Tammy Beaumont hails 'amazing' girls tournament

England batter watches 16 girls' teams battle it out at Marlborough College, with Crosfields emerging victorious

Tammy Beaumont hailed the Schools Notices inaugural Under-13 Girls' Cricket Championship at Marlborough College as "amazing".

The England batter, guest of honour for the day, and the school's professional Mark Alleyne held workshops through the day, and watched as Crosfields School from Reading emerged victorious, pipping Daneshill of Hook in the final.

Beaumont, a brand ambassador for JM Finn, was impressed by the standard of the competition, which was organised by digital hub School Notices and sponsored by Savils.

"It's been so great to be here today," she said. "I turned up and the first thing I saw was a girl smash a six out of the ground. I just thought it was amazing.

"If I thought back to my school days… there wasn't even a girls' team. So to see 16 teams playing in full, loving the game, to a really high standard, I just think it's amazing."

^{Marlborough College [supplied]}

^{Katharine Collie was named best batter on the day [supplied]}

^{Former Gloucestershire & England allrounder Mark Alleyne running the students through their paces [supplied]}

The 16 eight-a-side teams played in four groups, followed by semi-finals and a final. Beaumont gave the prize for best batter to Katharine Collie, from Crosfields, with Georgia Toosey from Daneshill named best bowler. The rising star award went to Nishka Gavanka from Crosfields.

The other participating schools were Chafyn Grove, Cheam, Cottesmore, Crosfields, Daneshill, Downe House, Durlston Court, Embley, Farleigh, Forres Sandle Manor, Godolphin, Lambrook, Marlston House, Pinewood and Sandroyd.

Former Gloucestershire and England allrounder Alleyne said: "Marlborough is proud to be a driving force in developing the women's game in schools.

"Establishing more tournament opportunities like this will be an important part in continuing to expand the participation in cricket of girls of all abilities and to help the best have a platform to develop their game."

Gordon Dawson, the founder and executive chairman of School Notices, said: "What a fabulous day – girls' cricket is on the map!"

The Cricketer would like to thank Durant Cricket for their ongoing support of our schools cricket coverage. For more on Durant Cricket, including booking a site visit, please click here