Women’s cricket has been growing incredibly fast. My daughter plays, and so I decided to look into this through her club, set in its own hilly microclimate at the Packhorse Ground above Belper and the Derwent Valley. Belper Amateurs Cricket Club (What 3 Words: masks.cattle.scanty ) has done wonders to grow the women’s game, bringing in a new generation of players, with an all-girl’s under 12s semi-hardball team launching this year in Derbyshire’s junior league.
I spoke to Amanda Cope, Katie Watson, and Emily Douglas-Gilbert, East Midlands Women’s Cricket League softball champions, not once, but thrice, to learn more. These incredible women were the inaugural hardball women’s champions, winning promotion to the East Midlands Women’s Cricket League Super 8s Division 1. Last year, they were able to turn out a team of mainly girls to compete in a mixed under-11s semi-hardball competition, and now they have formed an all-girls’ under-12s team, alongside a mixed under-12s team, and a winter indoor cricket team.
It all started with Prosecco
About seven years ago, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) Prosecco Challenge invited mums of cricket-playing kids to have a go. “Casual” softball festivals became formal softball, then hardball, leagues. Amanda Cope said “we fell in love with the game, and wanted to offer cricket at all levels so everyone could join in.”
Grassroots effort, County support
Recently, the third conference on growing the women and girl’s game was held at The County Ground, home of Derbyshire Country Cricket Team. The room was packed. Derbyshire announced more grants for improving facilities for women, including dedicated and upgraded changing rooms, and pushed to find more players. At Belper, more than half the junior section are now girls. Training is year-round with winter indoor nets at the Chevin and regular season training starting in late April.
“A clear pathway”
It’s becoming serious, with a pathway, as Emily told us:
“Women and Girls Cricket has grown incredibly over the past 8 years at Belper Amateurs. I started playing at 14 with the Softball Women, entering leagues, playing festivals and enjoying some amazing Finals Days. After a few years of Softball, I suggested the idea of starting a hardball team. I think at first a few people thought I was joking and there were definitely some laughs. We partnered with another local club and entered our first women’s hardball league, taking a huge step into something that hadn’t been done before at our clubs. Cricket even took me to Melbourne Australia which is an opportunity I never imagined when I first picked up a bat.
It has always been about more than just the game, cricket has given me an incredible network of women, not just at our club but across the county. Support and role models that extend far beyond matchdays. I love coaching the girls at the club because I see my younger self in them and I want to show them what they are capable of and where cricket can take them. It’s been amazing to watch the women’s section grow and to now see a thriving girls squad at the club. I have been lucky to see much of this growth behind the scenes. Watching how passionate Amanda and Katie have been about developing the women’s and girls’ game has always motivated me. There is now a clear pathway at Belper Amateurs for girls and women, and it’s inspiring to see these girls shaping the future of cricket both on and off the field.”
The girls’ pathway grew out of the existing All-Stars and then Dynamos programmes, Amanda said, “I think this might be the sixth year. We started out with All Stars, and then we introduced Dynamos. We were struggling to get 10 kids at that point. We had taster ‘bring a friend’ sessions up at the clubs, contacted all the schools, the local sports clubs, Rainbows, Brownies, guides, scouts. Social media. And then numbers just started to grow.” (My daughter heard about All Stars at Belper Rugby Club).
photo of the author’s daughter in full cricket gear ready to bat (L)
photo of batting in play (R)
Katie Watson said the first women’s conference pushed the idea of all-girl’s sections, and all-girls Dynamos. “The girls absolutely loved it.”, Katie said, “They’d got their own thing, their own group, their own kind of like identity, and that’s just got massive now. That group of girls are so tight”. She continued “that comes from you and me and Emily and Zoe. Because we’ve enjoyed being in there, the women’s team, and then we went to the East Midlands Championships. And then we’ve amazingly won that softball championship three times.” Katie added “those opportunities have been amazing. The last one that we won was actually at Trent Bridge, and the week after they had the England One Day International on there.”
Amanda and Katie said “we absolutely love it, you know, and it’s just brilliant how all the girls have bonded together, they all love it as well.”
So how easy was it? Previously, girls had to play in boys teams, but not any more. The support from the County and ECB changed that, with dedicated staff now including two girls’ and women’s development officers.
Perhaps the biggest issue now is working out ground sharing on match days with the men, but “everything’s just a bit more organised. And it’s definitely cleaner. It is just a better club in general”.
Photo of the ground as evening falls (L)
photo of the ground at dusk as training winds down (R)
“Something to aspire to”
The goal is to develop the pathway from girls’ Dynamos through semi-hardball to hardball. From 12, girls can also play in the women’s softball league, and women’s hardball from 13. Amanda adds, “the women’s section can only get stronger with the girls feeding into it”. This year, Belper Amateurs are running girl’s Dynamos, Under 12s semi-hardball. The women will be in the softball festivals, the softball league and cup, and the hardball league.
It has helped a lot that England’s women play games in Derby, giving young players the chance to see and greet players. Belper girls, including my daughter, were in the guard of honour for the visiting Indian women’s team a couple of years ago. They’ve had opportunities to see England play India, South Africa, Sri Lanka, and the West Indies, with New Zealand to come in May 2026 and Ireland in September. Katie said, “When I was a kid, there weren’t many women role models in cricket. The way they market it now gives the girls something to aspire to. It’s accessible when they see it at the Derbyshire ground – it’s achievable for some of these youngsters.” Amanda adds, “It was great that the girls got the chance to play on the county ground for a festival a couple of years ago.” Katie adds, “I’d have given my right arm to do that”
Hayley Matthews signs autographs (L)
England cricketer Sophia Dunkley on the left with a young female cricketer (R)
“When you’re that age, you’re fearless”
Amanda said, “The girls have been together a couple of years now and I think they’ll do really well. They enjoy it whether they win or lose.” Katie says, “one day in the distant future, we’ll be able to sit in our deckchairs and watch them play on”, with Amanda also looking ahead, “at the moment we’ve only taken it to Super 8s, but if we get lots of young girls coming through into the ladies’ team, you can progress into long format cricket, so the sky’s the limit for them.”
The opportunities between 12 and 15 make a real difference to transition from girls’ to women’s cricket. Amanda explained, “Zoe, bless her, in her first softball final at the Derbyshire County ground, was 13, and she bowled the last over for us, and kept her nerve”. Katie added, “when you’re that age, you’re fearless.”
See you at the Packhorse. Just remember to pack some woollens. There will be taster sessions for women and girls as training gets going, they conclude. To finish with some numbers, Derbyshire Cricket Foundation’s last impact report shows 3.500 children in ECB programmes, of whom 40% were female, and with 18% ethnic diversity, with 93 women’s and girls teams in 63 clubs, a 31% increase in the number of girls teams, and a South Asian women’s initiative.
Belper’s Amateur Cricket Club flyer for Girls and Women’s Cricket Pathway (L)
Belper Amateurs Cricket Club Girls Dynamos Cricket flyer (R)
To find out more about this incredible initiative contact Belper Amateurs by phone on: 07968 998568 or by email: belperamateurs@gmail.com
All images belong to to the author and were used with permission unless otherwise stated
This article was written to highlight the incredible initiative to get more women and girls into cricket by the proud dad of a young female cricketer and is being published in the run up to International Women’s Day 2026
Friends of Bylines Network
There has never been a greater need for grassroots journalism that investigates the stories that really matter, holds power to account and champions the voices of everyday citizens. We are proudly powered by volunteers but what we do isn’t free.
STAND WITH US for independent, citizen-led journalism that makes democracy stronger, and you will even get some exclusive benefits.
