Month: August 2015

Random Thoughts: England’s Test Squad

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A few brief thoughts on England’s Test squad:

Fran Wilson

Wilson has been rewarded for a solid season with the bat, both for the Academy and for Middlesex. It is a big step up from Division 2 to Division 1 – as Lancashire are proving, having cruised Division 2 last season and completely tanked in Division 1 with basically exactly the same team. In making that step, Wilson has shown the one thing England really need right now: temperament! If she plays (and that is still a big “if”) it will be for that.

Amy Jones

Jones has been very unlucky. Again. (And how many times have we said that?) Her unbeaten century for the Academy, against exactly the same bowlers England will face in the Test, bowling their hearts out because their team isn’t inked-in yet, shows that she has the technique; but yet it all seems to fall apart when she steps into the arena of full international cricket. Why? It can only be a mind thing; and being in and out of the team like a yo-yo, never quite sure of her place, really really can’t be helping!

Alex Hartley

England have missed a trick in not considering Hartley – the best (available) attacking spinner we have at the moment – in a series-situation where (I think… others disagree) that they need to attack. I have an inkling that this is partly because she is perceived as a bit of a “Genuine No. 11” but honestly… if England are selecting their No. 11 partly for her batting, then God help them!

It does also seem that England’s management find it very hard to accept that players can change. Two years ago, Hartley was apparently going nowhere… so as far as England are concerned, she’s still going nowhere! But people do change – they grow up between 19 and 21 – and Hartley is a different player now to the one they (rightly) didn’t rate when they were first discussing who would (and would not) get a contract. England seem to be doing themselves a disservice by not recognising that.

OPINION: We Need To Talk About Play Cricket

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Play Cricket is the official scorecard for the women’s county cricket in this country; but there’s no way to sugar-coat this: it’s not fit for purpose.

Let’s try to look up the stats of England’s surprise Test squad selection, Middlesex’s Fran Wilson – something that quite a lot of journalists are probably trying to do right now.

So… do we mean this Fran Wilson, who plays for Middlesex and averages 32; or this Fran Wilson, who plays for Middlesex and averages 70? Yes… Fran is in there twice – each Fran having played 4 games!

A similar problem (now apparently corrected) occurred earlier this year with Tammy Beaumont, but at least there was a (sort-of) excuse that time: she was listed as “Tammy” and “Tamsin”.

The folks who developed Play Cricket would probably argue that this is “user error” (also known in the trade as a “BCK Exception” – standing for “Between Chair and Keyboard”) but good software doesn’t let users hang themselves like this – it should be checking for similar (or in the case of Fran identical) names when the scorecard is uploaded!

But these aren’t the only problems. Off the top of my head:

  • There is no search facility. (Unless I’ve missed it… in which case this is still the developers’ fault!)
  • The site is quite literally unusable on an iPhone because the menus are broken.
  • The user experience on any tablet or mobile (or indeed any laptop or netbook with a screen-height of 768px or less – i.e. an awful lot of them) is terrible, with nested scroll-bars and a plethora of popups which make back-navigation impossible.

In short, Play Cricket needs to go for a walk.

A long walk.

A “Captain Oates” walk.

Because we’ve got a brand-new Super League coming next year for women’s cricket in England; and it needs an official scorecard that works.

MATCH REPORT: Cumbria Beat Lincolnshire But Young Imps Shine

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Beth Smith reports from Netherfield CC.

The Imps were on the road again on Sunday, travelling up to Cumbria with an extremely young side: the average age of the travelling team was just 18! The first game for Lincs was against the hosts, Cumbria – the first time the teams had met this season. The hosts won the toss and elected to bat first.

Two of the four senior players for Lincs, Amy Halloran (1-17) and Sarah McDowell (0-19), took the new ball and Cumbria got off to a quick start reaching 30-1 off the first 4 overs; the wicket coming from Halloran when the first junior got into the action with Ellie Stanley (U15) taking a sharp catch.

More experience came with the first change as Beth Smith took over from Halloran, opening her spell with a wicket maiden as U17 keeper India Freeman used quick hands to get Montgomery stumped, leaving the hosts 30-2 off 5. The mini Imps – Sammy-Jo Boothright (U15), Olivia Clark (U15), Becki Brooker (U17) and Amelia Gardner (U15) – then had their chance to shine, bowling in tandem with Smith before taking over completely to bowl the remaining overs.

Smith ended her overs with 2-17, her second wicket coming when Cowper skied a ball towards the youngest player in the squad, Clark (13), who took the challenging catch off her manager’s bowling which left the hosts 62-3. The mini Imps bowled their lines and length with Brooker (1-29) and Gardner (1-16) each gaining a deserved wicket. But the strength and experience of the more senior Cumbria batsmen came through as they more than doubled their halfway score ending on 145-5 with Sykes finishing on 48*.

Opening U17 pair, Freeman and Brooker, opened for the Ladies in reply and got off to a solid start with a partnership of 47 before Freeman was run out looking to increase the run rate. Halloran joined an in-form Brooker at the crease and the two stayed there for the remaining overs; both batted elegantly with prominent U17 captain Brooker showing her talent and reaching her 50.

However, tight bowling leading to a slow start meant the Imps required 26 off the last over. 2 dot balls and 3 singles were taken before Brooker, looking to end the innings in style, mistimed her shot and ended up caught and bowled on the last ball for 56.

A loss in the first game and the second being abandoned due to rain meant a dull day for the Imps, but spirits were kept high and the ladies will return to Cumbria on 30th August to face the same team in the 50-over format and will look to seek revenge. The mini Imps all held their own and their performances bode well for the rest of their respective Junior seasons: two 40-over games and the annual Malvern Tour for the U15s to look forward to, with the U17s having a T20 round left, along with five 45-over games.

A full scorecard can be found here.

NEWS: England Women’s Ashes Test Squad Announced

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The ECB have announced a 14-player squad to contest next week’s Women’s Ashes Test match against Australia at Canterbury.

The big news is the recall of Middlesex’s Fran Wilson to the squad, on the back of her recent excellent form with the bat for both the England Academy and her county this season. She was one of England’s top-performers in the Academy games against the Aussie Shooting Stars in UAE earlier this year, with scores of 57, 50, 45 and 18 in the 50-over matches. Most recently, she made 55 against the Australians in the two-day practice game at Loughborough last weekend.

England go into the Test match (which is worth 4 points for a win) 2-4 down in the series on points, having lost the second and third ODIs at Bristol and Worcester. The selection of Wilson in place of Amy Jones – who finished the ODI series with scores of 15 and 0 before being dropped for the third game – suggests that England want to shore up their batting after poor performances in the last two ODIs, where they were bowled out for 196 and 152 respectively.

Wilson has previously featured in a handful of ODIs and T20s, but should she be selected in the starting XI on Tuesday it would be her first time in an England shirt since 2011. It would also be her Test debut. She is the first non-contracted player to feature in an England squad since Sonia Odedra’s selection for last summer’s Test against India at Wormsley.

The squad is otherwise unchanged from that which contested the 3 ODIs.

The full squad is as follows:

  • Charlotte Edwards (Kent)
  • Katherine Brunt (Yorkshire)
  • Kate Cross (Lancashire)
  • Georgia Elwiss (Sussex)
  • Lydia Greenway (Kent)
  • Becky Grundy (Warwickshire)
  • Jenny Gunn (Nottinghamshire)
  • Heather Knight (Berkshire)
  • Laura Marsh (Kent)
  • Nat Sciver (Surrey)
  • Anya Shrubsole (Somerset)
  • Sarah Taylor (Sussex)
  • Fran Wilson (Middlesex)
  • Lauren Winfield (Yorkshire)

OPINION: England Should Bat At Canterbury

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Yesterday Syd suggested that, should England win the toss, they should elect to bowl first in the Test. I think he’s wrong.

First things first: by all accounts, Canterbury is likely to be a good batting wicket. The last 4-day game played there (admittedly back in June) was the tour game between Kent and the Australian men’s team, and it was a run-fest: the Aussies made 507-8 dec. in the first day and a half.

Secondly, while it’s true that England’s bowling is a lot stronger than their batting, it’s also true that the Test format will suit England’s batsmen – who aren’t generally the most aggressive in their approach – much more than the ODI or the T20 format. (This is perhaps best exemplified by Laura “The Wall” Marsh’s 55 off 304 balls in the 2013 Wormsley Test.) If the pitch does look a good ‘un, you’ve surely got to show some faith in England’s batsmen to make runs.

Thirdly, and perhaps most importantly, one thing England’s batsmen don’t seem to be naturals at right now is responding to scoreboard pressure. Charlotte Edwards elected to field first at both Bristol and Worcester; both times her side were left chasing pretty mammoth totals and both times they collapsed without even getting close.

England’s bowling attack might be good, but can we really see them knocking over Meg Lanning and Ellyse Perry and Alex “seeing it like a watermelon” Blackwell cheaply on day 1 at Canterbury?

If not, then putting Australia in to bat is almost guaranteed to produce the kind of scoreboard pressure on the second day of the Test which England’s batsmen just don’t seem capable of handling right now.

If we turn to recent history for a minute: Australia won the toss at Wormsley in 2013, chose to bat, and ended Day 1 243-3. It didn’t look great for England; fortunately Heather Knight stepped up to the plate and played the innings of her career to save the match for England. Honestly, based on form in the ODIs, can we really guarantee that anyone would do the same at Canterbury?

England don’t want to be playing catch-up this time around.

Syd thinks that if England bowl, the worst that could happen is that Australia end Day 1 250-0. Yep. But that would be just as much of a disaster as Australia bowling England out on Day 1 and finishing 50-0…because if Australia end Day 1 on 250-0, it’s quite likely akin to England having lost the Ashes.

So there you go Charlotte Edwards…now we’ve really confused you!

But what do you think?

OPINION: England Should Bowl At Canterbury

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Cricket folklore says that if you win the toss, nine times out of ten you should bat. (And the other time? You should think about it… then bat!)

But when it comes to the Women’s Ashes Test at Canterbury, cricket folklore might just be wrong in England’s case.

Here are 3 reasons why Charlotte Edwards should put Australia in if she has the opportunity:

  1. When you’re the underdog (as England surely are) you have to play your best suit first; and England’s bowling is undoubtedly a lot stronger than their batting.
  2. The weather on Tuesday looks like being warm and cloudy – swing-friendly conditions which Anya Shrubsole in particular should relish.
  3. The wicket at Canterbury probably won’t deteriorate much over the 4 days, and England haven’t got the attacking spinners to take advantage of it in on the final day even if it did, so batting 4th should hold no particular fears.

Oh… and in the immortal words of Lt. Colombo: One more thing!

Say England bowl, what’s the worst that could happen? Australia finish Day 1 on 250/0?

On the other hand if England bat, there is every chance that Australia could finish Day 1 on 50/0… having already bowled England out – and that really would be a disaster!

But what do you think?

(Plus, look out tomorrow for Raf’s Rebuttal™!)

NEWS: Sarah Taylor To Return To Oz

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England glove-butler Sarah Taylor looks set for a Return to Oz this winter, having been named in the South Australia… sorry… “Breezair” Scorpions squad for this (Australian) summer’s 50-over WNCL.

Taylor was named Player of the Season in 2014/15, as the Scorpions made the final for the first time since 2008; but the Scorps were well beaten on the day by the NSW Breakers – cruising to their 16th title in the 18 year history of the competition.

However, this years’ WNCL could be the most open in years, as the deck is reshuffled due to the impact of the Women’s Big Bash League, with many players moving cities as they sign new WBBL contracts.

The Scorpions themselves will be much-strengthened (and the Breakers consequently weakened) by the move of Southern Stars quickie Sarah Coyte (currently on Women’s Ashes duty in England) from NSW to SA.

Match Report: Middlesex Bowlers Shine In Berkshire / Surrey T20s

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Middlesex’s bowlers were the story of the day at Merchant Taylors’ in their T20 triple-header with Berkshire and Surrey. Alex Hartley took 4/14 as Berkshire were bowled out for 70 in the first match; while in the final game, Australian Julie Hunter took 4/6 as Surrey were knocked-over for just 25. In the day’s other encounter, an unbeaten half century from Alex Rogers ensured Berkshire beat Surrey.

Middlesex v Berkshire

Having won the toss against Middlesex, Berkshire captain Lissy Macleod may soon have been regretting electing to bat, as spinner Alex Hartley ripped through the Beavers’ top order. Only 3 Berkshire batsmen made it to double-figures; and it was left to No. 9 Fi Morris to drag them to a hint of respectability as she top-scored with 15.

Chasing 71 to win, Middlesex lost Sophia Dunkley early, but were carried to an easy victory with no real alarms by Tash Miles(25*) and Cath Dalton (35*), as Berkshire opted largely for defence over attack – a justifiable decision in theory, but one which meant that in practice their best bowler (Daisy Gardner) bowled just the one over right at the end, by which time it was all over bar the shouting.

Berkshire v Surrey

On what was (later events notwithstanding) really quite a good pitch, Surrey skipper Cecily Scutt also chose to bat when she won the toss in Game 2. Surrey made it to the 10-over mark at 45/1 before Kirstie White (35) was brilliantly run out by a direct hit from Emily Gerke at midwicket, sparking a mini-collapse before Hannah Jones (22*) and New Zealander Rachel Candy (21*) rebuilt – taking Surrey to 106 at the turn.

In reply, Berkshire soon lost young opener Anna Harris for a duck and Lissy Macleod for a typically brisk-and-brusque 9; but Alex Rogers (59*) and Crinny Hall (41) then conspired to take the game away from Surrey. Rogers in particular now seems to have well and truly shaken-off her early season slump, passing 50 for the second time in the T20 campaign, as Berkshire made the runs with an over to spare.

Speaking to CRICKETher afterwards, Rogers admitted that Berkshire had maybe tried too hard to “hit” runs in the first game, rather than working the singles; but told us that a change of tactics was what had worked for them in the second match, as well as paying tribute to the Australian Hall, who has had to sit out so much of the season due to Alex Blackwell occupying the “overseas” place in the Berkshire line-up.

Rogers said:

“We stepped up our game… 100 was a good score, but me and Crinny ran so well between the wickets – she brings that to the team – she knows exactly when you can get a single and when you can get a two; and she keeps you level-headed in the breaks too – I like to hit fours, but she tells me to calm down and go for the singles.”

It was good advice, which served her and her team well.

Middlesex v Surrey

In the day’s final encounter, Middlesex captain Izzy Westbury opted to bowl; and it was the Meatballs’ new Aussie import – seamer Julie Hunter – who did the damage this time, taking 4/6 largely by employing the same tactics that her compatriots did in the recent Women’s Ashes ODIs – keeping it full and straight! Alex Hartley then added two more to her day’s haul, as Surrey were bowled out for just 25 off 13 overs.

Chasing such a low total, Middlesex’s usually lively batting was oddly subdued for the 6 overs it took them to reach their target for the loss of 1 wicket – Dunkley bowled by Scutt for 11.

Nevertheless, the smiles were clearly theirs at the end of the day, and very much deserved as they got their campaign back on track after a disappointing pair of losses in the last round.

OPINION: Do Or Die in Women’s Ashes Test But England Need Result Pitch

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The phrase With every respect… is one of those that often crops up in those social media lists of What English people say; and what they really mean! As in: With no respect whatsoever…

But it really is with every respect that we have to disagree with Charles Dagnall here:

As Martin Woodward quickly pointed out in reply, a draw would leave England needing to win the T20 series 2-1 – something which they only just managed against New Zealand last winter; and which seems a very tall order against the World Champion Australians.

The truth is that the Test is Do Or Die for England – if they win it they will have the momentum, and the prospect of nicking a result in one of the three T20s to retain The Ashes becomes realistic. And let’s be in no doubt, it would be “nicking”: T20 is the Australians strongest format, thanks mostly to the power of their batting, and a 3-0 victory for the Southern Stars is more-than plausible.

So winning the Test has to be England’s aim and (last years crumbling defeat to India notwithstanding) they have some reasons to be hopeful. Winning a Test isn’t about crashing your way to 250 at a Strike Rate of 100 – it’s about taking 20 wickets, and it is England that have the sturdier bowling attack.

Not only are they stronger, England’s bowlers have more red-ball experience than the Australians. All domestic cricket in England was red-ball until this season (Australia’s top-tier domestic competitions have long been all-white-ball) and England have the only bowler in either side who has played a significant amount of competitive red-ball cricket this season – Kate Cross, who has been playing men’s league cricket with some success.

But there is also one key thing standing in England’s way: the pitch! There have been 3 (men’s) county champs games played at the Spitfire Ground this season, two of which were high-scoring draws; plus a tour match where Australia Men made over 500 in their first innings. It goes without saying that if England are going to get a result, they need a bowler-friendly “result” pitch! (So please… someone forward this article to the groundsman at Canterbury!)

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* Of course if England lose the Test, they could technically still retain The Ball** by winning all three T20s; but honestly… see above – Charlotte Edwards is more likely to walk on the moon!

** As everyone on this site knows, the Women’s Ashes trophy is not an Urn!