Yorkshire Women & Girls League: Hundred Finals (Take One)

Waving a sleepy goodbye to my wife and cat (the latter acknowledged my departure with a yawn before a customary three-hour kip), it was down the hill to the morning train; Headingley-bound for club cricket.

The Sunday forecast was fine and then unsettled and then grim, depending on the weather app and time of day you check. The cascading rain bouncing off the buildings as we pulled into Leeds station suggested a rain-affected reality.

Headingley showpiece

This was a signature day for the Yorkshire Women & Girls Cricket League; a chance to hold The Hundred Finals at Headingley.

Days like this don’t magically happen, with the demand on an international venue, there has to be the will and the people who make it so.

The efforts of the Yorkshire Cricket Board and buy-in from Yorkshire County Cricket Club, to hold the hardball finals, a year after the Yorkshire softball finals, are worth noting.

With England Men due to play Australia in the Metro Bank ODI Series on the same ground a week later (21 September), it’s a credit to Head of Grounds Richard Robinson that the event was squeezed in.

My more pressing concern was the fact that I arrived at Ugly Mugs Cafe looking as if I’d been swimming fully-clothed. Caught in torrential rain on the way up from Burley Park, I asked for tea (milk and one sugar thanks) and a hairdryer.

It brought a chuckle but sadly no Dyson Supersonic. Squelching my way to a seat, I grabbed a cricket ball off the shelf. Magnetically drawn to them, this one had been well used but still a decent seam and would shine up.

Once a bowler…

The first match had been due to start at 10am, Sessay Emeralds facing Sheffield Collegiate, first vs fourth in the qualifiers, but the covers were on and digits were crossed.

Over and out for softball finals

It allowed a chance to catch up with those I’ve not seen for months, only been in touch virtually or never met before. Unfortunately, the softball finals over at Weetwood were rained off with no play possible but many came over in the hope of seeing some cricket.

It’s tricky at this time of year to find the venues for multiple teams (grounds are having end-of-season renovations) or space in the calendar if a September final is washed out.

I had a stroll out to the middle with Rob Johnson of the Yorkshire Cricket Board to stare meaningfully at wet grass and offer up a silent prayer to the weather gods.

In the Long Room, speculation was raging as to whether we’d have one game or two on the ground or cut down overs to try to fit things in, if the rain stopped.

As if on cue, around 11.30am, the umpires decided we could get a game in and Sessay proceeded to cut loose with the bat. Reduced to a 50-ball innings, Olivia Gain (56 off 23 balls) got the party started up front.

There was a very short boundary on one side by the stand but even so, it was peppered with sixes and Gain jumped on anything short with a series of rasping cuts.

Captain Adrianna Darlow (27 off 14) and Ophelia Watson (36 off 11) kept up a relentless rate with crisp stroke play, as the Emeralds closed on 152-2 off 50 balls.

For Sheffield Collegiate, it was a tough innings but they stuck at it. Maddie Blackburn (0-23) did well amongst the seven bowlers used, while Rachel Bottomley (1-20) and Emily Huskisson (1-25) were the wicket-takers.

I settled in to watch much of the first set of 50 balls with Yorkshire’s grounds team, happily shielded in the plastic dugout from any future showers.

Conversations and custard donuts

I haven’t seen Robbo for years, nor met Jasmine and the others before, but I was made very welcome. The offer of a brew and a custard donut by no means influences my conclusion that they are terrific human beings.

I could happily have sat there on my cushioned seat, listening to the comments flowing back and forth like a five-set doubles thriller at Wimbledon but Robbo took me up to say hello to Howard in the pavilion.

Interrupting a scorer mid-flow requires the kind of timing that I never remotely was capable of with a bat in my hand. There is a kind of quiet endeavour up here in Room 511. Laptops open. Keys tapping.

Concentration humming. There is so much going on.

A row of Yorkshire Tea mugs sit by the tea urn and I am briefly tempted to requisition one on extended loan. Mischievous thought safely put to one side, I sidle into a chair next to Howard and we catch up, as if it hasn’t been five years.

There is a spotter with binoculars to pick out names and numbers on the back of shirts, allied with the insight from scorers for club knowledge.

Scorers do mighty impressive work. You try scoring a game of The Hundred, reduced to fifty balls with all that’s happening. Very easy to miss things.

Before heading back down to the ground level, I discover how the Howard Stand has been named, not after Dr Howard of the Bingley-based publishing company Emerald Group who bought naming rights – but Howard of YCCC stadium announcer fame!

Random search results on the web have much to answer for in terms of scrutiny and accuracy. Happy to flag that one as untrue – although Yorkshire County Cricket Club has since partnered with Sporting Group International to find a naming rights partner for Headingley Cricket Ground.

I don’t want to interfere but if Howard has a few pounds down the back of his sofa, the stand could keep its name and formally recognise the golden voice of Headingley. Win-win surely?

Back at the cricket, the 87-run victory for Sessay saw Sheffield Collegiate reach 65-3 in reply. While the run rate soared, the batting side will rue several run outs as when Emily Day (20) was starting to build momentum.

The second semi promised a closer contest with Doncaster Town choosing to bat first against Saxton. Saxton’s bowling unit was sharp, backed by their fielding, to keep things tight.

Laura Scheiwe (above) has had a stellar season for Doncaster Town (read my interview when you get a moment) – but her run out for just 2 was a big moment in the innings.

Ellie Harrison (1-7) and Emily Roberts (2-12) both impressed but to be honest, all of Saxton’s bowlers were on it as Doncaster Town found themselves 56-4 when the 50 balls were up.

Sadly, a heavy downpour was followed by much more rain to officially ruin things. A great shame when everyone had made the effort to come together for this celebration of women and girls’ cricket.

On the plus side, I got to meet lots of you who read the website or who I might have interviewed in the past and put names to faces. I really enjoyed that.

There were some 400 or so at Headingley which is a triumph of itself, albeit not one officially logged in Play-Cricket.

This disrupted Finals Day will be replayed this Sunday 22 September at Walton Park Cricket Club, near Wetherby. Meanwhile, the softball finals day is going to be contested at the start of the 2025 season.

The softball finals at Weetwood were due to be played over four pitches with Tickhill Tigers, Scholes Shenanigans, Sutton, Northallerton, Wickerley Vixens, Stainland, Welton and Wykeham all taking part.

Searching for positives, I guess it gives them all winter to prep and the chance of not one, but two trophies in a summer!

🙏 As ever, thanks to the support of Mark / Caught Light Photography whose images of women and girls cricket have showcased the grassroots game and literally brought it into focus.

WANT TO READ MORE?

We have interviews, visits to many grounds and coverages leagues to enjoy. Have a read of our women and girls’ cricket hub.

📸 PHOTOS BY CAUGHT LIGHT