Seren Hughes can look back on 2021 as the year she made cricket history in Wales – although she didn’t know it at the time.
The 20-year-old entered the record books back in the summer when she became the first female in the South Wales Cricket Association to score a century at club level.
It was on August 28, when Hughes – the only female player on either side - struck 105 at Kidwelly Cricket Club, batting for Briton Ferry Steel Cricket Club’s second XI against the hosts.
Four months on, it remains one of the stand-outs moments in Welsh sport this year – an indicator not just of the Wales Women international’s own talent, but of the rapid strides made by the women’s game which was highlighted by the success of the inaugural Hundred competition.
Yet, Hughes admits that with no scoreboard in operation at the ground and her own mental score-keeping unable to stay the pace, she didn’t even know she was approaching three figures.
She recalls: “I didn’t really know what to expect going down to Kidwelly. I’ve never played there before.
“It was a big pitch, we batted first and I went in at number three. I just stayed in and scored a hundred.
“But I didn’t really know what I was on. I’d scored 50s before and I was on edge, really. I could see people on the side fidgeting, trying to sit still and my mother is always in her deckchair and she was trying to keep still.
“I didn’t really know what to do when I did reach a ton. It just went over my head, really, until I came off and then it actually hit me that I had just scored a hundred for the men.”
Hughes, who is studying sports coaching and development at the University of South Wales, appeared in the second XI, who were pushing for promotion to Division Three of the SWCA this year, and even went on to make her first team debut for BFSCC.
“It was nice to play a part in that,” she says.
“I haven’t played much over the years before because of my own playing commitments with Wales Women and coaching - but it was great to play a lot more games this year.
“Playing in the seconds, finishing runners-up and getting promoted was a great team achievement and a big boost for the club and it was nice to contribute that.”
Then, when BFSCC took on one of the local rivals, Baglan CC at the Graig, Hughes made her first-team debut.
“It was nice to take the opportunity and play for the firsts. When the teams came out after the selection meeting on a Thursday, I didn’t expect it.
“I just expected to be in the seconds again. But I got chosen for the firsts and when it came to the day, it was great to see the different level of play.
It was a great experience.”
