England aces are a smash hit at festival

Although the No Balls team from the Ludlow League pulled off a coup at Shrewsbury Sports Village by beating England's Under-19 team, the national senior squad stayed unbeaten throughout.

But the emphasis of the day was not on results, the focus was on teaching Shropshire's burgeoning rounders-mad group of ladies how to play the game at an elite level.

Organiser and umpire Liz Matthews, 51, who previously played in the Minsterley and District League, said: "It's the first time we've had it in Shropshire.

"The matches were quite close, fair do's to the Shropshire teams they put up a very good fight. The feedback was they thoroughly enjoyed it and they learnt a lot from the England team."

One of the reasons Rounders England take their teams on tour is to encourage local players to sign up for trials in September.

The umpires recommend the best players to the national team and there were five put forward from this festival.

Alice Oatham and Kayleigh Mumford, whose mum Mel already plays for England, were named from the Ludlow League, while Sarah Bone, Gabby Edwards and Emma Powell were all nominated. too.

Matthews explained: "They showed outstanding performances during the day, whether it's for batting or fielding.

"It's up to them now though, anybody affiliated with Rounders England can go to trials down in Corby."

Rounders has a strong history in Shropshire and it's been blossoming in recent years.

The long-running Minsterley and District league has 22 teams across three divisions but, a few years ago, the Ludlow League, which now has 12 teams across two divisions, was set up.

Even more recently, the Shrewsbury League formed with one division of nine teams. Matthews said: "It's getting bigger now, it's amazing how many teams we've got.

"A lot of people haven't played since school, and say they only want to have a knock-around, and then they get quite competitive.

"The Ludlow League even have a mixed tournament for teams with men in. You hear rumblings from the men that they would like to play.

"Maybe we'll have a mixed league some day, but it takes a lot of organisation to set one up."

Around 100 people turned up for the festival, which was hailed a success by Michele Golland, head coach and events organiser at Rounders England.

Golland said: "It was a really good day. The festival is not about winning, it's about showcasing the sport, although if we don't win there's something wrong!

"It's showing people how it's played at an elite level and those players at Shropshire may think we provide the exit route for the best players.

"Everybody seems to have played it before so it puts a smile on people's faces. To see it played at such a high level is brilliant.

"We are a minority sport and we appreciate people think 'I played it at school' and leave it at that, but there are opportunities to take it up again."