DANE Ghyll proved themselves the queens of South Cumbrian cricket with victory in the girls Kwik Cricket festival at Dalton.

The Barrow primary school came out on top of 11 teams from across the area at Ulverston Road, as players showed the increasing strength and depth in the sport.

Dane Ghyll defeated Holy Family by 20 runs in the final to earn themselves a place in the county finals at Lindal Moor Cricket Club on Tuesday.

Barrow cricket development officer Jake Woods was thrilled to see so many teams taking part, when not long ago he would have struggled to find half-a-dozen.

He said: “Dane Ghyll were a strong side and they beat a strong Holy Family team in the final.

“We had 11 schools there, 110 girls, which is absolutely brilliant. It's nice to see schools take the girls game more seriously. Years ago, we used to get hardly anyone at the girls competitions, now we are getting more than 10 schools each time.

“They come and they absolutely love it. They love a good day out, it gets really competitive, and it's very good to see.”