The opening weekend in Div 2 saw Sussex steamroller first Derbyshire and then Northamptonshire as they look to bounce back to Div 1. A century from Georgia Adams and a half-century from Sarah Talor saw them notch-up 316 versus Derbyshire, before Freya Davies (6-10) bowled them out for just 65; whilst Taylor was again in the runs with 88, as Sussex posted 285 against Northants before bowling them out for 76.

For Surrey, Kirstie White led the way, with 41 and 94, as they beat Devon and then Wales; whilst for Berkshire, a Heather Knight hundred got them off to a winning start on Sunday versus Wales, but it was a much closer-run thing against Devon the following day – the Beavers making it 2-from-2 in a low-scoring game thanks to an all-round performance from 17-year-old Lauren Bell.

Essex also made a double-winning start to their campaign, though they were arguably slightly fortunate with the fixture list to be facing the weakest sides in the division first-up – Derbyshire and Northants – beating Derbyshire by 4 runs and Northants by 60.

Surrey v Sussex next weekend at Reeds School may well decide where the “title” goes, though neither will really care if they both get promoted, which is obviously the real end-goal here.