In late August, our joint U11 Copford/Kelvedon county cup girls team travelled to Springfield CC to play in the finals of the Kelly Castle county cup competition. The format was a round robin where they would meet Woodford Wells and Saffron Walden (winners of the other two groups).

First up was the game against Woodford Wells. We won the toss and decided to field. Excellent bowling and fielding all round restricted the opposition to 59 and wickets for Bonnie (2), Darcy (1), Holly (1) and a run out meant we started on 25. There was a fast start with the bat and the opening pair of Alice and Holly took our net score to 54 without loss. Pearl and Sophia soon took the score well past the Woodford total leaving the last 2 pairs to see it home. Ella and Darcy ran excellently between the wickets and Mollie and Bonnie played some lovely shots leaving us with a net score of 129 and a comprehensive victory in game one.

With victory secured, we now waited for the other teams to face off and we saw Saffron Walden win a close game meaning it was winner takes all in the final game.

We lost the toss and were put into bat. This time we started a little slowly against some tricky bowling but some big hitting from Pearl and Ella in the middle overs increased the total, and a late cameo from Mollie saw us to a huge total of 120 for 5.

Saffron Walden came out with a game plan to run hard and keep the scoreboard ticking. The opening pair did an excellent job and kept up with the run rate to keep the pressure on. After the first half of the innings it looked like it could be a close game, but the runs started to slow. Wickets for Sophia (1), Bonnie (1) and Mollie (2) - including one wicket on the last ball of the match - meant a big win and the title.

A fantastic performance from all the girls topped off an amazing campaign. Special mention must go to both Pearl and Darcy for some assured captaincy, and kudos to all the players in the squad for supporting each other with such kindness and inclusivity throughout - whilst also having a huge amount of fun!

Huge thanks to Essex Cricket in the Community for the competition, to Copford Cricket Club for being such fantastic partners and to all the coaches and girls supporters. We look forward to going again next year! Well done all!