On a pretty overcast and windy Thursday night – which didn’t much resemble a summer evening in mid-July – a group of 6 women from Galloway Cricket Club made the trip up to Ayr Cricket Club to play in a South West Scotland Select team made up of other players from Ayr and Dumfries against a touring ladies team from Nantes in France.
The visitors won the toss and chose to field first, putting the “all-stars” team, representing Scotland, in to bat. Ellen Watson (Ayr/Scotland U17) and Kate Maxwell (Galloway) made a steady start until both were bowled out, Ellen for 12 and Kate for 5. Tegan Line (Galloway) and Chiara Merli (Ayr) both made short appearances, each scoring zero before being bowled and caught respectively.
The breakthrough for the Scottish team came when Sue Strachan (Dumfries) and Orla Montgomery (Galloway – sponsored by CAM Engineering, Castle Douglas), one of the oldest members of the team alongside the youngest member – only 10 years old – found themselves in partnership. Some incredible team work and great communication between the pair saw the score increase steadily and the opposition getting frustrated after their efforts came with no reward as the batsmen soon racked up an impressive partnership of 58 before Sue was bowled out for 44. In the final few overs of the T20 match Laura Scobie (Galloway) and Orla worked well to keep the score ticking over after Gill McElnea (Ayr) also fell victim to the French players’ tight bowling and was clean bowled for zero. The home side made 81 for 7 off their allotted 20 overs.
In response, Captain, Kate Maxwell set an attacking field and put pressure on the French side from the very first ball. It was very much a team effort with wickets being taken by Natalie Hamblin (Galloway), Gill McElnea (Ayr), Orla Montgomery (Galloway) and Chiara Merli (Ayr). The highlight of the game had to be when Kate Maxwell took an incredible one-handed diving catch close in at mid-wicket. The visitors posted 77 for 5 off their 20 overs meaning that the South West Scotland Select team won by 4 runs in an exciting final over where young Orla Montgomery pulled out a fantastic over from which the batsmen could only score one more run. Orla was later named player of the match by the visiting team and presented with a mug from France.
It was a brilliant evening and Galloway CC are grateful to Ayr Cricket Club for hosting this international ladies match – a first for everyone involved! Anyone keen to find out more about women’s cricket in Galloway should contact Natalie Hamblin on 07872 909 010.
