Tuesday 2 June 2015 11:00, UK
A Middlesex cricketer has become the first woman to hit a century for Halstead Cricket Club.
Catherine Dalton reached the landmark score against Felixstowe on Saturday.
Speaking to Sky Sports News HQ, Dalton said: “I didn’t realise no other woman had done it, which was probably quite lucky because I started to get a bit nervous in the 90s.
“It’s fantastic for me as a person,” she added, “but also for women playing sport. I hope it inspires more girls to get out there and play men’s cricket.”
Last month, England women's international Kate Cross took eight wickets in a Lancashire men's league match.
“It’s inspiring to see her [Cross] do that,” Dalton said. “And it pushes you forward.”
Dalton was surprised to receive messages of congratulations on social media from the likes of Simon Jones and Darren Gough, claiming that “it shows how much support there is for women’s cricket at the moment. It’s growing rapidly.”
On her hopes for an international call-up, the fast bowler says she has a “burning desire to play for my country. Any woman training as hard as I am would love to put on that England shirt. Hopefully, that will be the next stage for me.”
England's Arran Brindle was the first woman to score a century in a men's Premier League.
Brindle scored 128 for Louth against Market Deeping in the Lincolnshire Premier League in 2011.
