Picture by John Clifton/SWPix.com. Sterre Kalis and Maddie Ward (r) put on a crucial fifth-wicket 113 unbroken as Yorkshire beat Essex at Headingley in May.
Yorkshire’s women enjoyed a trophy-winning Tier 2 campaign, triumphant in the 50-over Metro Bank One-Day Cup. They also reached the final of the Vitality Blast and the quarter-finals of the other T20 competition, the Vitality County Cup.
Through the first half of the winter, we will be running a series of articles with members’ player-of-the-year Ami Campbell, who has been reflecting on key moments throughout the summer.
We have entitled this series ‘Campbell’s Classics’.
The latest article concentrates on one of the results of the summer, the third round Vitality T20 County Cup win over Tier 1 side Essex Eagles at Headingley in mid-May.
Ami Campbell says the 11-run triumph over Essex at Headingley in the FA Cup of county cricket did wonders for Yorkshire’s belief ahead of their elevation to Tier 1 in 2026.
The White Rose had won through the first two rounds of the Vitality County T20 Cup against fellow Tier 2 side Derbyshire at Harrogate and Tier 3 outfit Staffordshire at Weetwood, and were two more wins away from Finals Day.
Picture by John Clifton/SWPix.com. Ami Campbell in action for Yorkshire against Essex in the Vitality County T20 Cup third round tie at Headingley.
Visiting Headingley were an Eagles side ripe for an upset having started the season poorly in the top-flight Metro Bank One-Day Cup. And that’s exactly what happened, with Yorkshire posting 188-4 and defending it with greater comfort than the eventual outcome suggests.
Netherlands international Sterre Kalis top-scored with a superb unbeaten 83 off 45 balls, while vice captain Maddie Ward also impressed with 43 not out off 30.
Those two transformed the innings from 75-4 in the 10th over, sharing an unbroken 113.
In reply, Essex slipped to 18-2 in the third over, with captain and England A opener Grace Scrivens falling to a stunning caught and bowled effort from off-spinner Claudie Cooper.
That was a real tone-setter, and she finished with two wickets added to one apiece for colleagues, Langston, Ward, Olivia Thomas, Hall and Love.
Essex finished on 177-8 as opener Lissy Macleod made 63 and Jo Gardner 64. But despite a recovery, it was only to respectability.
Picture by John Clifton/SWPix.com. Sterre Kalis en-route to her superb 83 not out.
Campbell said: “That was a great win for our confidence going into Tier 1. It was massive for us.
“We’re hoping for more, and even better performances, next year when we’ve got a fully kitted out squad.
“We can’t wait to get Jess Jonassen and Sarah Glenn in with us. They’re two world-class players. It’s exciting to see where we’re going to go as a team going forwards.”
On Yorkshire’s performance with the bat against an Eagles team who captain Lauren Winfield-Hill was about to join on loan for the Vitality Blast, Campbell continued: “I always think it just takes one or two people to get away and perform at their best on the day to actually win a game like that, as long as everyone’s fielding well and taking their chances when they come. We did that.
“Sterre’s really good at batting at Headingley. She knows exactly how to play on the pitches there.
“I think the mistake some people make at Headingley is thinking it’s just going to happen straightaway. You’re going to get in really quickly. But you’ve actually got to give yourself a bit of time. Then it does become so easy.
Picture by John Clifton/SWPix.com. Vice captain Maddie Ward contributed a crucial 43 not out.
“That’s a mistake I make, thinking it will be easy from the start.
“I still have a lot to learn at Headingley because I don’t think I’ve ever had a high score there.
“I need to learn more from Sterre in terms of just having a few balls and then enjoying what is always a very good batting wicket.
“Sterre was unbelievable that game. She took her time, as I said, and then exploded at the back end. It was almost the perfect innings.
“Maddie as well. She’s a really, really good 360 player. She was using her ramps and all that sort of stuff, and I think that was her first glimmer of what she could really do.
“It was a much bigger crowd that day, and that was the game that kick-started the rest of the season for her in terms of confidence.”
Picture by John Clifton/SWPix.com. Team-mates mob Claudie Cooper (No.11) having taken a stunning return catch to dismiss Essex opener and captain Grace Scrivens at the start of their chase.
And on the Cooper return catch – one-handed going to her right after a well struck drive from Scrivens, Campbell added: “That catch from Claudie was unbelievable, and she’s taken some absolute screamers this year.
“When you’re seen as the underdog and you go and do something outstanding like that, it puts doubt in the opposition’s minds, doesn’t it.
“So we knew with that happening at the start of the innings, they were going to start doubting themselves. And we had to pounce. Thankfully we did.”
Unfortunately, Yorkshire were then beaten by 10 wickets in the quarter-final against the Bears at Weetwood the following Saturday. But that Eagles win proved that Campbell and co can soar in the top-flight when next April comes around.
