It was a great day at the club yesterday. Denton Road hosted its first game of professional cricket, since Northamptonshire played Essex at the ground in 1977. Northamptonshire CCC Women took on Sussex CCC Women, in the Metro Bank One Day Cup. Batting first, Northamptonshire got off to a solid start but some strong Sussex bowling kept the wickets ticking over. A rearguard 9th wicket stand took Northants from 127-8 to 162-9, before they were dismissed for 171

Sussex got off to a great start and raced to 101-2. The Northants spinners would change the game, piling through the middle order to reduce the visitors to 108-9 – a collapse familiar to the Denton Road setting! Sussex were finally bowled out for 114.

Our ground looked a picture, thanks to herculean efforts from Paul Ruff, Kathryn Monk and Paul Das. These three leaders marshalled a troop of volunteers from the Senior and Ladies sections, to manage the day across the ground preparation, car parking, crowd management and the numerous other tasks – like changing light bulbs! President Travor Finch, Sue and Caroline Finch managed the clubhouse – ensuring everyone had teas and coffees and knew where to sit to be fed.

Paul Ruff wanted to thank his army of helpers ‘So many volunteers, working so well together, showed our club in the very best light yesterday. It was a club with hardworking individuals pulling in the right direction as a team to drive the club forward. I want to thank everyone who gave their time and effort to showcase our club. The success of the day is all down to you, I hope you feel as proud of our great club as I do. Thank you, all’.

Well done, everyone.