North Leeds Women’s 1st XI scale heights in breakout year

North Leeds Women’s 1st XI captain Jacky Fitzpatrick is reflecting on a landmark 2025 season where her squad won Division 1 of the West Yorkshire Women & Girls League. For good measure, they made the national final of the ECB Women’s T20 Plate competition.

As opening questions go, I’m curious if the outfit based on the Western fringe of Roundhay Park had talked about titles in pre-season planning? It is a strong top-flight with a number of teams in Crossflatts, Bradford Park Avenue Ladies and St Chad’s Broomfield expected to be there or thereabouts.

Jacky tells me league success was firmly on the radar: “It was our aim at the start. I think we have been competitive the last couple of years. We brought in a couple of strong players so we thought if we’re going to do it any year, this is the year.”

That confidence amongst players before a ball had been bowled came courtesy of twin transfers to complement the existing group. Elizabeth Pickles, playing Yorkshire U15s, joined North Leeds and would go on to get 17 wickets at an average of 8.5 as a bowling spearhead.

Imaan Effendi signed from Pudsey St Lawrence and contributed wickets and runs at vital moments (around county commitments for Leicestershire) while Aliyah Khan averaged 40 with the bat and 12 with the ball in a strong showing as things clicked into place.

I ask about transfers in women and girls’ league cricket and Jacky bats that away with aplomb. Unlike senior cricket on a Saturday where player moves are rife, there is still an understanding in the women’s game and maybe more loyalty?

“Because it’s such a close-knit league and group, you can’t really start talking to players in other teams! It’s not the nice thing to do so it’s just luck, getting your name out there as an approachable, friendly team.”

Jacky added: “The reason we won the league this year is because we had such strength in depth. It really was a year where everybody contributed.”

I turn the conversation on to the evolution of women’s cricket into three regional Premier Leagues for 2026. My curiosity, not to stir, but is to ask the current West Yorkshire champions where they think they’d be compared to the standard of Yorkshire Women & Girls League teams?

Jacky reckons they’d hold their own: “I think we’d be competing, I don’t think we’d be challenging for the title.” She sees Sessay and Doncaster Town as very strong with the Emeralds making the national semi-finals of the ECB Women’s Club Cup.

You could certainly make the argument that the standard of top-division women’s cricket in West Yorkshire is the strongest of the regional leagues. Of course, how everything knits together across the whole region is (thankfully) not my domain.

As for North Leeds, they have made the jump from third spot in 2024 and will aim to build on that title-winning momentum. A proposed girls team, perhaps at U15s, is the current thinking to nurture that pathway and be a sustainable route for girls into women’s club cricket.