By HOLLY PRESSWELL
The 2025 Indoor Cricket League wrapped up at the weekend, marking the biggest year yet for women’s indoor cricket in Devon.
On Sunday, St Luke's School, Exeter played host to the finals for both the softball and hardball leagues. A record 38 teams had battled it out across six venues, playing over 110 matches throughout the season. But in the end, only two teams could come out on top.
Women's Indoor Hardball Final
Exmouth CC vs Cornwood CC
In the hardball competition, Cornwood CC were crowned the champions after narrowly beating Exmouth CC by just one run. Cornwood took to the crease first, scoring 55 runs with an impressive knock of 16 runs from Helly Simpson.
Exmouth did almost everything right to chase the score down, with Eloise Escott and Sharon Dawkins adding 30 runs to their total of 54 but despite their best efforts, Cornwood’s bowlers came out on top taking seven wickets to win them the game by the barest of margins.
Women's Indoor Softball Finals
Semi-Final 1: Clyst St George CC vs Whimple CC
Clyst St George CC challenged Whimple CC for a spot in the final in the first semi-final of the day.
Clyst St George set up a score of 85 runs, with Nat McMurren scoring an impressive 22 runs. Despite Whimple's attacking batting display, they came up five runs short.
Clyst St George CC won by 5 runs
Semi-Final 2: Paignton CC vs Moorland Maidens
Moorland Maidens (Buckland Monachorum CC and Yelverton Bohemians CC) came back for redemption after finishing runners-up last year. Before they could claim the softball title, they had to take on Paignton CC for a place in the final.
Paignton put up a good fight scoring 50 runs, however, it wasn’t enough to chase down Moorland Maiden's score of 87 runs, which saw them progress to the final.
Moorland Maidens won by 37 runs
Final: Clyst St George CC vs Moorland Maidens
Clyst St George won the toss and elected to field first in the final. Despite tight bowling from Clyst, The Maidens stepped up when it mattered, scoring 102 runs, Lesley Thomson, 24 runs, and Ely Duley, 30 runs, were top scorers for the Moorland Maidens.
Clyst started the chase with Clare Pearson giving the crowd a show scoring three sixes to take her 32 runs, with Ali West not far behind on 31 runs in the innings. Needing 7 runs off the last over, it was tense, but Clyst couldn’t quite reach the total; Moorland Maidens going one step further than last year and becoming softball champions.
Moorland Maidens won by 7 runs
With daylight hours in short supply during the winter months, the indoor league provides an opportunity for players to stay sharp ahead of the summer season. But it’s not just the players learning new skills, this year's competition saw three new female umpires mentored into the game. Elle Golsworthy and Jasmyne Watson took charge umpiring the action-packed finals, putting their training into practice, whilst Grace Golsworthy helped out in league games.
Devon Cricket has more active female umpires than the rest of the South West combined and is proud to see the indoor league playing a key role in expanding that number even further.
Susannah Maxa, Chair of the Tolchard Devon Women's Cricket League, said:
"A big thank you to Ann-Marie Presswell, our Women & Girls' Development Officer, for organising the Indoor League and Chris Sleep for appointing umpires. This season has been an amazing success, with tight games, bodies on the line, and an all-action final!
"The Committee are looking forward to the upcoming outdoor season as it expands into a three-divisional format to include many additional competitions to maximise player and club participation."
