Hurricanes win Women’s Softball County Finals after bowl-out

This year’s women’s softball county finals, sponsored by Brown & Brown, were hosted at Headingley Stadium and it delivered drama, quite a bit of rain, terrific support and a bowl-out.

It was standard softball league rules at 16-over-a-side with pairs batting four overs each and bowlers getting four overs. Batting totals begin on 200 and a dismissal sees batters swap ends and five runs deducted.

The eight-team showpiece was divided into two groups of four with the winners of each group set to play a final for the trophy in the afternoon.

🏏 Group A: Holmfirth, Worsbrough Bridge, Great Ayton and Hessle.

🏏 Group B: Parkhead, Whitby, Barkisland and Bolton Percy.

With the first round of matches beginning at 10am to fit in three group games and the final, squads were pitchside impressively early, having travelled from all over Yorkshire.

An early observation is that hosting this showpiece at Headingley created a real buzz with players, coaches and spectators. There were lots of selfies as the realisation of playing at an international venue began to dawn.

The Yorkshire Cricket Foundation (YCF) team set up four pitches with plastic cones while Richard Robinson, Yorkshire’s Head of Grounds, was doing a stint on the roller as the final County Championship match of the season (against Durham) begins on Wednesday 24 September.

A chat with Whitby Cricket Club coach Ian, whose team were noticeably sharp with pre-game fielding drills, was how I learnt that Whitby’s softball adventures have come on leaps and bounds.

They entered into the NYSD’s Hundred (softball) competition this season and thoughts are turning to their own hardball team perhaps for 2026. Whitby lost by 62 runs to eventual finalists Parkhead Panthers in their opening Group B match but would bounce back well later on.

Yorkshire Young Volunteers

While matches ebbed and flowed around us, I caught up with Jasmine Nichols, Headingley’s Senior Groundskeeper, to find out more about the Yorkshire Young Volunteers Programme; a Yorkshire Cricket Foundation initiative for U13 & U15 YCCC Regional Girls squads.

There was a successful launch event with sessions for 50 girls in coaching, umpiring, leadership and groundskeeping. Attendees then put those new skills into practice back at their clubs and in communities from umpiring Roses Festivals to coaching National Programmes.

The ongoing aim is to equip young women with opportunities to learn and be inspired beyond playing cricket across a range of disciplines.

Groundskeeper Jasmine proved a hit and that has since led to girls helping to set up nets, sweep, roll, mow and paint the lines on match days including Northern Superchargers against Trent Rockets (see photo above). It sounds as if there’s considerable interest in groundskeeping and that can only be a good thing for the grassroots game.

For the softball finals, girls on that same YCF Volunteers Programme were officiating at square leg to give their umpiring muscles a work-out. In this format, there is always something happening with regular stumpings and run outs!

Speaking of umpires, I meet Hannah who has ties with Hartshead Moor Cricket Club and umpires in the Bradford Premier League alongside women’s fixtures. I imagine that’s quite a contrast in how umpires are treated and it’s no surprise to learn there’s fewer incidents and pushback in women’s cricket.

Incidentally, Hartshead Moor Women’s 1st XI begin their Div 1a Huddersfield Indoor League campaign as early as 28 September at Huddersfield New College against Cawthorne. Such is the demand that outdoor and indoor seasons almost blend together now.

All change for this year’s finals

Meanwhile, Hessle are an example of how softball cricket is blooming far and wide. To qualify for today, their women’s softball team won the YPLN’s East Yorkshire Softball League; an 18-team competition.

As to the growing depth of this version of the game; you only have to look at the previous finalists, all different: Tickhill, Northallerton, Scholes, Sutton-on-Hull, Stainland, Wykeham, Welton, Wickersley Old Village.

On my laps around the stadium, I meet the Barkisland Bears players (photo below) who have brought a lively group of supporters, most of whom have furry bear ears on. There is the giant teddy and team mascot, Barky the Bear, who gets scooped up in a hurry as the first band of rain sweeps into North Leeds.

Talking to the teams, their origin story varies a bit but broadly starts with the spark of an idea, a leap of faith and usually enough partners, friends or locals to see things take off.

There are a few club cricket-playing husbands in attendance at Headingley smiling ruefully as wives and girlfriends smash sixes or knock over stumps at a venue that has hosted Test cricket and The Hundred during this blockbuster summer.

Barkisland Bears, like others I get chatting to, have a noticeable sense of identity. It’s been interesting to see how women and girls’ cricket has carved its own space on and off the field in recent years from team names to social media accounts.

We have Panthers, Hurricanes and Bears while it’s not too long before the Whitby crowd start playing the national anthem with a kazoo.

Barkisland are a fine example of mates discovering the game from other sports they already play, in this case hockey but other interviews I’ve done have mentioned netball. Everyone finds their way to cricket in different ways, don’t they? The key is that there’s something that fits what they’re looking for and everyone is made to feel welcome.

There’s an energy and dynamism to softball cricket that needs bottling. Players cheer each other until their voices go croaky. A blend of steely competitiveness while appreciating shots and deliveries their opponents pull off.

Anyone who thinks softball cricket, particularly in leagues and on county final days, isn’t serious cricket probably ought to catch a few matches. Game faces are on and skill levels are high.

I wander over to watch Holmfirth vs Worsbrough Bridge; a game ultimately won by the South Yorkshire side by 31 runs though it’s a tussle along the way. Holmfirth’s Lucy Grice is batting and launches a six into the middle tier of the Howard Stand with ease.

The forecast is a bit grim for the afternoon but where there’s a will, there’s a way. Heavy rain forces everyone off for a bit but we’re back on soon enough to conclude the final round of matches that will decide the finalists.

Group A ends up being very tight indeed as Holmfirth, Worsbrough Bridge and Great Ayton all finish on 11pts, only separated by net run rate. In Group B, Parkhead Panthers win all their games to serve notice of what they’re about.

It has been a weird old day for weather; we’ve had more cricket than the forecast reckoned would be possible, positively balmy at times but the final between Holmfirth Hurricanes and Parkhead Panthers has not been on for long when the heavens open spectacularly.

Down to a bowl-out

As pools gather on the outfield, the decision is rightly made to hold a bowl-out instead. Something I’ve never witnessed before. While supporters stay in the Long Room, teams, umpires (and the worldwide media pack of Mark and myself) head down to the East Stand nets.

Bowl-outs happen so infrequently in club cricket that they tend to catch everyone by surprise. Ultimately, it’s a penalty shootout-style way of deciding a rain-affected match where players from each team take it in turn to try to hit the stumps.

You could hear a pin drop in those nets.

Clubs tell me that bowl-outs tend to result in very few actually hitting the target, presumably because of tension and bowlers often don’t do it in games either. Holmfirth Hurricanes hold their nerve to win the women’s softball Yorkshire title for 2025 after acing the bowl-out 2-0.

Holmfirth’s Lucy Grice (who hit the stumps with her delivery) was smart in shortening her run-up and slowing everything down to get the result in that crucial moment.

Congratulations to the Hurricanes for their win and commiserations to Parkhead Panthers; both of whom look in good shape for future tournaments. Days like this, even with the frustration of the weather, are such a positive advert for the recreational game.

Yorkshire Cricket Foundation (YCF)

To learn more about women and girls’ cricket in Yorkshire, the Yorkshire Cricket Foundation website has everything from finding a club to coaching courses and local YCF staff contacts.

You can also keep in touch on social media by following the YCF Facebook Page or YCF on Instagram.

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