Women’s cricket at Bedworth CC has seen incredible growth in the last 12 months.
From running a few sessions for parents and female spectators alongside junior sessions last summer, the club now has a flourishing women’s section, consisting of around 20 women of all ages and abilities attending training on Wednesday evenings. Over the winter, Bedworth Women entered a team in the women’s indoor league, finishing a very respectable fourth and giving them valuable experience ahead of a busy first outdoor season in 2022.
WCF visited Bedworth CC recently on women’s training night to talk to the players and coaches – and find out more about the rapid growth in women’s cricket at the club. The first impression was of energy and excitement as the players and coaches warmed up and then dispersed into well organised groups of batters and bowlers, followed by fielding practice and a game. Talking to players and coaches during the session, and to lead coach Ben Hughes afterwards, some key themes emerged to explain the journey so far.
Relaxed Starter Sessions
In the late summer of 2021, Tom Jenkins and Neil Jones organised some taster sessions for mums and other female spectators at junior training. The sessions were focused on fun and fitness, with no pressure on performance or ability. Numbers increased and so did the range of ages participating, ultimately ranging from 14 to over 60 years old. Part of the appeal was being able to get out to exercise and socialise after the Covid lockdowns.
Ben Hughes explains that some of the participants who had previously been watching their children, such as Victoria Kaczur, were initially quite reluctant and said they didn’t even like cricket. They are now, however, fully involved in the women’s team. Keeping the sessions relaxed to begin with gave participants time to feel comfortable with the game in a low pressure environment, enabling them to take their development at their own pace.
Support Base
From the start, the established coaches, committee members and senior players at Bedworth CC gave a huge amount of support to the development of women’s cricket at the club, and they continue to do so. Alongside Ben Hughes, other players and coaches who have invested in growing the women’s section are Tom Jenkin, John Bulpitt, Mo Mehrban, Antony Spelman, Gary Bass, Carl Glover and Sophie Buckton. The presence of Sophie Buckton, who came through the Bedworth and Warwickshire age groups, as a cricketing role model and coach has been an important relatable influence on many of the players.
At the committee level too, the club has invested. Ben Hughes praises the work of Katie Philips in representing women’s cricket on the Bedworth CC Committee (as well as being a key member of the women’s team since Day 1). In addition, former Bedworth mayor, Bob Copland, has joined the Committee and taken an active role in promoting the women’s section. Despite not being a cricketer himself, Bob has recognised the benefits of a thriving women’s section – for the women themselves and for the club and its community. Bob has supported the women’s team in their indoor season and is soon to take his Level 1 Foundation coaching course to assist at training sessions.
Development
There is a strong sense of development amongst the group of female cricketers at Bedworth CC, but none of it is forced and it all feels like a natural progression.
There is a strong sense of development amongst the group of female cricketers at Bedworth CC, but none of it is forced and it all feels like a natural progression. John Bulpitt, coaching at the session, says, “The sessions started off more about fun and enjoyment, but now the players have improved and they are looking for more technical input. They are coming to the coaches with more questions and asking for advice about different aspects of their game, which is great to see. The fact that many of them started together means they have been able to move forward with confidence as a group. Pav Jassar, Emma Lent and Charlotte Bulpitt have played for the club 4th team on a Sunday.”
Having a successful county age group player like Sophie Buckton as a trail blazer in the club has had a positive influence on some of the younger players coming through. Recently, Charlotte Bulpitt, aged 15, was selected for a MCC Pathways course for aspiring cricketers. “I really enjoyed it,” says Charlotte. “It helped me a lot with my batting stance and my bowling run up.” Charlotte is one of the players who is now playing in the club 4th team.
Ben Hughes points out that participating in the WCB winter indoor league gave Bedworth’s women players plenty of opportunity to develop aspects of their own game, general game awareness, and other qualities such as captaincy. This experience enabled the club to build on the tentative steps taken last summer in playing competitive cricket. “For our first match, at the end of last summer,” Ben recalls, “we played with beach bats and an All Stars ball. Our opponents had proper bats and a pink ball. We realised we needed to invest in equipment and kit, as well as coaching. Now we have the kit we need thanks to the two supportive sponsors of the women’s section we have brought onboard – Karpet Kingdom and Cocks Lloyd Solicitors.”
Organised Training and Coaching
Ben Hughes and his team of fellow coaches ensure that women’s training on Wednesday evenings is highly organised and full of energy from players and coaches. There is a strong sense of purpose and plenty of encouragement and coaching input from all the coaches. The players are also very supportive of each other. When something doesn’t go well for one of their fellow players, the others are quick to offer support and encouragement.
Ben Hughes explains that coach development is a key part of the growth strategy for the women’s section at Bedworth CC. “We have five people involved in the women’s section going on a Support Coach coaching course soon, and another six taking an Activator course. For the players on these courses, they will be able to contribute during coaching sessions, plus the courses should help them develop their own game as well.”
Social Aspect
The women’s section at Bedworth CC is also a sociable group, with plenty of socialising outside of training. Within training, warm-ups include other sports such as football and volleyball to energise the group and bring everyone together before they split into groups for batting and bowling. Ben Hughes recognises the importance of the social aspects in teambuilding. “I realised when we started that most of the women didn’t know each other, so we have worked at building the social side of things too. At training, we encouraged the participants to communicate with each other, for example taking a moment at the end of the session to discuss what had gone well for them and what improvements they had seen in each other.”
Use of Social Media
Social media has played an important part in the growth of women’s cricket at Bedworth CC. Ellie Wall and Debbie Morse both came to the club via Facebook. Ellie had seen games being played locally and wanted to give cricket a try, so she found out more about the sessions through the club’s Facebook page. Debbie had always enjoyed watching cricket and decided to join up after her colleague Victoria shared a post about the Bedworth Women’s section on Facebook.
Social and traditional media continues to play a role in keeping the group together and recruiting new members. The group will be featured on an upcoming episode of the Noughtie Child women’s cricket podcast and have in the past appeared on BBC Radio for Coventry & Warwickshire.
Family Affair
Establishing a women’s section was a logical step for a thriving family club like Bedworth CC, enabling the club to widen its reach in the community. The Mehrban family are a great example of how this has happened. Naila and Mo Mehrban’s nephew Abdul joined the All Stars programme at Bedworth CC. When the women’s section started, Naila joined the group as a player and Mo joined as a volunteer coach.
With Naila padded up batting in the nets, Mo takes up their story. “Naila is loving it. These sessions are so good for her and the social aspect too. She has really opened up as a result of playing cricket here. It’s a great group to be involved with and I was happy to help organise the shirt supply. The players have improved so much in a short space of time. To start with, some of the group couldn’t throw the ball well, and now they are bowling properly with a run up. Now we have moved outdoors, there is more space to develop even further.”
Plans for the Future
The sense of further development is shared by players and coaches alike. Progressing from their first friendly matches last year, the women’s team has entered a competitive softball league this season and many of the women also continue to develop their hard ball skills. Ben can foresee next year the group may split for part of the session into those who want to play competitive hardball cricket and those who want to play more sociable softball cricket.
As a club, Ben Hughes is proud that for the first time in the club’s 161 year history Bedworth CC is hosting a women’s cricket festival, with two women and one girls’ cricket festivals scheduled at the club this summer. Over half of the club U9’s team are girls and the women’s team has played warm up pairs cricket matches against the club 4th XI. Both facts demonstrate how integrated women’s cricket is becoming in club life at Bedworth CC. The club has also organised a women’s cricket masterclass to be held at the club on 22nd June with three local professional female cricketers.
Summary
Gabby Basketter, WCB Women and Girls’ Officer, is delighted with the progress Bedworth CC has made in the women’s game. “Bedworth CC is a great example of what a cricket club can achieve in a relatively short space of time when the development of women’s cricket is actively supported by everyone at the club. It has been fantastic to see the Bedworth CC women’s team competing in the indoor league this winter, and I’m really looking forward to seeing them in action outdoors over the summer.”
The image that springs to mind when assessing the growth of women’s cricket at Bedworth CC is of a high performance car. It does 0-60mph in 5 seconds, has a large and passionate support team behind the scenes, but this it’s also a stylish convertible model. The convertible aspect is perhaps the most impressive feature of the journey and is summed up by coach Ben Hughes when he says, “We have converted people who were here watching cricket into players.”