Spain for Sport, La Manga Club and La Manga CC this weekend, jointly hosted a weekend of Ladies Cricket, giving the newly established ladies squad within Cricket Espana their first exposure to hard ball competition.
Strong club sides from the UK, Hursley Park, Harrow, Wanstead and Kempston Ladies all arrived in Spain throughout last week, enjoying 3 days of sunshine and relaxation before the cricket began.
Warrow X1 (Combination of Wanstead and Harrow Ladies) – Each of these teams were then joined by members of the Spanish Girls On Friday, Hursley Park and Kempston combined their squads to play 2 x 20/20 matches against a squad and the day saw everybody bat and bowl. Each game went down to the last over and the honours were shared, one game each.
The competition proper started on Saturday, with a day of 6 A Side cricket where each team played each other once in a round robin format, with the top two sides meeting in the final.
Hursely Park showed their strength in winning all four of their group games, and with Harrow winning 3 games, Wanstead 2 games and Kemspton Ladies 1 game, it was a Hursley Park versus Harrow final.
During the round robin stages, each side also played one game against the Spanish Girls Squad. The Spanish side played with great enthusiasm, and showed in all of their games that the future bodes well for the development of Girls cricket in Spain. Neil Brook, Gary and Sue Crompton coached and managed the girls’ squad who mixed in really well with their experienced opponents from the UK. A number of the visiting players commented how positive the Spanish girls were, and also noted the technique and skills shown with bowling and fielding were impressive given the short period of time the girls have been playing.
As the day went on the confidence the girls showed in their batting lead to great improvement. Thanks go to all of the teams and officials for supporting and encouraging the Spanish girls throughout the day.
The final saw Hursley Park continue their dominance of the day, scoring 76 without loss in their 5 overs. Harrow gave the chase a good go but fell 30 runs short.
Special mention to Hursley Park Ladies Opener Charlotte Taylor who received player of the day, with scores of 42, 33 and 38 throughout the day, clearing the ropes on a number of occasions.
After the presentations, the ladies all had a last night tapas meal before enjoying the Champions League final and a karaoke / knees up end of tour party in Mulligans, before heading back to the UK on Sunday evening, already looking forward to 25th – 28th May 2017.
Thanks go to Dave Moore, Ian Hunt and Allan Bailey from La Manga CC for all of their help in setting up and running the 6 A Side festival, to Stuart from Flute Bar for his Trophy Sponsorship, to all of the umpires and scorers (Bill, Tim, Kev, Tom, Dave, Jay, Pauline and Bev) for all of their time and support.
Also, many thanks to Neil, Gary and Sue for their work with the Spanish Girls side who all went home already looking forward to their next practice session.
(Spanish Squad – Mandy Revach, Maisy Brown, Isabelle Brook, Jasmine Stevens, Leah Bartlett, Anna James, Tia Patel, Destiny Patel, Lisa Makharashvili – Neil Brook, Gary Crompton & Sue Crompton (coaches)
