Surrey County Cricket Club greeted their first-ever women’s professional team with a welcome event for players and staff at the Kia Oval on Friday 1 November, the players’ first day as the Three Feathers.
Surrey’s new squad, who walked in the ground with a large portrait of their skipper Bryony Smith looking down from the wall of Micky Stewart Members’ Pavilion forecourt, received their ceremonial South East Stars and Surrey caps, capping the regional era and commencing a new chapter of women’s domestic cricket in England and Wales.
After some welcoming words from Oli Slipper, Chair, and Emma Calvert, Director of Women’s Cricket, to inaugurate the evening in the Long Room, Calvert introduced each player to the Club staff in the audience whilst Steve Elworthy, Chief Executive, presented them the caps on stage.
“We’d been looking forward to this day to kickstart this new era of domestic cricket. Everyone in the group is really pumped up to begin our journey in the Three Feathers,” said Surrey’s new captain, Smith.
“The welcome we received from the Club was very warm and heartening. We can feel that Surrey and everyone here are ready to embrace their new team with open arms,” she added.
Smith, who joined the Surrey set-up in the girls’ pathway as a nine-year-old playing in the Under 11s, also talked about how captaining the Club as a professional cricketer is a dream come true for her. “Coming through the ranks at Surrey and being a fan of the Club since when I was a kid, it is the stuff of dreams to have the honour and responsibility of leading my home club into this new and exciting chapter of women’s cricket.”
During the event, Elworthy also took the stage to express the sense of excitement within the Club to welcome the women’s team and the volumes of work put into the process of bidding to secure a Tier 1 women’s team earlier in the year.
“We waited a long time to welcome our women’s professional team and now we’re thrilled to finally get started with what is the final piece of the jigsaw puzzle for us at Surrey,” said Elworthy.
“Everyone at the Club worked really hard to ensure Surrey got a Tier 1 team and we’re incredibly proud to open our doors for them today. We’re also ready to redouble our efforts and deliver on our commitments so that the team has everything they need to perform on the pitch and the fans get the front seat to witness their journey.
“Our ambition as a Club remains to set the standards for women’s domestic cricket in England and Wales!” he continued.
To welcome the new team, there is also a new display celebrating the history of women’s cricket at Surrey CCC and the Kia Oval arranged in the Micky Stewart Members’ Pavilion reception.
See the video below to get a sneak peek into what the event looked like:
