Congratulations to Cambridgeshire's Ladies team who came second in Group 4 at the AEGON County Cup in Oxford during the week of 20 to 24 July 2009 and have successfully gained promotion to Group 3.
Group 4 comprised of six counties (Avon, Berkshire, Cambridgeshire, Hereford & Wocestershire, Oxfordshire, West of Scotland) with the top two counties in the group being promoted and the bottom two relegated for next season.
County Week is a demanding and tough week of tennis for all who play and Team Manager Mary Turner said "we went to Oxford with a very young team in hopes of promotion. The team of Lisa Whybourn, Laura Oates, Emily Crack, Victoria Nicholas, Amanda Black and Jodie Tiley all played exceptionally well and throughout the week it was very much a team effort".
The team got off to the perfect start with an 8-1 win on the first day over Oxfordshire. The first doubles pairing of Lisa and Laura won all of their three matches. Emily and Victoria opened their campaign by winning two of their three matches while the third pairing of Amanda and Jodie won all three matches.
Play on Day 2 was interrupted due to extensive rain delays. Playing Berkshire, the group favourites, was exceptionally tough and the pairing of Lisa and Laura secured the only three wins of the day.
On Day 3 a fiercely contested victory over Hereford & Worcestershire put the team back on course for promotion. Winning 5-4 was a good result. Lisa and Laura won all three matches with pairs two and three each winning one match.
Day 4 saw the team beat the West of Scotland 7-2. Three wins again from pair one and two wins each for the remaining pairs continued to raise the team’s hopes of promotion.
Play on the final day, against Avon, was again interrupted by rain. Pair two and pair three each won one match. Lisa and Laura were unbeatable and won all three matches to take the team to a 5-4 win and to Group 3 for next year's County Cup.
Lisa and Laura won a total of 15 out of 15 matches played during the week. This was a remarkable achievement. They are now half way to equalling the record held by Alice Barnes and Miranda Foley who in 2002 and 2003 won all 15 matches.