Cheshire Women's Cricket League: Opening Day Countdown Begins

The Cheshire Women’s League has welcomed current Lancashire League champions Leyland as a new club for the 2022 season, with Greenfield CC and Buxton CC also joining the league.

The number of teams playing in the league’s hardball divisions will also be boosted by new second teams at Oakmere and Heaton Mersey/Cheadle; the re-formed Appleton second team; and a third team at Stockport Georgians, to be run in co-operation with North East Cheshire CC.

New teams in Division 5 (the softball cricket division) include Kingsley, Northwich and Wallasey.

The Annual General Meeting and the subsequent Rules Meetings also agreed for Lindow’s first team and the Woodley and Hawarden Park clubs to be promoted to division two; and for Heaton Mersey/Cheadle’s first team, Hawk Green and Georgians’ second team to move up to division three.

Porthill Park will no longer play in the first division and will now only field a development level team in division three. With a majority of representatives agreeing to an eight-team first division, this means that 2021 division two runners-up Stockport Georgians are promoted to division one, and Leigh will not be relegated from the top-flight.

 The teams in each division will be as follows:

·         Division 1: Chester Boughton Hall, Didsbury, Oakmere, Stockport Trinity, Appleton, Leigh, Stockport Georgians, Nantwich

·         Division 2: Upton, Oxton, Leyland, Ashton-on-Mersey, Lindow, Woodley, Hawarden Park

·         Division 3 West: Chester Boughton Hall 2^nd XI, Nantwich 2^nd XI, Porthill Park, Wistaston Village, Appleton 2^nd XI

·         Division 3 East: Hayfield, Greenfield, Didsbury 2^nd XI, Stockport Georgians 2^nd XI, Hawk Green, Heaton Mersey & Cheadle

·         Division 4: Langley, Lymm Oughtrington Park, Stockport Georgians 3^rd XI/ North East Cheshire, Lindow 2^nd XI, Buxton, Oakmere 2^nd XI

Teams will play the others in their division twice (home and away), except in Division 3 West, where the teams will also face each other on a third occasion.

Division 5: Kingsley, Wallasey, Northwich, Wistaston Village 2^nd XI, Alvanley, Chester Boughton Hall 3^rd XI, Runcorn, North East Cheshire, Macclesfield, Broadbottom, Toft.

2022 Fixtures

League champions Chester Boughton Hall start the defence of their title away to 2021 second division champions Nantwich on April 24. The other division one newcomers, Stockport Georgians, are at home to 2022's first division runners-up, Didsbury, on the same day.

The newly promoted clubs in division two both have home matches on the opening day, with Lindow hosting Leyland and Woodley welcoming Upton.

The draw for the Senior Knockout Cup sees last year’s finalists Didsbury and Appleton paired together in the quarter finals. The draw for this competition and the Development Knockout have both thrown up some intriguing local derby fixtures – the first round draw in the Development competition was deliberately organised on a regional basis after discussion at the Rules Meeting.

 Senior Knockout Round One:

1-    Woodley v Stockport Georgians

2-    Chester Boughton Hall Deemons v Oxton

3-    Lindow v Ashton-on-Mersey

Senior Knockout Quarter Finals:

Winner 1 v Winner 2

Winner 3 v Stockport Trinity Fire

Nantwich Vipers v Oakmere Kats

Didsbury Swordettes v Appleton Tigers

Development Knockout Round One:

1-    Lindow 2^nd XI v Stockport Georgians 2^nd XI

2-    Lymm Oughtrington Park Lightning v Chester Boughton Hall 2^nd XI

3-    Hawk Green v Greenfield

4-    Langley v Heaton Mersey & Cheadle

5-    Oakmere 2^nd XI v Nantwich 2^nd XI

6-    Porthill Park v Wistaston Village

7-    Buxton v Hayfield

Development Knockout Quarter Finals:

Winner 1 v Winner 2

Winner 3 v Winner 4

Winner 5 v Winner 6

Winner 7 v Didsbury 2^nd XI

Of the four League teams who have entered the Northern section of the National T20 Knockout, two have been paired together in the second round. Didsbury, regional finalists in 2018 and 2019, will host Leyland on Bank Holiday Monday May 2, with both clubs having received first-round byes in the draw. 

Nantwich, who reached last year's Northern final, will host Liverpool club Wavertree on the same day.

Leigh will be at home to either Littleborough or Ramsbottom in round two, with the winners of that match travelling to Didsbury or Leyland in round three.

The League has had a team in the northern regional final in each of the last three competitions, but in each case, our representatives have lost this regional final to Yorkshire club Sessay. However, one difference this year is that any CWCL team that makes it as far as the regional final on July 3 will enjoy home advantage. Indeed Didsbury, as the first club out of the hat, could potentially be at home in every round of the regional section.

Porthill Park will make the trip to Caythorpe in Nottinghamshire on May 2 in the second round of the Midlands section.

The annual fixture between the league’s representative team and the MCC will take place on Thursday August 11 at a venue to be confirmed.

Awards recognition for League stars

A number of individuals connected with the CWCL were honoured at the Lancashire Cricket End of Season Awards, held at Old Trafford on October 8.

The event began with a presentation of the Grassroots Cricket Awards, for which nominations were sought via the Cheshire Board website earlier in the year. Nantwich and Cheshire Under 18 coach Lee Prince was named as Cheshire’s Coach of the Year. Upton’s Ellen McGowan won the Young Coach award; Appleton’s Emily Page was named as the winner in the Rising Star category (for volunteers aged 11-16); and former Chester player Mandy Harding was named as the Unsung Hero, largely for her work at Christleton CC.