As the usual BUCS season ends and the summer term begins, it’s time for Cricket to take it’s place in the spotlight. With the Cricket Season beginning last week, the University of Bristol Women’s Cricket Club have got their first match today, and we’re all excited to see how they do. There’s no better to club to kick off the latest series of club spotlights, showcasing sport clubs at Bristol.
We spoke to Nadia, UBWCC Treasurer, who was excited to describe the “small but growing” community of the club. Read on to find out about their upcoming season, what training looks like for cricket, club social life, and how you can get involved!
Hi, I’m Nadia and I am the UBWCC treasurer for this year. I am a third year PhD student and have been a part of the club here in Bristol since I started my research back in 2019. I’ve been playing cricket for most of my life and am so happy to be able to represent the University of Bristol.
Women’s cricket is an expanding sport and very much part of the focus of cricket in this country, and worldwide right now. Ever since the England Women’s team won the last World Cup in 2017, the sport has had lots of new players and fans. And it was especially exciting to women’s sport in general that in last years Hundred cricket competition, the men’s and women’s matches were held on the same day and on the same pitches.
The University of Bristol Women’s cricket club is a small but growing community. We are very lucky to have a true range of abilities from complete beginners to very experienced players. The nature of our sport and training sessions means we can include everyone of different levels and all play cricket together. We have also been making some significant changes behind the scenes in our club’s structure and are pushing for the women’s cricket committee to be on equal par with the men’s.
With the BUCS season approaching for cricket clubs, how have your preparations been going?
The last couple of years have been a rollercoaster for the club but we are very excited for the upcoming season. We have just got two new coaches, who are very enthusiastic about where UBWCC can go this year and in the future. Also, we actually just got promoted to the Prem South, based on our strong past performances. This means that we are going into this season with a new mindset from our coaches and pushing hard in our training getting ready for the step-up in competition. So far this year we have been training indoors, focusing on specific skills and nets but we are very excited to be moving outside in the coming weeks, giving us even more opportunities to prepare for the upcoming season.
How often do you train and what does strength and conditioning look like for your club?
We have two hour-long training practices a week where we focus on our specific cricket skills such as fielding or net sessions. Our new coaches have helped us organise our sessions better and we have been very fortunate to also have the trained eye of Wilf from the men’s team as well. This year, we are also lucky to have our current secretary Florence lead strength and conditioning for 45mins every week before training. She has tailored our session towards useful exercises in cricket, which includes lots of squats and planks!
How does your club get social?
Our club makes an effort to do regular socials every week and our amazing social secs ensure we have fun themes to get into. This year we have done team socials based on the Hundred cricket teams, dressed like animals, in neon and even devils and angels. Alongside, the typical drinks and night out we make sure to do a few more casual socials throughout the year as well. So far this year we’ve gone for walks, dinner and also played crazy golf. We also enjoy occasional movie nights with anything we can sing to being a favourite. With preseason coming up soon, there are also lots of plans in the works for more daytime events where we can continue to get to know our teammates. Our big events of the year were our Christmas dinner in December, and we are also planning for our Cricket dinner with both the women’s and men’s teams in the next month.
Why should people give Cricket a try?
Cricket is a great team sport, but it also includes important individual work where you can really let your ability shine, whether it be in batting or bowling. We are a very social club and really encourage new faces to join us. As a sport, cricket requires physical and mental endurance as our matches can be quite long, but the nature of the game means that you are constantly working as a team supporting each other. This means that cricket is great for your overall sporting ability and also provides a great set-up for socialising. Plus, there is the added bonus of teas half through a cricket game, so snacks are provided! As a summer sport, we get the opportunity to train and bond as a team through the first two terms, meaning we are ready to play together in the (hopefully!) sunny weather.
How can students get involved in Cricket?
We have regular Give It A Go sessions throughout the year and we are always looking for new people to join, whatever your past experience with cricket. Also look out for us on social media, where we are very active and will always respond to messages or questions about joining. Obviously, also come and find us at fresher’s fair where there will be various committee members happy to talk to anyone about cricket and our club.
Email: bristolwomenscricket@gmail.com
Facebook: @bristolwomenscricket
Instagram: @uobwcc
Twitter: @UOBWC
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