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Sunday 3rd June sees the first ever Women’s Cricket game at Edgbaston as Warwickshire’s Development XI take on a Yorkshire Development XI with all the history of Bears and Tykes matches likely to come to the fore – “no corner given” and all that stuff.

Warwickshire’s side who in 2006 were promoted to the Liverpool Victoria County Championships will be a young side of 15 – 23 year olds which will epitomise the stage of cricket maturity that the Women’s game is at - here in Warwickshire. In 2000 Warwickshire was tasked with sending a side into the ECB County Championships and received a rude awakening as many other Counties and Associations had been to the fore for upwards of 50 years.

Indeed Warwickshire Women’s Cricket has seen a chequered history with a number of attempts to raise the profile of the game from 1940 onwards – its most well known club was Edgbaston CC who used to play their games in the nearby Cannon Hill Park until their extinction in the early 1990s. Its founding mother-figure was no doubt Rachel Heyhoe-Flint former England Women’s Captain and married to Derrick Flint former Warwickshire cricketer.

Moving to the present day Warwickshire now has 13 clubs playing in its local leagues but 4 major clubs notably Moseley Ashfield, Moseley, Handsworth and Walmley which is mirrored by County representative sides at Under 11 13 15 17 19 and Development/Senior Level. This process has been undertaken over a period of 9 years from the inception of the Warwickshire Cricket Board in 1997.

Commencing with organizing a Senior team and working backwards down the age groups may seem a perverse way about engaging in Cricket Development but the platforms now in place ensure that any young female in the County can progress to the top via a vibrant coaching programme which is underpinned by schools competitions at Primary and Secondary level.

In addition to this the inception and progression of Women’s clubs in the last 5 years has seen a stronger base from which the County can draw upon and greater opportunities for County and Club players alike. Much of the development work culminated in the Under 19s County Side being victorious in 2005 in Cape Town in an International Tournament and it is hoped this will be repeated in the near future

Richard Cox Director of Cricket said “not only is this a fantastic opportunity for these youngsters to play at Edgbaston but hopefully a proud day for families and it will be of great interest to the spectators who will witness history in the making”.

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Essex all-rounder Ryan ten Doeschate made the highest score in the history of the ICC Intercontinental Cup when he reached 259 not out for Holland against Canada on Wednesday in Pretoria.

The right-hander’s effort eclipsed the 247 not out of Bermuda’s David Hemp – made last month against Holland.

Resuming on 135, ten Doeschate quickly passed his previous highest first-class score of 158 – made against Kenya in March – before going on to complete a maiden double hundred.

His hopes of a triple century were dashed when he eventually ran out of partners with Holland on 409 – a first innings lead of 306.

The 26-year-old has now scored a total of 739 runs in the ICC Intercontinental Cup at an average of 184.75 (with four successive centuries).

His batting efforts in this latest match follow career-best bowling figures of 6-20 in the Canada first innings.

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Essex all-rounder Ryan ten Doeschate claimed career-best bowling figures and struck a century for Holland against Canada on day one of their ICC Intercontinental Cup match in Pretoria.

ten Doeschate took 6-20 as Canada were dismissed for 103 after electing to bat first in the four-day match. The 26-year-old’s performance eclipsed his previous best first-class bowling figures of 5-143 against Surrey in last season’s Liverpool Victoria County Championship game at Whitgift School.

He followed that up with a 116-ball century in Holland’s reply to record his sixth first-class ton.

The South Africa-born player has now reached three figures in four successive innings in the ICC Intercontinental Cup, to go with his two first-class centuries scored for Essex in 2006.

ten Doeschate held the Dutch innings together as they collapsed from 118-1 to 159-6 as the first day moved into its final hour.

Upon hearing of ten Doeschate’s efforts, Essex Captain Ronnie Irani told the Essex CCC website (www.essexcricket.org.uk):

“All recognition is good recognition and this is an absolutely fantastic achievement from a lad who has really started to establish himself at Essex. He’s been one of the first names on our team sheet in one-day cricket and his first-class career is developing nicely alongside his superb one-day form.

“Today’s effort shows how far he has come and that he is improving all the time. I’m proud of him and I’ll be sending him a text now to tell him so.”

ten Doeschate enjoyed his best season so far for Essex in 2006, culminating in the award of his county cap in September. As well as continuing to excel in one-day cricket he made a breakthrough in to the Championship side as well, compiling 403 first-class runs @ 40.30 and taking 28 wickets @ 39.82.

He is set to appear in next year’s World Cup in the West Indies when he will be an integral part of the Holland line-up.

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