Falcons Women prepare for summer with pre-season trip

Derbyshire Falcons Women continued their preparations for the new season with a team bonding trip in the Lake District. 

Having spent the winter months honing their skills in the Ryley Wealth Elite Performance Centre at The Central Co-op County Ground, the Falcons Women travelled to Ambleside, Cumbria, where Head of Women’s Cricket, Jon Dyson, prepared a series of activities, competitive challenges and guest presentations.

The squad completed two hikes, which included an orienteering element to test the players’ physicality and problem-solving ability, while construction challenges were designed to promote teamwork and communication under pressure.

Derbyshire Non-Executive Director – Women’s Cricket, Rachael Mackenzie, spoke to the squad about her journey to becoming a World Champion Thai Boxer and British Boxing Champion, focussing on self-belief, resilience and overcoming gender barriers, before Dr. Mike Rotheram worked with the group on psychological profiling, values & behaviours and accountability.

Reflecting on the two days, Dyson said: “This was an opportunity to get away from the tracksuits and training indoors to spend some time together as people. We looked ahead to the summer and discussed the values and behaviours we want to take into the new season.

“This trip was so important, because in the winter we come to the ground and our entire time together is spent training and working on our skills. So it was nice for the squad to eat together and play some games in the evening, because you start to see people’s characters come out a bit more, which has helped a few of our new players gel into the group.

“I’m confident we will see the fruits of this trip during the season, because whether we are playing well or under pressure, we will have the experiences and discussions from this weekend to fall back on, which we know will give us strength and belief.”

The Falcons Women have added nine new players to the fold since the end of last season, while Former Derbyshire Men players, Paul Borrington and Jonathan Clare, have joined the coaching team.

Dyson believes the added depth within the squad will benefit the Falcons Women this season, but admits he will have some selection headaches throughout the summer: “Last season, we probably got found out with key injuries at the wrong time and discovered we didn’t perhaps have the depth we thought.

“We have a larger squad this season, we’ve added depth but we’ve also added quality across all areas. We’ve got 12 batters who can bat in the top seven, we have five spin bowling options and we’ve got five or six strong seam bowling options, so it’s a headache to determine our strongest 11 now.

“Once we get to that first game against Middlesex, there will be some very good players who aren’t in our starting 11.Then it’s up to the players, when they get their opportunities to take the shirt and say ‘you can’t take that off me now’, but that’s a nice problem to have.”

Derbyshire Falcons Women tickets

You can now claim FREE tickets for all Derbyshire Falcons Women home T20s, as Jon Dyson’s side aim to build on a historic 2025 season and secure a place at Finals Day.

The Falcons narrowly missed out on a place in the first-ever Women’s Vitality Blast knockout stages last season, and they’ll be hoping a strong winter recruitment drive can propel them to the next level.

Supporters can claim free tickets to three Falcons Women home T20s, while the opening fixture against Sussex Sharks is included with all Falcons Men vs Durham double-header tickets.

2026 Derbyshire Falcons Women home T20s – Claim your FREE tickets now!