The 2022 season saw us lose all 11 of our league and cup games, in 2023 we won 7 of our 14 league and cup games, but this season our 1st XI won 13 out of 16 and our 2nd XI won 3 out of 4.

In our first game of the season, we lost a close ECB National T20 Cup game at Wrenthorpe (2023 Yorkshire League Champions) in a game that went down to the final ball. This fantastic performance set the tone for the season and gave the team the confidence to aim high.

The main highlight of the season was the Archer Cup Finals Day in July. Beating Bradford Park Avenue (eventual 2024 WYW&GCL Champions) by 8 wickets, Menston by 82 runs, and in the final, Harrogate by 10 wickets, was a truly dominant display, and this resulted in the first silverware for our women in the 8 years since we started the team.

At that stage of the season, the league and cup double was still on the cards, but after two defeats in August, we needed other results to go our way. We showed great character to win the final three league games of the season, finishing in second position in what was a very strong league.

Having lost several players at the end of 2021 (who started a team at another club) we had to rebuild, and to not only do this successfully, but to then finish above that other club, is an outstanding achievement in itself, and shows what is possible at our club.

Indoor training began back in January, with some great sessions run by our L2 qualified Head Coach Rob Heald, and assistant Josh Roberts. The pair worked well together and the improvement in all the players was clear to see. This great work continued outside from April before the league and cup games started in a wet May.

Sophie Jacobson was the leading run scorer this season with 395 runs closely followed by Steph Robinson on 393 and Holly Cowper on 283.

Steph was the leading wicket taker with 20 wickets, with Charlotte Ashton on 17 and Emily Patten-Hall on 14.

We also started our new Women's 2nd XI this season. Unfortunately, the weather prevented us from playing as many games as we had expected. Hopefully this will change next season, as we need more opportunities for our 1st XI fringe players.

Laura Hutchinson (2nd XI Captain) was the leading run scorer for the 2nd XI and Becks Jarvis was the leading wicket taker.

The recruitment this season, and the link with the new Leeds Beckett University Women’s CC (who now use our club as their base), has been fantastic and has helped us attract a good mix of players with previous cricket experience and those new to the game. With a strong player already joining us for 2025, we will continue to raise the bar.

Recruitment will be ongoing throughout the off-season, where players can join us to play in our inter-club indoor league (October to December) and train with us at our indoor sessions (January to April). With regular club socials, there's plenty going on away from the cricket as well.

If you are interested in signing up for any of this, or have any questions about women's cricket at the club, please contact us on 07950 757273 or at play@stchadscc.com.