TAUNTON Deane Cricket Club’s ladies team capped a superb first season of softball cricket by finishing as runners-up in the county on Sunday.

They qualified for the Somerset Cricket Board finals day at Weston-super-Mare courtesy of their softball league results, and were in a pool with Brislington and Frome.

Deane faced Brislington first up and put them in to bat, with each team starting on 200 and each wicket meaning -5 to a team’s score.

Brislington were under pressure from the off, as Julie Morrish and Daisy Farrow took two wickets apiece, as the innings was limited to 225 runs.

In reply, sensible batting from openers Ann Glinn and Louise Smith put on 13, giving the next pair of Farrow and Lauren Morrish a good base to add 15 more. 

Donna Nelms and Julie Morrish finished off the innings, bringing the total to 274.

Deane followed this with a 30-run victory over Frome, as Nelms, Lauren Morrish and Farrow took wickets, and some tight fielding restricted Frome to 217 runs. 

Glinn and Ang Jarrett opened the Deane batting positively, before Farrow hit two 6s and Lauren Morrish several 4s to all but secure victory. 

Laura Curry and Smith brought the score to 240, with Nelms and Julie Morrish again seeing it out, and this victory meant that Taunton Deane topped their pool and would now face local rivals Staplegrove in the semi-final.

Again Deane chose to field first and saw Staplegrove hit a total of 233. 
Lauren Morrish was the only wicket-taker, with two, but again Deane restricted them by fielding well.

It is vital not to lose wickets in this format, and once again Glinn and Jarrett handed a good score to Farrow and Lauren Morrish. 

A further 24 runs had been added by the two youngsters when Curry and Amy Lang came to the crease. 

Sensible batting at the end meant a total of 251, giving Deane victory by 18 runs.

The final was played against Midsomer Norton, a team that Deane had never played before. 

Norton hit a huge total of 271, with several 4s and 6s, as again Lauren Morrish was the only wicket-taker.

Some very tight bowling and too many dot balls saw the last Deane pair coming in needing 26 to win. 

It wasn’t to be, and with Deane only managing a score of 251, the victory went to Midsomer Norton.

Nonetheless, Deane are pleased to have reached the final of this competition in their first season, and are already looking forward to coming back and competing next season.

WELLINGTON Cricket Club’s ladies team have come on leaps and bounds over the last year, mirroring the success of women’s cricket in the county as a whole.

Wellington Ladies are very new, having held a couple of outdoor sessions last year to see what interest there was in Wellington – and they were encouraged by a decent turnout.

As a result, they joined up with the Active8 soft ball sessions run by the Somerset Cricket Board (SCB), and recently enjoyed eight weeks of fun cricket overseen by Western Storm and Somerset player Sophie Luff.

Following the final session, certificates of attendance (designed by Simon and Monica Spalding and annotated by Ivor Mitchell) were presented, and Luff received a bunch of flowers as a thank-you.

They are now having a few weeks off, but co-organisers Megan Beale and Nicole Sparks are running some more sessions to keep the momentum going, ahead of Wellington Ladies’ competitive debut at the SCB softball festival at the County Ground in Taunton on September 10.

These sessions will be at Wellington CC, Courtland Road (TA21 8NE), on Monday evenings.

While numbers have been good, Beale and Sparks are still looking for new recruits to join; all abilities are welcome, and they hope to continue developing in the future.

Anyone who is interested can speak to Beale (07464 710269) or Sparks (07545 346900), and follow @wellyccladiescc on Twitter.

Sparks said: “As someone who has been involved in women’s cricket in the Somerset area for almost 15 years now, it is really great to see how far we’ve come.”