The Ramsbottom faithful were out in force on a chilly Saturday in late April to mark an historic occasion at Acre Bottom. After their women’s first XI had gone unbeaten throughout 2023, winning the league for the second year on the bounce and lifting the T20 trophy, the club had taken the unprecedented step of entering them into the Lancashire League, joining the third XI section to take on teams comprised exclusively – barring one or two exceptions – of men.

“It’s the right thing for this group at the right time,” Iain Collier, Ramsbottom’s women’s and girls’ head coach, told WCM back in January. “We’re still going to play in the women’s competitions but this is a fantastic opportunity to do both.”

Their first test was a home encounter with Accrington, a fellow founder of the Lancashire League back in 1892. After winning the toss Maeve Jones, Ramsbottom’s sparky 18-year-old captain, decided to stick the opposition in.

“It was a really good atmosphere,” recalls Jones. “All of the players’ families came and watched, girls that were injured, girls that didn’t get selected. It was just a really good support system for everyone.”

The visitors made a strong start, reaching 108 for two, but then came unstuck against Ramsbottom’s spinners, with Shriya Pindoria, a 19-year old leggie, bagging a five-fer to stall Accrington’s progress.

“It was just so interesting to see that when Shriya came on they didn’t know what to do,” says Jones, who snaffled two wickets of her own with her off-breaks. “They weren’t sure how to play her and I was like, ‘Shriya, you just keep going’.”

Having been set a target of 158 in 40 overs, Jones took her side halfway there with a hard-fought 37 before a quickfire unbeaten 47 from Grace Johnson saw Ramsbottom home with 16 deliveries to spare. “To chase 150-plus down and see that composure and maturity was just fantastic,” says Collier.

Despite fielding a side made up almost entirely of juniors – Collier reports that of the 23 players who represented the women’s first XI in the Lancashire League this summer 22 were aged 19 or under, while 11 were 15 or under – Ramsbottom went on to win four of their 14 completed matches and finished a very respectable seventh of 11.

“During the season a lot of players had A-levels, work, other cricket commitments, and it got to the point where a lot of young players came in,” says Jones. “We had a lot of players who’d never really played men’s cricket before and that was an amazing opportunity for them. We had our setbacks, but we took them in our stride. It’s those four wins that will stick in the mind when we think back on our first season in the Lancs League.”

Jones says the experience of playing in a male-dominated environment rapidly accelerated the development of her young side. “When it’s women playing, you can just chill. You know who you’re playing against, a lot of friends, but coming into the men’s league I was playing people I’d never played against before. A few of them were giving a bit of chirp so you’ve always got to be switched on. What can I do to shut them up here, to show we’re on a par with them?

“I think we did surprise a lot of teams. Every team we played was a different atmosphere, so the girls were constantly learning how to deal with it, and I think they did that really well. When we played Accrington in the first game and won, they surprised me really with how gracious they were. No matter the result, win or lose, the opposition were always very supportive of us, and we took that encouragement into each game.”

Having faced up to pacy bowlers and led her side against battle-hardened club players with decades of experience, Jones says her team have learned a lot as their thoughts drift to a second season at this level in 2025.

“I found that as an opening batter facing men’s opening bowlers, some of them were quick and had pace on their side. But when it came to playing the spinners, I told myself, well, I’ve played Shriya, I’ve played other female spinners who I found were better.

“When it came to batting, we’re taught to play differently I think. A lot of our girls love to play straight and hang around, and when we came to bowl at the men there would be massive swings. I was like, ‘Right, I need to set my fields differently, I need to send a cow corner out straight away’. They’re a lot more aggressive when it comes to striking the ball and I think that’s something we can learn from them. It was a good balance and a good challenge throughout.”

“We focused on our strengths,” adds Collier, “which was good spin bowlers, playing straight and batting through the innings. It’s been a major part of our development.”

Jones topped 1,000 runs across all cricket for the summer, one of four of the women’s first XI to do so, and also claimed 46 wickets. She was one of seven Ramsbottom players to represent the Lancashire Under-18 side which won both the national T20 and 50-over competitions this summer and also represented Lancashire Thunder’s second team, while Grace Johnson, 19, turned out for the senior Thunder side in the Charlotte Edwards Cup and Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy.

Meanwhile, Ramsbottom continued to dominate the women’s club scene, winning the senior women’s league for a third consecutive year, while their under- 18s and under-15s won their respective leagues. The under-15s – featuring eight players who had represented the first XI in the Lancashire League this season – also reached the National T20 Knockout final at Lord’s, where they lost to Apperley.

Having taken the leap, Collier believes the decision to enter the women’s first XI in the Lancashire League has been firmly vindicated. “We’re seeing the proof in the pudding,” he says. “Our main objective was the development of the girls and to give them new challenges, so it was definitely the right thing for this group.”

While Ramsbottom are keen to emphasise that they see the future of women’s cricket as all-female sides playing against each other rather than competing against men, Collier hopes the performances of his players will encourage other clubs to give women greater opportunities in traditionally male club cricket, accelerating their development in the process. “I hope that’s a knock-on effect for the wider women’s game,” he says.