The big cricket occasions are all adding up for Holly Eccleston

It has taken her to Lord’s and Edgbaston, meeting cricket stars such as Andrew Strauss, Graeme Swann and Wasim Akram – all at 17 years old.

And it all started one afternoon when she was watching her brother play for Whitchurch IIIs.

She said: “I was really bored and the parent who was scoring at the time said that I could help them, so I had a go and really enjoyed it.

“They showed me how to score, nothing complicated, just the basic scoring method.

“After that I saw an advert for the club scorer course in Telford so I attended for five weeks and passed that and that’s where my scoring journey really started.”

Now she scores for Whitchurch CC, for Warwickshire on their Elite Scorer’s Pathways, and she is also part of the MCC Scorers Panel.

She first got into cricket via a leaflet at my primary school advertising Whitchurch CC, attended training sessions on a weekly basis so she started playing.

But, she said: “After a while I decided I wasn’t quite enjoying cricket like I had when I first started, and felt like I was just there making up the numbers, so I stopped.”

After she passed her initial course, she continued to score for her club and began to look for other ways to use her skills.

“We managed to get hold of the ACO’s Regional Scorer’s Officer Heather Vernon and she has been a big help since then,” said Eccleston. “I’m now a Level 2 scorer, and I’m working towards my Level 3, although that is obviously on hold for the moment.

“I have scored for a variety of teams, I’ve had many enjoyable matches both men’s and women’s for Warwickshire. I’ve also scored at Lord’s for their corporate days which is really good.

“I have done other things such as Young England Lions festival, the School Games, Women’s Regional Development Centre Festival.

“As part of the Warwickshire Elite Festival pathway I was also invited into the scorebox for the England v Australia Ashes Test match at Edgbaston and also for the India v Bangladesh World Cup match.

“During the Ashes Test I was operating the scoreboards around the ground from the scorebox, and during the World Cup game I had to do an official paper copy of the scorebook, I was in charge of doing that.”

That paper score card has gone down in the official records of the tournament.

“I was a little bit nervous, but not too bad actually,” she added. “At the end of the day, yes there’s a lot more people watching you, however it is just what I do every week, it’s nothing different, just a different crowd.”

Eccleston is hoping that involvement in scoring could help her along a career path when she has finished doing her A Levels.

“There aren’t any full-time jobs out there so that isn’t really an option, but I am quite into the analyst side of scoring – the stats – so it could be possible route to go down as a sports analyst as I am currently studying A level Sport,” she said. “My school has been very supportive of me and given me time off whenever I need as long as it doesn’t clash with any exams. Unfortunately, I did have to turn down a few really exciting games because of exams.”

Her favourite moments so far include that Ashes Test, and managing to miss out on a face-to-face meeting with England legend Graeme Swann.

“Scoring a corporate day at Lord’s, I was completely focused on the game with my colleagues and there was a gentleman behind us talking,” she added. “Obviously I was facing forwards watching the game so I wasn’t really sure who I was talking to, to be honest.

“They were talking to me about my journey and how I was getting on, and that we were doing a really good job.

“Then, as they left at the end of the over I turned around and the person was just walking out and on his shirt it said ‘Swann’ – I didn’t even realise that I had been talking to Graeme Swann! My second favourite memory has to be the Barmy Army at the Ashes Test because they are just something completely different, they are class. I’ve never heard anything like it before, it was just unreal to be there.”

She has also met a number of famous people including former players – and some current ones.

“One of my favourite cricketers has got to be Wasim Akram,” she said. “At the Lord’s corporate day, I was his team’s scorer, so I was with him all day. He was a really nice man, he was really enthusiastic about my journey and where it can take me.

“I met Andrew Strauss as well, he was a really nice guy.”

If you would like to know more about scoring, look out tomorrow for details of an online scoring course you can do, and you can also contact Holly’s mum Clair who is now the Shropshire Scorers Officer with the ACO via email Shropshirecso@gmail.com