Smashing it on Sundays: Women and girls cricket indoors

It takes a particular set of circumstances to get me out of bed any earlier than absolutely necessary on a Sunday morning while a sleepy fog is still swirling. The prospect of cricket in November will just about do it.

Though I reckoned a 10am start was particularly keen for this women’s indoor league match between Crossflatts and Bradford Park Avenue Ladies to start. More of that later.

As I walked through the centre of Bradford yawning, the glass frontage of Metro Bank’s Market Street branch had cutouts of the England women’s team in limited-overs kit. It seemed apt for today and also a marker of how the game has evolved for the better.

A bus from Interchange up the A641 deposited me at one end of Parkside Road. Thanks to Google Maps for identifying the right bus as I would otherwise be in Halifax by now.

A seagull is sat on a lamp post above me screeching. Further down, a woman in a grey, fluffy dressing gown was vaping out in the street while clutching an infant who grinned at me as I went past. I do a double-take at a car that is completely missing its front. As if a giant laser has lopped off a foot and its innards and wires poke out.

Having flapped about being late, Parkside Sports Centre wasn’t far at all. It is halfway between two places I fondly recall from this year’s adventures: Bowling Old Lane and Pearls Tearoom & Patisserie.

With the gates shut and no sign of life, I have checked my timings which are, of course, wrong. Sigh. The match begins at 11am. More civilised but also sub-optimal.

I pass the time with Yvonne, Crossflatts’ captain, who has got here early and is waiting in her car. I tell her that this Bradford sports hall is earmarked for development and funding from the ECB.

Which turns out to be wrong. It was actually a T&A article from 2021 and the £1.8m urban cricket centre did not materialise. At least not at Parkside although Bradford Park Avenue (above) and elsewhere in the city has seen plenty of investment since.

I was talking with a friend recently about broken promises relating to Bradford and we agreed that the £5.5m into Bradford Park Avenue only partially became reality – but no-one has ever explained why. (It wasn’t the onset of Covid as the project was meant to be finished by 2019).

By my reckoning, they are still owed about £3.5m for a ‘new community pavilion, with changing rooms fitted to county cricket standards, a restaurant with a capacity for 250 diners, and more than 1,000 new seats for spectators.’

Plus, ‘a revamp of the east side of the ground, with repairs to existing terraces and boundary walls, and provision of more than 4,000 new seats plus ECB-standard floodlights installed around the ground.’ (With thanks to David Hopps’ Cricinfo article for that reminder.)

Anyhow, I was prepared to forgo Parkside’s fictional elite-standard indoor cricket nets and bowling machines in exchange for more basic requirements of a loo and warmth. Happily, both were soon available and players arrived in dribs and drabs.

Parkside is an old-school, multi-purpose sports hall with squeaky floors, blue painted walls and giant red basketball nets locked into the roof at either end. The surface is a maze of coloured lines and will keep the umpires Shiv Krishna and Mohammed Salim on their toes.

I’ve not met ‘Sal’ before but he reads Cricket Yorkshire which helps with introductions. An experienced coach at Woodlands and involved with the MCCF’s Bradford Hub for girls, while Shiv is well-known in Bradford cricketing circles.

Players, umpires, spectators and the world’s media (guess who) line up for a minute’s silence at 11am, it being Remembrance Sunday. The quiet is deafening in here. Not a peep except the building’s bones gently grumbling then we end the moment with applause.

This is six-a-side, 12-over-an-innings battles with each match lasting an hour. It is full-rocket drama and something happening every ball. For anyone who might dismiss this form of the game, it is taken seriously.

There are two umpires and two others live-scoring (how many games outside would love that)? The pink plastic ball is heavier than a windball with a prominent seam and goes like a bullet.

I am watching from the gallery upstairs with everyone else, peeking through the grills. The rules take a bit of getting used to with a four and a six off the front wall and a single off the side walls. They lost me a little after that.

In fairness, those cheering on up here would call out what they thought was scored and it didn’t always tally with what Sal would decide. He must have eyes like a chameleon to notice the absolute mayhem that unfolds with stolen singles, misfields and the like.

This year, the key changes are that the stumps are now 18 yards apart rather than 21 to make it easier for bowlers. The popping crease (front line) is also much bigger giving batters less distance to steal a sneaky run. These green boxes are quite far ahead of where the bowler bowls from and so Sal had to watch about five things simultaneously.

Crossflatts, sporting a number of players well versed in hardball cricket, allied with a clutch of talented juniors, looked strong. They bowl first and keep their opponents contained but there is no clatter of wickets. Everyone has two overs and H. Bailey (0-10) is the most economical, with R. Warriner (1-17) and then Yvonne Baines (2-14) claiming the wickets.

A total of 288 off 12 overs (scores begin at 200) may be hard to defend. Or not. Bradford Park Avenue Ladies’ M. Raja blasts 20 off 13 balls and M. Polso is 16 not out at the close.

In reply, S. Worger top-scored with 23 and Yvonne B. was unbeaten with 22 off 12 balls as Crossflatts reached 318 of 12 overs to win by 30 runs.

They lead Bradford’s Division 1 and are unbeaten with Guiseley and Morley both having won three from four. The six-team division also has Bankfoot and Bowling Old Lane. The last round of group games is on Sunday 8 February then likely Bradford, regional and county play-offs.

By my count, there are 12 indoor divisions in the West Yorkshire Women & Girls Cricket League for the 25/26 season. They span Calderdale, Huddersfield, Bradford & Leeds. It’s fun but competitive; players and teams each approaching matches with degrees of seriousness.

While the tactics indoors are very different to outside, you can be caught off the walls for a start, its principal value is in everyone being involved every ball. The six selected bowl and bat which is both inclusive but also means players can develop skills and stay fit.

Just launching everything with the bat comes with a degree of risk with Parkside’s narrow side walls so there is nuance.

As for fielding, scrambling round to back up throws at the stumps is vital. It’s not realistic but holding on to the ball (anti-fielding almost) is a smart move as extra runs are leaked in the heat of the moment. Where’s the fun in that though?

It reminded me a little of a stint as a pub cricket captain in a former life when most of the time I was yelling at my team-mates to hold the ball and stop firing it wide of the stumps as batters scampered extra runs with glee.

The skill levels on show were notable; some well-honed bowling actions, pace and canny spin. Batting shots were hit with power and precision. There were favoured blows straight by rolling the wrists on the bat and smooshing it at velocity with control. Thinking about it, that helps keep the ball low and it was noticeable how cricketers in this women and girls match connected cross-batted; again to avoid being caught.

I had a blast. It’s a sociable, bite-sized form of the game with those in their teens turning out alongside others of a slightly older vintage all supporting each other. Lots of laughter too. Thanks to everyone for making me feel welcomed.

Then suddenly, it’s over. The next teams and supporters arrive like a changing of the guard (Bankfoot and Morley, with the latter inching a close encounter by 16 runs after I’d left).

I narrowly miss my bus and end up standing there gormlessly staring in disbelief as it roars by. The walk back into the city centre is no hardship and over a brew at the Midland Hotel, there’s time to reflect on where indoor cricket sits in Yorkshire.

Once upon a time, it was pockets of die-hards and fragments of informal leagues dotted about. Usually men’s cricket. Now, it’s also large leagues offering softball and hardball cricket for women and girls right across the winter.

The indoor scene is increasingly popular and it’s worth seeking out a match if you’re missing live cricket.