LINDAL Moor will be awash with colour this Sunday as Pennington Lane hosts a cricketing extravaganza.

South Lakes Maidens - the Lindal-based women’s team - and Cumbria Cricket are running a free women’s Soft Ball Cricket Festival.

It is one of six such festivals to be taking place in the county this month - the other venues being Temple Sowerby, Carlisle, Egremont, Burneside and Keswick - as part of a nationwide ECB initiative to mark this summer’s ICC Women’s World Cup.

The event will see women of all ages and abilities have a go at the fun, fast, social version of the sport during a four-hour slot, which will also include a fun family BBQ, music, and stalls (2pm to 6pm).

Laura Marshall, who plays for Lindal and is Cumbria Cricket’s Women and Girls’ Development Officer, wants to encourage as many women as possible to the festival - and stressed that it doesn’t matter if you have never played the game before.

“We want to encourage everyone to come along and if you haven’t played cricket before, that's perfect as we are targeting new women to cricket and we want you and your friends to have a great first experience of the game,” she said.

“The fun and friendly games will be eight-a-side, using a soft ball. The rules are designed to make the games fun, fast and easy to pick up.

“Our goal, is for everyone involved to have a fantastic experience, it’s more about the fun atmosphere on a festival theme with music playing, BBQ, different types of stalls and fun activities for the kids.”

Penny Thompson, Director of Women and Girls' Cricket said: ““We are delighted to be launching this national initiative in women’s cricket here in Cumbria.

“So many girls and women across the county are discovering cricket now, and they are showing us all how fun it can be in new and different formats. Women’s Soft Ball is a brilliant case of mixing up the rules to make the sport fit the players and I think we can all expect something very different from these festival days.”

The South Lakes Festival has been boosted by Hart Jackson and Sons donating a bottle of Prosecco for the winning team in the fun competition, and for every festival participant could win a Spa treat thanks to the generosity of Macdonald Old England Hotel & Spa at Bowness-on-Windermere.

To get involved the links to register for free – as an individual or team - are available through the Cumbria Cricket website: www.cumbriacricket.co.uk and http://bit.ly/wsbf_CumbriaCricket