CRICKET chiefs at the County Ground in Taunton have won glowing praise from an ECB official after their involvement in the opening six days of the recent inaugural ICC World Women’s Twenty20 Cup.

The ECB head of women’s cricket, Clare Connor, said the six days of cricket at Taunton were an “outstanding success.”

She said: “Now the tournament has finished and there has been time to reflect on the past couple of weeks, I would like to extend an enormous thank you to the outstanding management team at Somerset CCC.

“I’m sure the other seven international teams would agree with me when I say we simply could not have asked for any more from a venue – you left no stone unturned.

“The pitch was superb, the ground looked absolutely stunning and the numbers of children through the gates was overwhelming.”

The former England Women’s captain added: “Somerset CCC has genuinely played its part in leaving a legacy for girls’ cricket through the immense effort that went into staging 12 consecutive Twenty20 matches at Taunton.

“I would like to thank the club so much for its enthusiasm, professionalism and, of course, great humour!"

Andy Nash, the chairman of Somerset CCC, emphasised the important part played by some of the other venues in the town which also played their part in the success of the ICC T20.

He said: “I wish to place on record the wonderful and wholehearted support given to SCCC by King’s College, Queen’s College and Taunton Vale Cricket Club. The warm welcome they gave the international teams, and the superb wickets they prepared, were very much appreciated.”

Chief Executive Richard Gould said: “The training venues were key in making the event a success, as we had to provide facilities for eight international teams for a period of two weeks.”

Last week, three Kings College students, Alex Barrow, Jos Buttler and Craig Meschede, who are all coached by Dennis Breakwell, played for the Somerset Second XI that beat their Gloucestershire counterparts at Taunton Vale.