Cricket first became available to women and girls in Thame in 2015, thanks to the highly-successful launch of the Crick-Fit initiative, brought to Thame through the Oxfordshire Cricket Board. Their dedicated coaches, Ellie Ingram and George Setterfield, led weekly 1-hour sessions of fun, fitness and cricket-related exercises. Launched in June by the town’s Mayor, Nicola Dixon, the sessions were open to females of all ages from 15 through to 62! Later that year, the OCB and Thame CC organised the first-ever softball-cricket tournament for women in Oxfordshire. Over 30 players took part and the trophy was contested by four teams, 3 from Thame and 1 from Horley.
Crick-fit continued into 2016, while the ladies began to put a squad together, taking part in several tournaments and friendlies. 2017 was a huge year of progression for Women’s Cricket at the club; Thursday hard-ball training began running weekly, while there were more friendlies, softball tournaments and a 6-a-side – these friendlies gave most of the team experience of their first hard ball matches. Towards the end of the season, the team played their first ever 11-a-side match, against South Moreton, before closing the season by winning the Bicester Softball Tournament!
The 2018 season took Women’s Cricket in Thame to a whole new level! Starting with training during the winter and the unveiling of Bridget Cooper as the first ever Thame Women’s Captain, the team entered the Thames Valley Women’s hard-ball League for the first time. Looking professional in their brilliant new kit (pictured below), sponsored by NNR Global Logistics, the ladies faced teams from Henley, Maidenhead and Cookham Dean, winning 2 of the 5 matches. The summer was filled with more friendlies than ever before, as well as several Softball Tournaments of which Thame hosted one. Last, but not least, the Women’s team also provided the new Men’s 4th team with a player or two in times of need!
In 2019, before summer even arrived, the Women’s Team had the great success of winning the Oxfordshire Indoor League Division 2. This was great preparation for the challenge of the newly formed Home Counties Women’s Cricket League, providing an improved standard of competitive hard-ball cricket, on top of prestigious friendly matches against the Oman Women’s National team and the RAF!
As 2020 rolled around, Bridget Cooper passed on the Captaincy to Sarah Sanderson, after 2 years of brilliant work. Meanwhile, Mel White was appointed Head of Women’s Cricket, a newly created role at the club.
Read more about the current season here.
Looking to join?
All new players will be very welcome. To enquire, please email Sarah Sanderson on women@thamecricket.org.uk..
To find out more about memberships, please click here.