THE tradition of ladies' rounders in Bolton is as old as the mills.
Local women have been whiling away the summer evenings connecting bat to ball since the end of the 19th century, and 3,500 players returned to action this week when the new season got underway.
Although the mills which the teams were once affiliated to have all but gone, the desire of the girls and women to play the sport burns as strongly as ever.
advertisement
In Bolton and Bury, ladies rounders has metamorphosized into a special game. Administered by Bolton Sports Federation, it is played to different laws to the National Rounders League.
Here it is played with a tennis ball and with a straight-bladed bat. Batters can be dismissed by a fielder hitting them with the ball.
This cannot happen in the national game and the ball is hard, while the bat is round.
There are 15 sections in the BSF rounders league, from A to O, and current giants of the Bolton game are Rupert Ladies A, who have been crowned Section A champions for the last five years.
Many of the teams are now connected to local cricket clubs where they can take advantage of the high-quality playing surfaces.
Depending on the standard of the teams, matches can last from an hour to two-and-a-quarter hours, and are sometimes replayed if it gets too dark to continue.
Results secretary for the league is Barbara Goulding, who plays for Little Lever SC and knows why the game is so popular in the area.
"It's a game you can start playing with a low skill level," she said.
"Obviously, the top teams have very high standards, but you can learn while you are competing.
"It's also a game in which you will see 11-year-olds playing in the same team as their mothers or grandmothers.
"There are a lot of clubs where the family influence is very strong. But it can also be highly competitive."
As well as vying for the various section championships, the teams will also compete in five cup competitions: the Dixon, Blackburn, Pike, Horwich, and the oldest honour of all, the Chadwick Cup.
And, unlike cricket, it is played come rain, wind, or even snow. Every year the league raises money for a local charity and this year's good cause is the Michael Williams Trust, for which they have raised £440 before a ball has even been bowled.
If you liked this article and would like to share it with others on the web who might be searching for good content we've made it easy for you to do it.
At the bottom of all articles, you'll see links to six sites. These sites - commonly called 'social bookmark' or 'social news' sites - have large communities of web users who share and rate interesting, useful and fun things on the web.
Clicking the links will automatically add the address of the story you are reading to one of these sites, letting you share it with others. Each site will ask you to register to share stories. Registration is free and once a member, you can store, recommend and search for stories that interest you.
Print
Email this
Comment
