The opening event of the Winter Indoor Softball Women’s Festival took place last week.

Cornwall Cricket Board organised the first of its kind festival, which took place on the Truro College campus.

It included teams from St Austell, St Neot, Helston, and Stithians in what was described as "an exciting showcase of indoor cricket".

The event featured 6-over matches, each lasting half an hour, with a distinctive format involving one over per bowler and two overs for each batting pair per game.

Matches were competitive and played in good sportsmanship, with participants showing significant skill development.

(Image: Cornwall Cricket) Match results were as follows: St Austell (253) narrowly defeated Stithians (258) by five runs, Helston (235) won by 14 runs against St Neot (221), St Austell (231) again secured victory by three runs over St Neot (228), Helston (239) won by 13 runs against St Austell (226), Stithians (260) triumphed over St Neot (238) by 22 runs, and Stithians (250) narrowly won by two runs against Helston (248).

The evening was a testament to the competitive spirit and camaraderie among all the teams, with closely contested matches that kept players and spectators engaged.

(Image: Cornwall Cricket) Nick Mathews, women and girls development officer, said: "It was fantastic to have such a great, well-contested evening to start off the series of festivals.

"All four teams enjoyed their evening and there was some fantastic cricket being played.

"It’s really exciting to be able to offer cricketing opportunities for women and girls all year round."

He added that the softball festivals are just one of the projects planned for women and girls over the winter.

Other projects include hardball women's competitions, mums and daughters sessions, and girls' dynamos sessions.

(Image: Cornwall Cricket) Joe Skinner, managing director, added: "It is great that indoor cricket is there for the women’s teams over the winter months.

"It is important for women to play cricket all year around, helping grow the enthusiasm and stay within the game playing in a safe and fun space."

The festival will continue each week on a mix of Monday and Wednesday evenings, with additional teams from Mullion, Wadebridge, Redruth, Perranporth, and Werrington joining the event.

For more information, interested parties can email wgdo@cornwallcricket.co.uk.