DUMBLETON will make cricketing history by Sunday by hosting Taunton Deane as the West of England Premier League’s new Women’s Premier Division gets underway.
The new 40-over league, featuring the use of pink balls and coloured clothing, has been established as a direct result of the tremendous growth in the number of girls and women playing cricket across the region.
Eight clubs in Gloucestershire, Somerset and Wiltshire have combined to form only the second Women’s Premier cricket league in the country, following the success of the East Anglia Premier League.
And the eight founding members will all act as hubs within their counties for outstanding players who may play other forms of cricket for different clubs.
Laura Charles-Price, the head of women’s and girls cricket for the Gloucestershire Cricket Foundation, said: “It’s an extremely exciting initiative and we hope that the new league will help drive standards even higher by providing an important level of competition that sits outside the cricket played by county under-18s and the Western Storm’s regional academy.
“We think there are plenty more players out there who have the desire to compete at a higher level, and this new league will give these girls and women opportunities to show what they can achieve in a testing environment.”
Play at Dairy Lane will get underway on Sunday at 1.30pm.
The other founding members are Golden Hill and Frenchay (Gloucestershire), Bath and Bridgwater (Somerset) plus Royal Wootton Bassett and Devizes (Wiltshire).
Teams will all play seven matches with the final round of games due to take place on August 13.