Girls Cricket Report 2023
Our girls saw plenty of cricket this year, with many games, trips and coaching sessions. We entered the Sussex Schools Leagues in both the U15 and U13 age categories. This guaranteed our three teams (two at U13 and one at U15) at least four matches this season. The U15s came up against BACA, Varndean, Dorothy Stringer and Patcham, only losing to Patcham, which meant a place in the semi-final. Unfortunately, we lost to Downlands School, finding them just a little too strong for us in the end.
Our U15s also attended two indoor tournaments, the first being the Brighton Schools tournament held in November at BACA, where the girls won and got through to the Sussex Schools Indoor Tournament at Hurst College. This was a very strong competition and the girls were excellent, representing both themselves and the school brilliantly. All of the girls (many of whom are in their final season at Blatch) played very well and have all improved greatly.
They are a great mix of very good batters, fielders and bowlers. Each team member offers at least one or two of these skills to the team and it has been a pleasure watching them play and train this year.
The U13s were made up of two teams: Team Mia and Team Ruby and both teams found themselves in the same league, going head to head. Team Mia won, with their win seeing them through to the league quarter finals. Team Mia played four games, winning three and Team Ruby also played four games, winning two. Similarly to the U15s, the U13s found Downlands School just too good for them, but in a much closer game, they lost by just seven runs.
For tournament cricket, we took one team to the indoor tournament at BACA, where our team won, getting through to the Sussex Schools finals at Hurst College. In their three games, they won one and lost two. This was a great experience for the girls and a good part of their development. In the outdoor tournaments, we split back into the league teams and entered tournaments at Steyning CC and Burgess Hill CC. Team Ruby went unbeaten at Steyning, seeing them through to the Sussex Schools finals day at Blackstone, the home of Sussex CCC Academy. We had a great day out and some great moments on the finals day, but ended up ninth out of the eleven very strong schools present.
The girls also enjoyed a day's cricket coaching from former Sussex player and coach Charlotte Burton. Charlotte has had a massive impact on our girls and we owe her a lot for organising all the opportunities for our girls to play competitive cricket in her role at the Sussex CCC Foundation. We were also invited as Charlotte’s guests to a Southern Vipers match at Sussex back in May. This was the girls first of two trips to the county ground in Hove, as they also went to see the men’s team play in a county championship match along with the Blatch boys cricketers.
Well done to all the girls who represented the school. Ruby H, Mia K-P, Anna M, Holly S, Priya S, Scarlett S, Anaya P, Evie P, Lamis A, Rachel H, Sophie L, Lisa X, Flo R, Roxie M, Ruby D, Ivy H, Elodie C, Clara P-N, Aimee G, Rebeca F, Grace W, May S, Eva Z-D, Paige L, Anya K and Jaiten B.