Gloucestershire have a new girls’ cricket team which are trying to attract players from the ages of 11 to 16 (Years 6-11).

Five Valleys is an innovative collaboration between Painswick and Frampton-on-Severn who both had a number of girls interested in cricket, but not enough for a team each.

Step forward Daisy Hewitt who sent out dozens of emails over the winter to local clubs as well as primary and secondary schools to drum up further interest.

Those messages resulted in a series of meetings which in turn led to the formation of Five Valleys and a first training session in April.

An initial group of 10 enthusiasts has now grown to 16 and, according to Daisy, there’s plenty of room for more girls to come along and get a first taste of cricket at Monday practice sessions which alternate between Painswick and Frampton.

She said: “Numbers are slowly creeping up thanks mainly to word of mouth.
“We’re playing both softball and hardball cricket, and we’re open to absolutely everyone as we want to see how far we can go with the new club.”

Daisy and joint Five Valleys organiser Claire Lyes are both Level Two coaches with a passion for girls cricket.

Claire added: “It’s all about giving girls the best chance to experience cricket and being able to compete in their own environment.”

Daisy, who began playing at the age of 15 with her father Michael and brother Sam at Painswick, has this season also taken charge of Gloucestershire’s under-11 girls’ squad.

She said: “It’s fantastic to see so many young girls having the chance to take part, they love it.

“Some have already played mixed cricket, but the girls can be a bit reserved and sensitive to comments from the boys. In a girls’ team they show that they do have the skills and their confidence just grows and grows.

“Coaching has really opened up the game of cricket to me and improved my understanding in many ways.

“It has also shone a new light and perspective on the game, given me a great appreciation for the people involved and was never something I had thought to do until I was asked.

“It’s a pleasure to have a platform to help people of all ages grow and improve.”

For more information about Five Valleys, email the club at fivevalleyscc@gmail.com