Cheltenham’s Sue Drinkwater is off to the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham later this week to help score its first-ever Women’s Cricket T20.

Eight teams are competing in two pools of four for the chance to eventually qualify for the final and the chance to win a gold medal.

And Sue, from Charlton Kings, is one of only two scorers appointed to score the tournament, which features 16 matches at Edgbaston in just 10 days.

It’s the latest in a long list of cricketing honours for Sue who is currently Worcestershire’s first XI scorer for home and away games.

She began scoring for Prestbury in the mid-1970s aged 15 when her father, Jim Downes, and older brother Roger were playing, before taking care of the book for 35 seasons at Chedworth where her husband Darryl was a batsman.

Sue has gone on to score an England Under-19 international and an England/West Indies one-day international, while she was also appointed to a women’s World Cup and was the electronic scoreboard operator at Lord’s for THAT unforgettable World Cup final super over in 2019.

She continues to act as the County Scoring Officer for Gloucestershire, organising winter courses for prospective new recruits, and received a British Empire Medal eight years ago for her services to cricket.

Sue said: “Being appointed to the Games is pretty high up the list with anything else I’ve been lucky to have achieved in cricket.

“They don’t come around very often and when are they likely to be here again?

“It’s pretty amazing and something I would never even have dreamt about all those years ago when I started and was trying to hide from the wind at Chedworth!”

Sue’s appointment to the Games came after the ECB were asked to put together a list of potential scorers for tournament organisers.

She added: “I had no idea I was even being considered so feel really privileged to be one of only two scorers asked to help out.”

Incredibly, though, Sue and her fellow scorer will not be tapping away on their computer keyboards for Games matches, which get underway on Friday and conclude with the final on Sunday 7^th August.

She added: “Apparently we’re back to scoring on paper and using coloured pencils which I’ve had to dig out and sharpen. It’s a bit of a surprise but that’s the way we used to do it and I’m sure we’ll be fine.

“I’ve been so lucky to have all these opportunities. I often think to myself ‘that’s my office window and I’m getting paid to watch!’”

Australia, India, Pakistan and Barbados have been drawn in Group A with New Zealand, South Africa, England and Sri Lanka in Group B.

For details of how to become a scorer, visit https://gloucestershirecricketfoundation.org/courses-and-events/scorer-courses/