TWO top regional stars have been in the county to help Herefordshire’s women and girls cricketers celebrate Women’s Big Cricket Month.

Central Sparks duo Emily Arlott and Gwen Davies attended a county girls training session at Bartestree & Lugwardine CC and were happy to give their advice.

For Arlott, who has recently been called up to the England squad, it was a return to her home as she played her early cricket in Ledbury and turned out regularly for the town side in the Marches League.

The training session featured 24 girls from under-11 to under-15 with four new Foundation 1 female coaches and two Level 2 female coaches running the day.

“The girls gained valuable insight and advice from Emily and Gwen, finishing with a question-and-answer session where no question was off limits,” said Herefordshire’s schools, women, and girls officer Jodie Slater.

On the pitch, the under-11 county girls gained an excellent 35-win win over Shropshire in a T20 clash, building on their experience in club cricket where more and more girls are signing up with local clubs each week.

There is an all-girls team at Brockhampton where the Brock Belles are the first and only ‘all girls’ team to enter the Herefordshire u-13 league.

Brockhampton are also one of three county clubs offering some form of regular women’s cricket for varying abilities.

Colwall have launched a new women’s section which has been a resounding success. This is open for all abilities from softball to hardball league cricket.

Dales, in Leominster, are holding fun ladies cricket coaching sessions and have just begun a programme of friendly matches.