Durham’s Under-11 County Girls have picked up seven wins in their season so far, with four consecutive victories claimed recently against Northumberland and Cumbria.
The youngest girls’ county squad has played 14 games in the season so far, securing seven wins, one draw, and six losses.
The team has improved its winning record as the season developed, with six of their victories claimed in only the past few weeks.
Key standouts this season are Ava Rimmington and Hannah Collingwood who lead the team’s batting and bowling figures respectively. Rimmington holds the top spot for highest number of runs scored (123) while Collingwood holds the position for highest wickets taken (10) and best bowling economy (1.29).
The team’s performance has been exceptional considering the fact that it’s a fresh squad with most of the U11 players from last season moving up to the U13 age group.
Coach Marsha Davies confirms that the girls are developing steadily as some of them are able to build an innings, eventually retiring as per the format’s rule. Retirement is a rule practised in recreational cricket that ensures every member of the team gets a fair chance to play by retiring the player once they reach an agreed-upon total. With the team’s youngest player, Louisa Nunn recently retiring against Northumberland on 13th July, this gives Marsha immense confidence in the group.
She said: “This team continues to learn from their mistakes, bettering themselves with each game they play and producing results as they go. The atmosphere in the dressing room is friendly as all the girls get on so well with each other – which reflects in their performance on field.”
The team now looks ahead to take on Lancashire, Yorkshire and Cheshire over the coming weeks.
On 26th August, the girls will take part in a tri-series fixture held at Harrogate Cricket Club between Durham, Yorkshire, and Northumberland known as the “Mini-Diamonds Day” and to end the season, the squad will go on tour to Scarborough where it will take part in the Scarborough School Festival.
The Northern Diamonds is one of eight regional hubs in English domestic women’s cricket representing Durham, Northumberland and Yorkshire, and the “Mini-Diamonds Day” will create a fantastic opportunity for the youngest county squads across the North to compete against each other as part of the Diamonds’ structure.
Marsha Davies said: “We have a busy schedule during the school holidays and the team is really excited to be going on tour and playing a lot of cricket in the next few weeks.
“This second part of the season is a great opportunity for the girls to bond and grow together as a team. It’ll be interesting to see how the girls cope with the hectic schedule and I hope the squad grows stronger together, develops in more aspects of the game and continues to improve.”