COLCHESTER County High School pupil Bella Johnson has hit the opposition for six after been named among the UK's top-three young female cricketers.

Bella has been named the second-best young female cricketer in the UK success follows a nationwide search for the sport's next number one female all-rounder.

The national competition, called The 1, was open to girls aged 12-18.

It is run by former England cricketer Lydia Greenway’s newly-launched online coaching platform, the Girls Cricket Club.

Modelled on the popular NFL Combine, the 14 finalists were put through a series of tests.

The tests challenged them on the three disciplines of cricket – bowling, batting and fielding.

The cricketer who scored the highest across all three disciplines would be crowned the winner, taking home a trophy and prizes including a custom hand-made bat, a 12-month kit sponsorship, 1:1 coaching with top internationals, a training day with a professional women’s cricket team and media training with a leading sports PR agency.

The 1’s inaugural competition took place in Nottingham on Sunday 5th September, while future competitions will also take place in key cricket-playing nations around the world as part of an international series culminating in a world championship.

England legend Greenway designed the scenario-based challenges to test contestants’ athleticism, skill and ability to handle the sort of high-stakes pressure you might experience in a big match.

“When we created the Girls Cricket Club as a platform for progression, that really rings true with The 1.

"It’s about creating opportunities for talented, up-and-coming female cricketers.

"There’s no better way to grow than to challenge yourself and The 1 provides the perfect environment to do that, outside of the team set-up.

“This is an opportunity for girls to put their hand up and demonstrate that female cricket is exciting, skilful and full of promise."

The Girls Cricket Club aims to connect female cricketers around the world and to serve as an independent voice for girls and women within cricket.

It also aims to provide female-specific resources to girls and women of all ages and backgrounds.

Greenway is one of the best female cricketers to have played the game.

She boasts 225 England appearances, a World T20 and World Cup victory in 2009 and five Ashes series.

She was among the first to pioneer professional cricket for women earning a coveted central contract with the ECB in 2014.

Anyone interested in signing up for next year’s competition can register their interest here.

For more information on The 1 and the Girls Cricket Club head to https://girlscricketclub.com/