The first rumblings of Emancipation

It has been a pretty mundane season as far as Shipley cricket is concerned. The 1st XI were consistent at being inconsistent and the twos fell away after a bright start. With the 3rd XI a small embryo in it's first season it was the first rumblings of emancipation that caught the eye.

Were the bastions of our male dominated empire about to be threatened ? Perhaps not quite yet but the first rumblings appeared as our ladies formed up to take part in the DCB organised Women's Soft Ball Festivals around the county.

Eight players playing a version of Kwik Cricket may not sound earth shattering but in a neglected area of the sport at club level the introduction of this competition could be far reaching.

At Shipley our ladies somewhat reluctantly agreed to take part and, after a few basic practice sessions our team was ready for the off. They assembled at the heights of Belper on Sunday 5th August at 10.30 and got off to a good start with a win over Denby. They followed this up with later visits to Belper Meadows and Duffield where they added further wins to their tally. Overall the team won 6 of the 11 games they played.

What was more important was that they enjoyed it and vowed to continue-winter training and hard ball are the next targets. Well done to all !!

 At Belper Amateurs and Meadows