A YOUNG girl with an outgoing spirit has been surprised by her father with a Proud of Barnsley nomination that celebrates her cricketing achievements.
Emma Wrightson, 18, represents Yorkshire Cricket Club, playing for the under-18s side where she was recently made captain.
Starting ten years back at her local cricket club, the girl from Silkstone has continued to develop her skills, always putting herself out there with hopes of improving.
Her father, Ian Wrightson, told the Chronicle: “She began at Silkstone Cricket Club when she was only eight or nine.
“I’m a former cricketer so then I got involved as a coach, and myself and some other coaches did our best to help them along.
“In South Yorkshire girls’ cricket has come on massively in the last few years.
“Silkstone have done particularly well, and their girls’ side is quite good.
“Emma’s gone through the pathway for under-11s right through to under-18s.”
Looking ahead, Ian is hopeful for his daughter’s future, however admits that as long as she continues enjoying herself that’s what really matters.
“I think it all depends on how well she does now and what they think of her at Yorkshire,” he added.
“The game’s evolving all the time, so it’s difficult to say where it’ll be in five years’ time.
“But there’s been lots of growth in the area, and Emma’s got the aspiration to grow.
“If that takes her to playing professionally then that’s great, but if not I’m sure she’ll keep enjoying playing at a local level.”
A few years back, Emma got the opportunity to act in the BBC One drama series Gentleman Jack, when she was only 13.
Ian believes this was down to her positive spirit, which helped her stand out in auditions and continues to help her to this day.
“She just had the right personality for the role.
“She’s got a sparky and sporty character that was just a perfect fit for what they were looking for.
“That’s the thing though, she’s always been really outgoing.”
Emma has been nominated for the Sporting Achievement award at this year’s Proud of Barnsley, though Ian has chosen to keep this a secret from his cricket-mad daughter.
He said: “She has no idea I’m doing this as a bit of a surprise for her.”
