed the car into a relatively shaded area. 

It was just after 8:30am and the first ball was planned for 10am. I decided to head inside to see if I could find anyone from the club to introduce myself to. After a quick wander upstairs and down…the only people I could find were in the gym, so headed back outside to wait for the teams to turn up.

As 9am arrived, I spotted someone sitting on one of the benches on the boundary and decided to go over to have a quick chat. It turned out to be a player for Collingham & Linton, and it was actually her first time playing!

Shortly after, team manager Vanessa Rhodes turned up and we had a good chat about the club and the game. I learned that Collingham & Linton CC Women’s softball team has been in existence for around three years, this was going to be their second game of the season, and their opponents were a newly formed team!

By this point Leeds Super Kings Women were starting to arrive, and I was able to talk to them to find out a little bit more about their team as well.

I must admit, I loved the fact that I had been lucky to choose this fixture given that it was their first ever league game.

Watching the softball boundary being laid out, I decided to head for a walk around it to try and work out where the best places to sit and capture images were.

By now, the sun was beating down, with only one or two small white fluffy clouds dotted around…an area under a neighbour’s trees offered a small amount of respite, so I decided that I would probably sit there for a few overs, to try and avoid looking like Sebastian from Moana by the end of the game.

The home team have already played a game in the West Yorkshire Women & Girl’s Cricket League Division Two (softball), having beaten Knaresborough Forest Women the week before.

Competitive league debut

As 10am approached, Collingham & Linton won the toss and decided to bat first; with Leeds chatting excitedly as they set their field places and got ready to compete in their first competitive game.

I’ve written this before, but I really enjoy this format of cricket. It provides every player on the team a chance to bat, bowl, and field. The rules provide a lower barrier to entry than regular hardball…but don’t mistake that for meaning the game isn’t competitive. It is.

Chloe Hobman and Chloe Bennet were soon hitting the ball around the field, running quite a few runs and finding the occasional boundary for four. By the time they had completed their allotted overs, Chloe Hobman had a net score of 11 and Chloe Bennet had reached 12; a good solid start to the innings.

Kerry Simpson and Captain Janette Cawcutt added similar scores, helping the home team build a commanding total to defend.

By the time Kate Horsfall, Lizzy Woodhead, Paula Thompson and Sophie Dawson had completed their overs, the home team had built a net score of 300…which would be challenging for any team to chase down.

Paula Thompson had impressed with the bat, top scoring with 19; meanwhile Manimegalai Chinnasamy and Viji Saravanan had bowled exceptionally well, with each getting two wickets.

After a short break, Leeds Super Kings walked out to see if they could overhaul that impressive total.

In the first couple of overs, the visitors scored well, matching their hosts efforts in the first innings; however, the accurate bowling after that by Collingham & Linton meant that Leeds’ run rate dropped a little behind their hosts.

Considering that this was their first competitive game, it was great to see various Leeds players stroking the ball around the ground, with one player reverse sweeping the ball for a boundary!

Sweatha Saisdharan Nair scored an impressive 12 runs, with Lavanya Rathish scoring nine. However, it was the bowling of the hosts that was to prove vital, as Janette Cawcutt (3) and Paula Thompson (2) picked up wickets that helped reduce the net score.

By the end of the game, Collingham & Linton Womens 1XI had won by 80 runs, that sees them sit at the top of Division Two at this early stage of the season.

There are quite a few conclusions from this game, and it is something that is in common with all games played in this particular format. As mentioned above, softball cricket is incredibly easy to take part in, requiring little more than a bat and a set of wickets.

The rules mean the game is accessible and everyone gets to take part…I have memories as a kid of being told to ‘go field somewhere over there…no…further back…that’s it right on the boundary’ and being forgotten about. In softball cricket, everyone gets a chance to bat and bowl.

Every game I have covered over the past two or three seasons, has been played in a wonderful spirit, with plenty of smiles on faces. It is the ultimate in social cricket…and I don’t think I’m exaggerating when I say that.

I know there is a lot of snobbery around cricket by some…it’s not cricket if it’s not hardball, or this or that format; and don’t even dare mention The Hundred! But let’s be clear, this is a form of cricket that can be adopted by young and old alike, maybe even seen as an entry into other formats, and it is fun to play and watch.

Finally, despite it being fun and social cricket…there is an element of competitiveness, these teams want to win, and it is great to see this form of competition flourishing at many local clubs.

Thank you to both Collingham & Linton and Leeds Super Kings for making me feel so welcome, it was a fantastic game to start my 2025 softball coverage. 

PHOTOS

Want to read more?

Here are all of Mark’s articles and photos on Cricket Yorkshire.

To see more of his photography, you can visit caughtlight.com or he’s @caughtlight on Twitter/X.

There’s also the Caught Light Photography Facebook page.

I also highly recommend his blog called Leica Moments which includes days out at grounds around Yorkshire.