The Spin | ‘We have a hoot on the field’: Oswestry CC boasts 10 mother-daughter pairs
The Women and Girls section at Oswestry Cricket Club has cultivated a strong family atmosphere since its inception in 2018, embracing the nickname Wags.
The acronym Wags first gained widespread attention in 2006 during England’s football World Cup campaign in Baden-Baden, where Victoria Beckham, Cheryl Tweedy, and others became tabloid fixtures due to their coordinated outfits and social activities.
Two decades later, a different group of Wags is making an impact at Oswestry Cricket Club, located on the border of north Shropshire and Wales. The club’s flourishing Women and Girls section (WaGs) includes an impressive 10 mother-daughter pairs who have competed together in cricket, with ages ranging from 12 to 67 years old.
The oldest member is Jools Payne, an energetic founding player and team manager.
“We embrace the Wags moniker,”she states.
“And we’re incredibly proud of our mother and daughter pairs, we may even explore if it is worthy of the Guinness Book of Records.”
Jools’s eldest daughter, Naomi, has been instrumental in the women’s section’s success since its launch. In 2018, Naomi organised a women’s softball competition at the club, initially recruiting six participants, including her mother and younger sister Holly. Within a year, she had assembled enough players to form a competitive women’s team. Currently, the club has 33 registered players participating in both hard-ball and soft-ball cricket, indoors and outdoors, with two-thirds of the younger players coming from state schools. The team holds the title of reigning champions (2024 and 2025) of the top Shropshire recreational hardball league.
Attracting numerous mother-daughter pairs, especially during adolescence—a period often marked by complex relationships—has been a notable achievement. Jools explains,
“We play competitively but we have a hoot on the field as well. Some mums started playing first and brought their daughters along, sometimes it was the other way round.”
She adds,
“We have a very nurturing side too. It might have something to do with the mother-daughter dynamic but also that we have a few teachers on board as well, including our vice-captain, Lisa Bladen, who is head of girls’ PE at the local state school. It’s a bit like if you’ve ever been on a PTA and get a group of individuals who just all gel – wonderful things happen.”
Jools highlights the unique qualities of cricket that foster both individual and team success:
“The beautiful thing about cricket is that you have that chance to shine as an individual but within a team setting. There are no egos at all. The young girls all get on like a house of fire and the older ones like a bit of gin and prosecco bonding.”
Challenges do arise, such as selection issues when a mother and daughter travel together, but Jools remains a constant presence.
“I am the most inept player on the field. I can’t bend and I can’t throw. I’ve got rheumatoid arthritis and a wonky right hand. I’m very good at shouting and clapping though.”
The team’s coach this year is Jools’s husband, Ian Payne, who played as an all-rounder for Surrey and Gloucestershire between 1977 and 1986. Despite a hip injury, Ian remains dedicated:
“I said to him: ‘Come on, no more lie-ins on a Sunday morning.’ It is such a great resource having an ex-pro with all that technical expertise and cricket nous, helping the girls understand how to rotate the strike, nurdle the ball down there. He brings a cricketing brain to the party.”
A 2022 survey by Women in Sport revealed that one million teenage girls who considered themselves sporty in primary school disengage during adolescence, often due to factors such as menstruation and body consciousness. This decline motivates Jools’s enthusiasm for the club’s nurturing environment.
She explains,
“We know that where mums either play or encourage the playing of sport, whatever it may be, their daughters are likely to follow a path into active participation. I listened to a fascinating Mumsnet webinar a couple of years ago on just that issue and determined then that we would do what we could to nurture our mums and their daughters into the game.”
Jools emphasizes the importance of a supportive female-only environment:
“This is where playing within the sisterhood comes in. There is something about being in that nurturing female-only environment that can help you through. We have a Wags dedicated training night, play with women and against women – though some of the good cricketers play mixed cricket with school or club third or fourth XIs.”
She also acknowledges practical innovations that support female players:
“Also, a big up to whoever invented period pants. Who wants to wear whites if you’ve got your period? And to Alex Hartley for mentioning her period on TMS, good for her.”
Social activities are a significant part of the Oswestry Wags experience. The group frequently attends England women’s matches at Edgbaston and plans to be present on 12 June for the opening night of the Women’s T20 World Cup, England versus Sri Lanka. They will be identifiable in the Hollies Stand, dressed as lifeguards in yellow T-shirts and red shorts.
The Wags are also organizing a celebration on 5 July for the T20 World Cup final, which includes hosting a softball festival at the club in the morning and setting up a viewing party for the 2:30 pm match start. Jools notes,
“It should be a ball.”
Those interested in joining can attend training sessions on Tuesday evenings from 6 to 8 pm during the summer. Naomi Payne is eager to establish an under-12s team and create a pathway to the senior side.
“The more the merrier,”says Jools.
“And you don’t have to bring your mum.”
Youngsters making a splash
As Australia selects their under-19 captain Ollie Peake for a one-day international tour of Pakistan, attention turns to emerging English cricket talent performing in the County Championship.
Last Saturday, Glamorgan teenager Tom Norton made headlines by becoming the first Championship debutant since 1906 to take a hat-trick, dismissing Somerset’s James Rew, Tom Lammonby, and Archie Vaughan. The following day, 20-year-old Naavya Sharma of Middlesex and England Under-19s nearly matched this feat by taking three wickets in a single over during Lancashire’s second innings collapse to 84 all out. Sharma, described by Middlesex commentator Kevin Hand as having
“the run-up of Holding, the action of Bumrah,”was supported by fellow England Under-19 bowler Seb Morgan, who also impressed at Old Trafford.
Former England age-group players also excelled with the bat. Somerset’s 21-year-old Josh Thomas scored his maiden first-class century against Yorkshire in front of Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow. Meanwhile, 19-year-old Adam Thomas achieved a century on debut for Sussex at the Oval, becoming one of only nine Surrey batsmen to do so. The last to accomplish this was former Australia white-ball captain Aaron Finch.
Additionally, 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, who scored a match-winning 175 off 80 balls in the Under-19 World Cup final in January, is currently playing in the Indian Premier League. He has already recorded a 36-ball century for Rajasthan Royals against Sunrisers Hyderabad and may join the Indian team for white-ball matches in the UK during the summer.
Stat of the week
100 – Warwickshire batter Charis Pavely’s average in this year’s women’s One-Day Cup. The 21-year-old has scored 400 runs in six innings and was called up as batting cover for England’s first ODI against New Zealand.
Quote of the week
“I don’t think I can put it into words to be honest. It’s the most mental 45 minutes I’ve ever had on a cricket field … I’ll cherish [it] for the rest of my life. It’s a really special feeling, hopefully I’ll have my name in the record books for a long, long time.”
– Glamorgan’s 18-year-old Tom Norton, who became the youngest player in Championship history to take a hat-trick on debut against Somerset.
Memory lane
On 14 May 1927, ninety-nine years ago, the BBC broadcast its first ball-by-ball cricket coverage. The initial experiment featured Essex versus the New Zealanders at Leyton, with commentary by the Reverend Frank Gillingham, who played for Essex between 1903 and 1928 when not engaged in his clerical duties. The BBC was uncertain whether cricket would sustain a full programme, so the live broadcasts from the pavilion balcony were interspersed with London Radio Dance Band music.
The Western Daily Press described the coverage as
“deathly dull,”but the BBC saw enough potential to continue, including snippets from the Roses match at Old Trafford and the Test trial at Sheffield. Gillingham eventually lost his commentary role after displeasing Lord Reith by reading advertisements visible around the Oval. Nevertheless, ball-by-ball cricket commentary has since become a mainstay.
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