Progress the key for history-making Ramsbottom women

Ramsbottom beat Accrington on Saturday as they became the first all-women's team to play in the Lancashire League

It is not easy to make history in the Lancashire Cricket League.

Formed in 1892, it is perhaps the most storied club league in the country and these days, no matter how impressive the achievement, the chances are someone has done it before.

Down the years you could have turned up at any number of grounds across the Red Rose county and found greats of the game from Viv Richards to Shane Warne, Sydney Barnes to Kapil Dev, competing alongside the locals.

But on Saturday the league witnessed a rare first as Ramsbottom's women's side became the first all-female team to play in the competition.

They could hardly have wished for a better start as a five-wicket haul from Shriya Pindoria and Grace Johnson's unbeaten 47 led them to a six-wicket win over Accrington.

It is the latest landmark for a side that only came into being in 2020, when under-13 and under-15 girls' teams were established at Ramsbottom Cricket Club.

The following year they played their first senior matches and entered the Lancashire Women's League.

"It was 40-over games and T20 games and then we were just playing," Maeve Jones, who captained the team on Saturday, told BBC Sport.

"We didn't really think about it, we were just playing as a team and then as the years have progressed, we've won both titles consecutively."

After going unbeaten in 2023 coach Iain Collier believed that the team, which features a number of players from the Lancashire's Thunder academy, needed a new challenge.

The decision was made to apply to enter the men's league and, in November, their place in division three of the third tier was confirmed.

"Ramsbottom and Iain came to us and said, ‘how do you like the idea of maybe going into the men's league?’" Johnson said.

"Obviously we were all up for that. Ramsbottom have been absolutely brilliant with it all, and the league as well. It's not every day that they let a full women’s side into the men’s league."

'In certain environments, women aren’t welcome'

While there was much excitement at the prospect of playing in such a historic league, a little trepidation would have been understandable given Jones and Johnson's previous experiences of men's cricket.

"I was the only girl in a team and it could be very overwhelming," Jones said.

"The opposition have always been great. [But] within your team you feel like you always get pushed down that little bit more.

"You end up turning up to games and you’re just fielding because you feel like they don't want you there, or they don't want you to be part of it."

Johnson added: "I have always felt like with it being a 'men's sport', in certain environments, women aren’t welcome.

"You'd go into a team, you'd be batting 10 or 11, and you'd be in the field for 40 overs, which is probably where you start to lose the love for the game."

Given the positive response to them being admitted into the Lancashire League by "the majority of clubs", the hope is that Ramsbottom can help to enlighten any remaining sceptics with their performances on the pitch.

But should they face any "you can't get out to a girl" type attitudes, Jones and her side will be prepared.

"We girls thrive off that because we just find it funny and we love it," the 18-year-old said.

"We use it as a little wind-up, then we find that we're then on top because we're already in their head.

"I think when you've been around it for a few years, you do just use it to motivate and prove what you can do by showing off your skills."

'The first step towards bridging the gap'

One game in and they have already begun to demonstrate that, despite losing two of their top five - including skipper Sophie Ullah - with anterior cruciate ligament injuries.

With many of the team having come through the junior sides, that meant Johnson, at 19, was their most senior player.

Whether the young side can continue winning remains to be seen but, ultimately, that was not why they joined the league.

Jones' message to her team before the Accrington game was simple: go and have fun.

"That is what it really is all about, improving our skills, enjoying it, and if we win, it's a bonus for us," she said.

Johnson added: "Some results would be nice, but as long as we're all improving, that's all that matters."

That is not to say that the importance of the team's achievement is lost on them, though.

"It's highly significant as to where women's cricket has got to, and is going to," said Collier.

In taking Ramsbottom's first wicket and hitting the winning runs, Johnson has already done better than most in terms of making Lancashire League history - but the goal is that in years to come Ramsbottom remain the first, rather than the only.

"It's great that we've obviously made the first step," added Johnson. "And it'd be amazing to see all the teams that then also make the step, and to bridge the gap between the male and female sides of the game."