Middlesex 126-7 (Wilson 46) beat Surrey 100-4 (Smith 34) by 26 runs

On a sunny summer evening at the Oval, it was Middlesex who emerged as the inaugural winners of the Pemberton Greenish Cup after Fran Wilson’s 46 saw them reach a total of 126-7 in their 20 overs.

Surrey struggled to achieve the required rate of just above 6 an over from the outset, with no runs coming off the bat until a single from Kirstie White in the third over.

And it took until the 7^th over for their first boundary, as Holly Knight drove the ball through mid-on. She was dismissed two balls later, however, holing out to Izzy Westbury at cover off the bowling of Danni Warren, leaving them 29-1.

There was hope for Surrey yet, with wickets in hand, but the pressure mounted after Alex Hartley bowled two successive maidens. With the required run rate up to 10, White attempted to hit out against Westbury’s off-spin, but sent the ball into the hands of Naomi Dattani at mid-wicket and was out for 12.

It was a spectacular low diving catch, symptomatic of Middlesex’s sharp performance in the field, which considerably restricted the ability of their opponents to score freely throughout the innings. Even England’s Nat Sciver did not look able to up the rate, hitting just 9 off 12 balls before being clean bowled by Sophia Dunkley in the 14^th over. The highlight for Surrey was a swift 34* (27 balls) from Bryony Smith, but it came too late to make a difference.

Surrey eventually finished on 100-4, falling 27 runs short of their target.

Earlier, Middlesex had been left reeling at 4-2 in the third over, after Rachel Candy clean bowled Dunkley for a duck with just the second ball of the game, then trapped Catherine Dalton lbw for 2.

But Natasha Miles fought back for Middlesex, hitting three boundaries off the next over before being bowled by Surrey’s captain Cecily Scutt for 15.

Anna Nicholls (28) then provided good support for Wilson as the pair helped Middlesex accelerate with a 57-run partnership. The runs came mainly in singles at first, but Wilson’s fluency improved throughout and she finished with four boundaries to her name.

She eventually departed in the final over, run out at the striker’s end as she and Dattani (16*) attempted to force through yet another single.

After Middlesex celebrated their victory with champagne on the outfield, captain Izzy Westbury told CRICKETher:

“I feel elated. After those first 3 overs I definitely didn’t think we’d win it! But we played as a team and everybody pulled through.

It’s given us a lot of confidence going into our next round of County Championship matches this weekend.”

Meanwhile Surrey, who are currently top of the County Championship, will be hoping for revenge in their Championship game against Middlesex at Reeds School on Sunday.

About two overs from the end of the Pemberton Greenish Cup, the scoreboards at The Oval died. It summed up a dispiriting evening for Surrey on the pitch; but off the field it was a day that was anything but disappointing.

Over 700 children from local schools packed out the pavilion for yesterday’s match. Kids from all walks of life were equally excited to be there – boys from state primaries cheered the big hits; and girls from posh, private preps applauded the clattering of stumps; all accompanied by a noisy DJ, who might have made the traditionalists frown, but who brought a sense of bounce to the occasion that held up the excitement levels even as the game drifted slightly towards the end.

Ebz Gets Into The Action In The Indoor School

Earlier in the day, a rammed indoor school had seen 300 children through bowling clinics and batting master-classes from Surrey coaching staff, with guest appearances from the captains, Cecily Scutt and Izzy Westbury.

Nat, Cecily & Rachel Candy Take Questions

One teacher at an all-girls school told us of the challenges she faces introducing cricket to the curriculum: “All the schools around us play rounders in the summer, so it’s hard to get a game; but I’m hoping that if one leads, the others will follow.”

Middlesex Enjoy Their Champagne Moment

After the match a champagne-soaked Izzy Westbury was full of praise for the leadership of Ebony Rainford-Brent, telling CRICKETher: “It’s an amazing thing to be playing a domestic cricket match with this turn-out and a lot of counties could learn a lot from it.”

Will there be better games of cricket played in this year’s Women’s County Championship? No doubt! Will there be a bigger “event” in the domestic game this season? No… and that’s why this day was important!

The ECB have announced that their decision to uphold the original tied result in the Kent-Sussex Championship match on Monday 4th May will stand.

Comments from the Kent CEO Jamie Clifford made earlier this week had previously called the ECB’s decision into question, after he stated that Kent did not believe that there had been an “appropriate review” into the controversial outcome, and that “a number of questions remain[ed] unanswered”.

However, the ECB’s spokesperson Beth Wild has confirmed to CRICKETher that the original result will stand, stating:

“The outcome was fully examined by Nick Cousins, the head of the ECB’s Association of Cricket Officials, and we are no longer reviewing the umpires’ decision. The tied result will not change.”

“Jamie Clifford has been in touch with us to check that the appeal was conducted properly, and to confirm that the umpires had not been unduly influenced by the Sussex players.”

“We hope that the matter is now resolved.”

The ECB also confirmed that they are aware of Kent coach Stuart Eddicott’s tweet, which branded their decision “shameful”, and that they had requested that contracted England and Kent player Tammy Beaumont remove her original “favourite” of the tweet.

Kent have been given the option to refer the decision to the ECB’s Recreational Cricket Group, which meets tomorrow, should they wish to pursue the matter further. However, given that the grounds for their original appeal are still unclear (there is nothing in the playing regulations to allow for such a procedure), it is presumably unlikely that they will do so.

The somewhat one-sided war of words between Kent and Sussex over their controversially tied Women’s County Championship match took another sour turn this week as Kent CEO Jamie Clifford waded in to the argument.

Seemingly taking the ECB to task over their decision to uphold the result, Clifford said in a statement:

“We [Kent] do not believe that there has been an appropriate review and a number of questions remain unanswered.”

Ironically, the main question nobody at Kent seems to want to answer* is what exactly they were complaining about in the first place – there being no basis, in either the Laws of the game or the Playing Conditions of the competition, for the result to be ever in dispute, let alone a week after a private ECB meeting concluded that there was no reason to overturn the original decision.

Last week Kent Coach Stuart Eddicott took to Twitter to call the ECB’s decision “shameful”. The fact that his tweet remains undeleted might seem to represent at least a tacit endorsement of this position by the Kent hierarchy, who could presumably have required him to remove it.

It is unclear at this stage whether the ECB have reopened their investigation into the incident in response to Kent’s queries.

———-

* We did ask!

The continuing amateur status of women’s cricket in New Zealand was underlined today when it was announced that two leading players will be stuck at home, while the White Ferns face critical World Cup qualification matches in India.

Batsman Sara McGlashan and spinner Erin Bermingham, who both played in the recent series against England, are unavailable for the upcoming India tour due to work commitments.

They will be missed though, as New Zealand face India in 3 “must-win” Women’s International Championship games, which help determine automatic qualification for the 2017 World Cup in England, plus 3 T20s and another 2 ODIs.

Although New Zeland Women do have central contracts, these might be better termed “retainers” as the money barely covers expenses, and the players all need  their day jobs to make ends meet. 

Full Squad:

• Suzie Bates
• Kate Broadmore
• Sophie Devin
• Natalie Dodd
• Maddy Green
• Georgia Guy
• Leigh Kasperek
• Morna Nielsen
• Katie Perkins
• Anna Peterson
• Rachel Priest
• Hannah Row
• Amy Satterthwaite
• Lea Tahuhu

Licolnshire’s Beth Smith at Moulton Harrox CC

Puddles on the outfield. Pouring with rain. A team text was inevitable, “We’re going to try to get a game in.”

Due to the standard early cricket season British weather, the start of the game was delayed until 1pm with overs reduced to 34. Having won the toss and with the hope that the pitch will dry up throughout the day, newly appointed captain Hayley Butts put Hunts & Cambs into bat.

Debutant Sarah McDowell was given the new ball and showed why she had been approached over the winter; bowling her allotted 7 overs straight through ending with figures 1/9. Hayley Jones took 3 opening overs from the other end bowling with pace which the batsmen utilised to get runs on the board. To restrict the run flow experienced player Beth Smith came on at Jones’ end bowling straight through her overs going for 10 runs.

U17 Lucy Barnes took over from McDowell and took the second wicket of the game with the help of a safe pair of hands from U15 Amelia Gardner. This wicket brought standout batsmen, Karla Durham, to the crease; bringing the run-rate up for Hunts & Cambs she had a third wicket stand of 66 with their number 3, Sainsbury. The partnership was broken by the off-spin of senior Rachael Dyer; by which time the visitors had passed the century mark.

Wickets began to fall steadily after that; in her first senior appearance Gardner replaced Smith and took 2 wickets in her 6 overs- a solid sign of things to come for juniors and potentially seniors. Dyer snatched 2 more wickets including an athletic caught and bowled. U17 captain Becki Brooker was handed the ball for the last over of the innings and gained a wicket with the first ball and a further wicket before the close. Hunts & Cambs ended with 136/9, giving the Imps a target of 137 to win.

A shower at the interval meant that the restart was slightly delayed, but McDowell and Smith went out to the middle looking to put the Imps on the front foot. Hunts & Cambs had the better start with Presland cleaning up Smith without her troubling the scorers.

U17 India Freeman then came to the middle and this new partnership flourished. Quick runs and boundaries seemed to come at ease, yet at drinks the Imps were still slightly behind the run-rate. The pair pushed on until Wala Bowled McDowell ending the 89 run partnership; McDowell ending with 38 – not a bad debut performance!

Captain Butts went to the crease and aided Freeman to her half century. Butts got a quick fire 16 before stepping in front of her stumps and being given LBW. Freemans U17 partner Brooker entered the field of play with the Imps only needing 9 for victory off 4 overs. The pair put on 6 before Presland struck, bowling Freeman with 3 required from 7 balls. A nervous Jones faced her first ball. A wide – 2 off 7. A dot ball to end meant Lincs needed 2 off the final over.

Sainsbury had the ball for the final over, a dot followed by Brooker being caught out left the Imps needing 2 off 4 as Dyer joined Jones at the crease. Dyer got a single, scores were tied. A dot ball followed, the Imps were on the edge of their seats watching as the next ball hit Jones’ leg and Dyer called her through for the winning leg bye.

First game of the season and a first victory in the county champs. The team was elated. This game has fuelled the ladies for the rest of the season. There are still areas to work on, tightness in the field and wilier bowling would have reduced the Hunts & Cambs score by 30; but coach Alan Ward believes this victory is great signs of things to come for the Imps.

Their first impact puts the Imps at the top of Div 4, hopefully this is where they will stay. Their next game is Northumberland away on the 24th May.

Beth Smith

Follow Beth Smith on Twitter

Kent players and coaching staff have taken to Twitter to express their anger at the ECB’s decision not to overturn the result of their disputed tie with Sussex.

A tweet from the Kent coach brands the ECB’s judgement “shameful”; saying that the spirit of cricket has taken a “U-Turn”; and also appears to question the honesty and integrity of the Sussex players and officials who responded to the ECB inquiry.

The tweet was then Favorited by two leading Kent players. (A “Favorite“, like a Facebook “Like“, allows a Twitter user to express agreement or sympathy with the opinion expressed in the original post.)

Although the accounts involved are not official “Kent CCC” accounts, they are not private either; and one is a publicly verified “Blue Tick” account, due to the the individual’s status as a contracted England player.

NOTE – The screenshots above were taken at 06:00 on May 8th 2015.

UPDATE – The two players who Favorited  the tweet have since Un-Favorited it.

The ECB have released a statement this evening upholding the umpire’s on-field decision that the controversial Kent / Sussex game last weekend ended in a tie.

Kent had appealed the result to the ECB, as they believed the ball to have been dead in the hands of their wicket-keeper when Sussex snatched a last-ball single to tie the game.

But after some consultation and discussion on the field, the umpires adjudicated that the run was fairly scored; and this decision has now been firmly upheld by the ECB.

The ECB’s full statement appears below:

“The ECB has been in communication with the umpires, and the Kent and Sussex management teams regarding events at the conclusion of the Royal London Women’s One-Day Championship match between the two sides on Monday 4th May 2015. 

Following receipt of all information and discussions with the Head of ECB Association of Cricket Officials, it has been decided that there is no reason to overturn any decision made by the umpires on the day, nor the outcome of the game as had been determined on the day.  The match is therefore a tie.”

The ECB have confirmed to CRICKETher that an appeal has been received from Kent regarding the controversial conclusion to their match with Sussex on Monday, which was initially declared by the umpires to have ended in a tie.

Statements have been presented from various interested parties, including the umpires, and currently, the ECB consider that the match has no official “result”.

The full ECB statement appears below:

The ECB is currently in communication with the umpires, and the Kent and Sussex management teams as to the outcome of the Royal London Women’s One-Day Cup match between the two sides on Monday 4 May 2015.

The incident came to the ECB’s attention immediately following the conclusion of the match.

All of the information is being carefully considered as a matter of priority.

We’ll keep you posted with more information as we have it.