Brentwood Bolts
Despite its recent explosion in popularity Ladies cricket is of course nothing new. And you may be surprised to hear that Ladies cricket at Brentwood Cricket Club is also not a recent introduction.
To celebrate the Club's centenary year back in 1981 an England Ladies Xl, captained by the late, great, Rachel Hayhoe-Flint, played a Brentwood Xl. And in the late 1990's we boasted a Ladies team...although sadly it was relatively short-lived as players moved away or circumstances changed.
Roll forward 25 years or so and the newly formed 'Brentwood Bolts' started to take shape in the Summer of 2022, when some of the ladies at the club willingly (or perhaps with some initial cajoling) were signed up by Penny Todd to join our softball training classes.
The initial aim for the ladies was to combine a bit of fitness with learning some more about the sport that some of them spent hours sat on the boundary watching their children or partners play. Plus of course to have fun and hopefully inspire the girls at Brentwood Cricket Club to continue with playing cricket into adulthood. Girls cricket has been thriving at Brentwood for a number of years but we were conscious that there had previously been no option for the older girls to keep playing beyond age-group cricket. So we began running softball training sessions on Tuesday evenings, with Joanne West, our fabulous coach to the girls.
2025 is the fourth season for the ladies and the Brentwood Bolts. Numbers are growing with over 50 players registered. The Bolts have even played the first ever all-ladies cricket match on the main pitch at the Old County Ground, something of which we are all incredibly proud and will be playing in the ESS5 softball league this summer
The Bolts train every Tuesday night, 6:30-7:30pm, at the Old County Ground (where Friday night training is held), and we are always looking for new players at every level to join the training. Please feel welcome to come along on Tuesday or contact Emily Webster at [email protected] if you want to find out more.
