Durham Cricket held a successful Women’s Launch night ahead of the 2025 season, the Club’s first with a professional women’s team.
There was a star-studded lineup to greet an action-packed Riverside ground featuring the likes of BBC Look North’s Dawn Thewlis, Club Chair Phil Collins and Director of Cricket Marcus North with the whole Durham Women squad also present.
The evening was hosted in the Geoff Cook Suite, with guests warmly welcomed by host Alisson Curbishley.
After the Durham Women squad were introduced to a round of applause, guests were presented with Durham Cricket’s launch video, showing the Club’s two professional sides uniting, with Durham Men also in attendance.
Chairman Phil Collins spoke of his pride of seeing the introduction of Durham’s first professional Women’s team, highlighting the importance of women’s cricket to the region.
Marcus North, Danielle Hazell and Rachel Hopkins then entered the stage for a Q&A as the trio discussed their involvement in ensuring Durham became one of eight professional Women’s sides as well as discussing their cricketing journeys so far.
Michelle Gorman of This is Durham, the first sponsor of our women’s team, then took to the stage and spoke of their pride of gaining Durham Women’s first sponsorship.
Lizzie Scott, Phoebe Turner and Lauren Filer also took to the stage as they discussed their moves up to the north east and their excitement as women’s cricket enters a new era.
Dawn Thewlis closed out the evening alongside Alisson Curbishley as the pair looked ahead to exciting times for Durham Women.
Chief Operating Officer, Richard Dowson said: “It was a great event which showcased our Women’s side brilliantly and it was fantastic to see so many in attendance on an historic occasion for the club.
“We can’t wait for the season to get underway on April 23rd and we look forward to seeing as many as possible at our opening game next month.”