Wilson & Luff hand out awards at Women and Girls’ celebration event
31 October 2016
England international Fran Wilson and her Western Storm team mate Sophie Luff handed out the awards at the 2016 Gloucestershire Women and Girls Presentation evening.
Players of all ages from right across the county attended the event at the Bristol Pavilion to celebrate the achievements of the last 12 months.
For photos from the night please visit the GCB Twitter and Facebook pages .
The evening kicked off with a review of the Under 13 season and the presentation of awards to Corse and Staunton and Frenchay who were champions of the respective North and South leagues.
There was also individual recognition for Frenchay pair Molly Bliss ad Mia Balkwill who won the U13 bowler and batter of the awards respectively.
The Under 15 League – which was reintroduced in 2016 – was won by Charlton Kings with the individual prizes going to Dumbleton’s Ellie Fleck (batter) and Cheltenham’s Milly Bourke (bowler).
The Gloucestershire Women’s League trophy was collected by Bristol Phoenix, while there was individual success for Bristol YMCA’s Janet Street, who won batter of the year and Cam’s Lucy Johnstone who scooped the bowling award.
As well as handing out the silverware Fran – who helped coach the Gloucestershire U11 and U13 squads last winter – and Sophie took part in an interview based around BBC TV show Room 101.
The Western Storm pair were invited to select their favourite thing about cricket, a new rule they would introduce and one thing they would get rid of, with the winner of each round decided by the audience.
Fran’s plea to banish first ball dismissals beat Sophie’s plans to bring in a double-run over in T20 matches where a wicket would also see a five run penalty.
But Sophie’s plea to end rain delays (and go home instead!) defeated Fran’s bid to end long, overgrown outfields.
Somerset and England Academy batter Sophie sealed her win when her impassioned speech promoting the joy of teas was greeted with louder applause than Fran’s favourite part of cricket – the social and challenging sides to the game.
The evening also saw a range of competitions and a round-up of the Cotswold Women’s League, the Gloucestershire county age group teams and the Gloucestershire Women’s season.
Lisa Pagett spoke about the highlights of the season and the continued growth of the women and girls game in the county from the first ever Bristol/South Glos women’s social league through to the support for England and Western Storm matches played at the Brightside County Ground.
She said: “It has been a fantastic year for Women and Girls’ cricket in Gloucestershire at all levels of the game. From the reintroduction of the Under 15 league to the Glos Women winning promotion there has been a lot to celebrate.”
“We have had a number of new clubs set up women’s and girls’ sections and the social leagues have helped bring a lot of new people to the game.”
“It is an exciting time for women and girls cricket in Gloucestershire and I am hugely grateful to all of the volunteers who have given so much to help make it all happen.”
