MUCH is said during the World Cup about female aversion to all things sporty but a group of Primrose Hill girls are showing the fairer sex can bowl over the boys in sport as well as other walks of life. The Primrose Hill Cricket Club has just secured a �

MUCH is said during the World Cup about female aversion to all things sporty but a group of Primrose Hill girls are showing the fairer sex can bowl over the boys in sport as well as other walks of life.

The Primrose Hill Cricket Club has just secured a �10,000 grant to up the numbers of girls they have on the green after nearly doubling their female contingent since Summer 2009.

The grant given by Chiltern Railway Company and the Wrexham and Shropshire Railway Company and matched by Sport England's Sportsmatch scheme, will ensure a year of specialist training sessions, coaching, equipment and pitch hire as well as the money to organise those all important matches.

The club, who play at the Hub in Regent's Park, currently have 230 boy members and 40 girls, up from 25 last year.

Club director Rob Lynch said: "The motivation for encouraging more girls into cricket was because of the success of the England women's cricket team who last year won the World Cup.

"With the grant we will be developing a summer and winter programme for the girls so they have their own training structured for girls' cricket which is slightly different to that of the boys.

"Generally in cricket clubs the girls mix in with the boys and get a bit lost. We now have the volume of interest from girls that we can hold sessions especially for them which is great.

"We are hoping to recruit more girls and we are really pleased to have got the grant. Sport is all about the kids and this is a great opportunity for kids to get away from the TV and computers and run around in the park.

"It is great for kids of any shape or form to get involved in sporting activity and we can facilitate that with the cricket club."

The girls' team is hoping to go on tour for the first time this summer to Hertfordshire or Buckinghamshire.

Roshi Bouchier, manager of the girls' team, said: "We have been running a pretty small girls team that has grown over the last few years.

"The grant will help us get more girls into the game which is great and encourage girls to play cricket because they do not get enough team sports at school.

"There is a big demand for sport in general but also for cricket. We use fantastic facilities in Regent's Park almost every day now and we have had a lot of success.

"There are six girls who play for the under 11s Middlesex team which is fantastic and we are hoping to go out more into schools - that is our next step."

More than �75,000 has been dished out by Sports England to projects across London including the Holborn Community Association which has landed �9,969 to expand the gymnastic sessions it offers to more adults and young people.

The Camden and Westminster Training Partnership, which works with refugees and asylum seekers, has also been awarded �6,300 to offer a wide range of sports including volleyball, tennis, football and badminton.

Sport England is aiming to get one million people playing more sport as part of a lasting legacy from the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.