2024 has been a very special year for Gunnersbury Women’s Cricket Club but 2025 promises to be an even better one as the club celebrates its 100th anniversary. Gunnersbury WCC, or ‘The Gunns’ as it likes to call itself, believe they are one of, if not the oldest women’s cricket club in England and it hopes to make 2025 another year to remember.
The Gunns warmed up for their Centenary by winning each of the adult competitions it entered in 2024. The season witnessed their 1st XI complete the double of winning the Women’s Cricket Southern League (WCSL) and the ECB’s Women’s Club Cup T20 National Final, whilst its 2nd XI won Middlesex’s Sheila Hill League.
The Gunns completed their wonderful season on Sunday with a resounding five wicket win over Hampstead. The team had already been declared WCSL champions but they finished their summer off in style by beating their local rivals. In the match Hampstead had been restricted to 64-9 in their 30 overs, with Ria Raval (2-13 off 6 overs) and Hannah Wakeman (3-15 off 5 overs) being the pick of the bowlers. The loss of a couple of early wickets briefly checked The Gunns run chase but Georgia Irving saw her side home with 16 overs to spare with an unbeaten 24.
The WCSL is the strongest women’s league in the South of England and is made up of teams from Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hampshire, Kent, Surrey and Sussex, which means Gunns, who won the league for the third consecutive season, can rightfully claim to be the best women’s team in this region of the country. Gunnersbury, ultimately, won the WCSL at a canter, averaging almost four points per game more than Hursley Park Cricket Club, their closest rivals.
Gunns were equally dominant in the ECB Women’s Club Cup T20, beating Dorridge Cricket Club by 28 runs in the Final. Gunns had successfully come through six rounds of matches to reach the final, defeating Hursley Park in the semi. In the Final Gunns batted first, posting a challenging target of 155. The innings was built around a 34 ball 41 by Naomi Dattani and 53 off just 35 balls by Chloe Abel. In reply Dorridge could amass only 127-5 against tight, disciplined bowling. The pick of The Gunns bowlers were Ria Raval (0-15 off 4 overs), Shimako Kato (1-11 off 3 overs) and Shae Daly (2-16 off 4 overs).
In successful seasons there are bound to be outstanding performances and with the bat Chloe Abel (295 runs 42.14), Catherine Dalton (259 runs @ 28.78), Elsa Barnfather (242 @ 34.57) and Alisha Kozma (170 @ 42.5) were the chief runs scorers. With the ball Shae Daly (24 wickets @ 11.25), Bhoomika Bhat (21 wickets @ 9.43), Hannah Wakeman (19 wickets @ 8.68) and Chloe Abel (18 wickets @ 10.61) were the stars.
The strength in depth of The Gunns was highlighted by the 2nd XI winning the Sheila Hill League, which is a 30 over competition played in Middlesex. Amelia Bishop, Emma Bernstein and Carissa Pereira were the leading batters and Anja Peisl was the pick of the bowlers.
Everyone at Middlesex Cricket would like to congratulate Gunnersbury for the season they have had and would be pleased to support the club celebrate its 100th Anniversary in 2025 in any way it can.
To find out more about Girl and Women’s cricket in Middlesex, please contact Dan Reynolds – [email protected]
