A Recap of SoCal Women’s Cricket Association’s Opening Session in Orange County

Women’s cricket action has officially ramped up in Southern California with SoCal Women’s Cricket Association hosting its first cricket practice match of the summer. Eight women turned out to play from 10 am – 12:30 pm on Sunday, June 25 in Mission Viejo, CA. Cricket player skill level ranged from never-touched-a-cricket-ball-in-my-life to professional cricketers, but everybody showed off on the field regardless of experience.

We used athletic cones to mark out the field’s boundary to the ICC Women’s Twenty20 Cricket minimum regulation distance of 55 yards, along with the inner circle at 25.15 yards. We went all out with real wood stumps secured into the ground 22 yards apart, and relied on crease lines chalked onto the grass. Due to a lack of facilities in Orange County, local cricket players frequently have to compromise on boundary distance, so it was exciting for the ladies to get a sense of the proper Women’s T20 cricket field size.

The experienced players came ready to play with their own full kits. As hosts, SoCal Women Cricket provided extra cricket bats, balls, pads, helmets, gloves, shoes – and most importantly, donuts – for the event.

Since we were playing leather ball cricket, we started with a round of warmup tosses so new players could acclimate to catching the hard ball without gloves. Several players were coming to the sport from softball, and while there were questions of whether we could use our hats to catch, the ladies were soon enough comfortable with handling and throwing the cricket ball.

Although we couldn’t get an official eleven-a-side match rolling, we did get to see some fantastic batting and bowling through a practice cricket format. The training session consisted of a wicket-keeper, a bowler, a batter, and five fielders waiting eagerly to get a wicket. Bowlers bowled from stump to stump, and alternated each over, while batters stayed in for four overs in a row. Any player who wanted a chance at wicket-keeping got their turn behind the stumps and their chance to sledge the batter.

Our first batter suited up and faced some serious spin bowling from a previous Netherlands National Team pro cricketer. The pitch rating wasn’t exactly Lord’s quality, but the ball bounced enough for some nice hits and batters getting clean bowled. Batters were allowed to stay in even after getting out so they could continue to work on their batting technique.

Each time a batter finished up their turn in the crease, they exclaimed, “That’s fun,” and indeed, the first SoCal Women’s Cricket practice match was fun. There’s a reason that cricket is the second-most popular sport in the world: hitting the ball feels fantastic. The rookie players quickly began to build a sense of timing, and recognized that satisfying ping when the cricket ball flies off the bat’s sweet spot like a spring.

Of course, this was also a day for learning. While the pros performed off-spin bowling magic, one host of SoCal Women’s Cricket who used to run track & field, we won’t say who, kept bowling some wild wides until she focused on getting her line straight. In the end, everybody who tried bowling made a dedicated effort to get the bowling action down and there was drastic improvement over the course of the 2.5 hour practice session.

All of the ladies were natural fielders, showing no fear when chasing catches, and ensuring that the professional cricket players didn’t get too cocky about their hits. The day saw several fours and one maximum, and the ability to connect on most shots was impressive across the board.

Weather-wise the June gloom cleared just in time for this opening SoCal Women’s Cricket practice match, so we were nice and toasty out on the field. Since we wanted the ladies to enjoy cricket, we didn’t have two batters out there running back and forth, but as our numbers grow, we plan on playing six-a-side matches, and then T20 women’s cricket matches.

After the session, everybody agreed that playing cricket is something they would want to do again. All it takes is one time — one connection between leather cricket ball and bat, one leg-before-wicket, one ball plummeting perfectly into your palms at long-on, one bowled ball that thumps the stumps and sends the bails click-clacking down — to fall in love with cricket. You just have to get out there to experience it yourself.

SoCal Women’s Cricket plans on being out there, as often as we can, providing equipment, cricket enthusiasm, sports IQ, and the desire to build an adult women’s cricket league in Orange County. The ladies who attended provided great feedback on time, location, and equipment, and we want to hear from you too! Leave us some comments below so we can work together to make the game of cricket accessible to as many women as possible.

We’ll see you out on the pitch!