Despite a flurry of late wickets from seamer Katie George, Kent eventually got over the line at Polo Farm against Hampshire with 2 and a half overs to spare, taking them to a 7-wicket victory against the former County Champions.

Fran Wilson top-scored for the hosts with 74 from 75 balls, her second big score in her maiden season for Kent after she made 87 against Warwickshire two weekends ago. Both performances should put her in contention to claim a place in the England squad ahead of the internationals against West Indies which begin next month.

Wilson came to the crease with Kent 0-1, chasing Hampshire’s 233 – Alice Davidson-Richards having been bowled by Maia Bouchier before her side had troubled the scorers.

Wilson, though, quickly took charge, with Hampshire feeding her some short and wide balls outside of off-stump which she gobbled up eagerly. She raced away to 50 with partner Tammy Beaumont still on only 15*.

Hampshire eventually found the right line to bowl to her, cramping her for room and having her trapped LBW to Charlie Dean. Beaumont fell the very next ball, caught behind to Charlotte Taylor, leaving Kent stumbling somewhat at 123-3.

Laura Marsh and Maxine Blythin then came together in a 72-run partnership, scampering singles to take the hosts within touching distance of victory.

There was one last twist in the tale for Kent, in the shape of Katie George’s second spell of the innings. George initially surprised everyone with a lone appeal for caught behind against Marsh, which the umpire acquiesced with. In her next over she took two further wickets in two balls, having Tash Farrant caught at cover and Izzy Cloke done for pace and bowled.

Lauren Griffiths successfully survived the hat-trick ball, but George got her eventually – trapping her LBW in her next over. At that point George had 4-62 and Kent were 213-7, still needing 21 runs to win.

It was left to Blythin and Chelsey Rowson to hustle Kent over the line, and they got there in the end – Blythin finished with an unbeaten half-century, and Rowson showed her mettle with a four creamed through the covers to finish things off.

Earlier, Hampshire had initially stumbled after winning the toss and choosing to bat – both Dean and George falling LBW without scoring.

The return of superstar Suzie Bates from the Women’s IPL, though, appeared to have a transformative effect on the rest of Hampshire’s batting, which looked a million miles away from last week’s showing against Sussex.

Bates herself racked up 63 in a partnership of 88 with Bouchier, though she lacked some of her usual fluency and was dropped on 6* and 23*, both chances coming off the bowling of Marsh. Beaumont finally snaffled her at midwicket in the 39th over.

Bouchier, meanwhile, went 1 run better and showed her strength in the V to top-score with 64 (86 balls), before being done by a Sarah Taylor-esque piece of glovework from Griffiths, who – standing up to the stumps for Farrant – had the batsman stumped from a leg side wide.

Hampshire’s lower order then also came good, with Emily Windsor hitting an attacking 34 before Taylor (22*) and Lucia Kendall (28*) put on 39 in the last 6 overs of the innings – Kendall celebrating her 15th birthday in some style! In the context of a close Championship race, Kent’s failure to dislodge either of the pair meant they missed out on not just 1 but 2 bowling bonus points, which could prove crucial.

For the moment, however, Lancashire’s loss to Yorkshire puts Kent firmly atop Division 1, with 3 matches left to play in this year’s Women’s County Championship.

An 18-point victory over Worcestershire took Devon past Berkshire to the top of Div 2, with 3 out of 7 games played in the second tier of the Women’s County Championship.

Spinner Becca Silk’s breakout season continued with 5-12 as Devon bowled Worcestershire out for 69, and Georgia Hennessy then hit 40* as Devon reached the target in just 16 overs.

Meanwhile Berkshire dropped a bonus point after they were bowled out for 160 by Somerset, with Heather Knight making 75. Knight then took 3-12 as Somerset were rolled-over for 86, with only keeper Nat Wraith (47) reaching double-figures.

Sophia Dunkley continued to prod England Head Coach Mark Robinson ahead of the international summer, with an all-round performance at Durham. Dunkley took 4-18 with her leg-spin as Durham set Middlesex 171, and then hit a half-century to set her side on course to victory, with veteran Beth Morgan closing the deal, finishing 44* at the end.

Finally at Panteg, half centuries from Rachel Priest (67) and Dani Gibson (57) set up a big win for Wales, posting 211 against Essex, who could only make 139-8 in reply, Gabby Basketter finishing with figures of 3-10.

The top two meet next weekend at Sidmouth in a match which could decide the season, while Middlesex head to Wales, Essex entertain Somerset, and Durham play Worcestershire in a match which will give one or the other their first win of 2019.

Kent and Lancashire pulled ahead in the Women’s County Championship this weekend, both taking maximum bonus points as they remained unbeaten at the top of the table.

Kent visited Surrey at Reed’s School, and the home side got off to a good start with the bat – Bryony Smith (55) and Kira Chathli (35) putting on 98 for the first wicket. But after Megan Belt dispatched both in quick succession, Surrey collapsed to 148 all out, with Tash Farrant taking 4-26. Tammy Beaumont then hit an unbeaten 79 to steer Kent home in 30 overs for the loss of only 3 wickets.

Lancashire entertained Notts at Carnforth, where Ellie Threlkeld hit a rapid 72 off 70 balls to help set Notts a target of 241. Kate Cross then continued her good form, taking 3-36 as – despite a half-century from Sonia Odedra (67) – Notts fell well short on 195-9.

Sussex moved into 3rd with a 1 wicket win in a rather attritional match at Hampshire, with England bowler Freya Davies saving the day for Sussex after their top order failed again – full report here.

Meanwhile Yorkshire inflicted a third defeat of the season on Warwickshire. After putting Yorkshire in, Warwickshire had them 6-4 early-doors; but New Zealander Leigh Kasperek shepherded the tail to a semblance of respectability at 112 all out, as Warwickshire speedster Issy Wong took 4-25. The Bears then found themselves in almost as much trouble as they’d had the Yorkies in, at 9-3 as Beth Langston got to work on their top order – Langston finishing with 5-8 as Warwickshire were bowled out 5 short for 108.

Looking forward to next weekend, the big game will be the Roses match between Yorkshire and Lancashire at Harrogate; while Kent draw the short straw of having to play Hampshire with Suzie Bates back in yellow after her stint at the Women’s IPL out in India. Both will be looking for a win to set up a potential title-decider when the two sides meet on Bank Holiday Monday May 27th as the Championship draws to a climax.

Old habits reappeared for both Hampshire and Sussex at Totton & Eling, but it was Sussex that came out on top as England bowler Freya Davies showed her mettle with the bat to grind out a 1-wicket win. Coming in at 67-7 chasing 128, after Sussex’s top order had let them down for the second time in a week, Davies ground out an undefeated 29 to take her side to an unlikely victory.

Sussex had doubtless felt confident going into the innings break, after Hampshire’s batting had collapsed to 128 all out – 3 less than they had made at the same ground in last Monday’s loss to Yorkshire.

Sussex opened with pace at both ends from Freya Davies and Tara Norris, and soon got the breakthrough when Maia Bouchier was caught by wicket keeper Carla Rudd, getting an inside edge off Norris with just 10 on the board.

Hampshire plodded on to 29-1 at the 10 over mark, when Linsey Smith’s left arm spin was introduced at one end; but Sussex continued with pace at the other in the shape of Cassidy McCarthy who was rewarded with three quick wickets – Ella Chandler feathering a catch behind to Rudd for 5; Emily Windsor bowled playing outside a delivery that dipped late into her stumps; and last weekend’s top scorer Fi Morris also caught behind the stumps.

At the other end, Charlie Dean had plugged away to 27, but was caught at slip off Linsey Smith to leave Hampshire 66-5.

Lucia Kendall and Katie George started with a little more intent, trying to inject some pace – and some much needed runs – into the innings; but they too were soon bogged down by Smith in particular, who bowled 10 overs straight for just 13 runs.

Nonetheless, they took the score on to 90 before Kendall was run out after a mid-pitch mix-up; while George was given out tummy-before-wicket playing all around the returning Davies, who then bowled Alice Monaghan off a thin inside edge.

A 9th wicket partnership of 27 between Clover Crosse and Providence Cowdrill took Hampshire on past 100, but was broken when Crosse was run out by McCarthy going for a sharp single. The innings closed a few balls later on 128, with Cowdrill LBW to Paige Scholfield.

In reply, Georgia Adams and Ella McCaughan opened the batting for Sussex and played out an attritional powerplay against the pace of Katie George and Maia Bouchier, taking the score to 26-0. The opening partnership was broken in the 13th over, bowled by Charlie Dean, who had Georgia Adams well caught by a diving Lucia Kendall at extra cover. Izzy Collis soon followed, run out by a sharp throw from square leg from Alice Monaghan.

After a patient 24, McCaughan chipped a regulation catch to Katie George at midwicket off Fi Morris; and Morris then took a wonderful caught and bowled the very next ball to dismiss incoming Chiara Green for a golden duck and leave Sussex in deep water at 53-4.

After Paige Scholfield had lobbed a skier to Kendall at mid on, Morris – who finished with 4-24 – then added former Berkshire colleague Carla Rudd to her list, LBW for 9; and Morris was in the thick of the action again as Linsey Smith’s eyes lit up at a full toss from Providence Cowdrill, which she smacked hard… straight to Morris at midwicket!

With 62 still required by Sussex at that stage, Hampshire looked odds-on for their first win of the season, but Davies made sure it wasn’t to be as she played out 48 dot balls for her 29, in partnerships with Ella Wadey (7), Tara Norris (8) and Nancy Harman (9*).

Sussex therefore pulled off their second tight win in the first three rounds of the Championship, while Hampshire have probably thrown away their chance of retaining their title, with three straight defeats.

A big century from England captain Heather Knight drove Berkshire to the top of Div 2 on the opening weekend of the Women’s County Championship.

With Berkshire batting first against Worcestershire on Women’s County Cricket Day at North Maidenhead, Knight came in at 3 and hit 131 off 121 balls, in a double-century partnership with captain Lissy Macleod, who finished on 95 – bowled in the final over of the innings, going for her hundred with a big heave! Anya Shrubsole (3-8) and England Academy quick Lauren Bell (2-15) then smashed through the Worcestershire top order as the Rapids were bowled out for 77.

It had been a slightly different story the day before for Berkshire – having bowled Essex out cheaply for 100, with Shrubsole (2-9) and Bell (3-21) again doing most of the damage, their batting struggled without Knight, and although they eventually won by 5 wickets, thanks to 35* from veteran Amanda “Steamer” Potgieter, it was a lot squeakier than the margin of victory makes it sound!

In second place, Devon also took two-from-two over the Bank Holiday. Western Storm off-spinner Becca Silk took 4-6 as they bowled Durham out for 97; but they made it difficult for themselves, losing 7 wickets on their way to overhauling the total, with Ellie Mitchell finishing 42*. Silk was again in the wickets the next day, taking 3-31 as Devon’s match against Wales followed a very similar pattern – Wales bowled out for 132, with New Zealand superstar Rachel Priest bagging a golden duck the first ball of the innings, which Devon chased for the loss of 7 wickets in 41 overs.

Elsewhere, Middlesex’s Sophia Dunkley hit an even bigger hundred than Knight’s, with Worcestershire again the victims as she smashed 138 off 116 balls. Set a target of 271, Worcestershire were then rolled over for 103, Dunkley also chipping in with the ball with 2-11.

Wales also halved the weekend with a win at Somerset, thanks to half-centuries from Rachel Priest (63) and Lauren Parfitt (58) in a total of 232-9. Somerset went the distance, but ended up well short on 180-8, with only Sophie Luff (71) giving the scorers much to do.

Kent and Lancashire set the pace on the opening weekend of the Women’s County Championship, both winning two-from-two with Kent just edging ahead on bonus points.

Kent’s weekend began at Polo farm, batting first against Notts. With none of the top order quite able to convert starts into big scores, it was left to Laura Marsh to shepherd the tail on her way to 55*, taking Kent to 192-9 off their 50 overs. It wasn’t enough for maximum bonus points – you get them for reaching 200 – but it was enough to win the game, with spinner Megan Belt taking 3-20 as Notts were bowled out for 143.

At Beckenham the following day, Kent then inflicted the second of two defeats endured by Warwickshire over the Bank Holiday. Warwickshire posted 232, all out off the final ball, with Amy Jones (67) and Bethan Ellis (74) hitting half centuries; but it wasn’t anything like enough on the First Class pitch at Beckenham as Tammy Beaumont (83) and new signing Fran Wilson (87) made short work of it for a 7-wicket victory.

Lancashire began their Bank Holiday road trip with a visit to the Ageas Bowl to face champions Hampshire. Both sides had lost players to the Women’s IPL currently underway in India, but Hampshire missed Suzie Bates just a bit more than Lancashire missed Sophie Ecclestone, with Kate Cross taking a career best 4-14 to bowl Hampshire out for 163, defending a slightly under-par 179.

Women’s County Cricket Day then dawned bright and sunny dawned bright dawned at Guildford for the match of the weekend, and possibly of the season, between Lancashire and Surrey, with Surrey falling an agonising 1 run short off the final ball to give the Red Roses their second win of the weekend. (Full report here.)

The previous day, Surrey had made short work of Yorkshire – bowling them out for 118 in 26 overs, with Bryony Smith taking 3-14. Smith (37), Kirstie White (44) and Aylish Cranstone (26*) then finished the job as Surrey strolled to victory by 8 wickets.

Yorkshire however picked themselves up to beat Hampshire on the Monday, as spin-twin Katies – Thompson and Levick – took 3 apiece to bowl Hampshire out for 131 chasing 190.

Meanwhile Sussex, weakened by the absence of Dani Wyatt (Women’s IPL), Georgia Elwiss (injured) and Sarah Taylor, scraped an opening-day win over Warwickshire by 1 wicket – Ella Wadey top-scoring with 38; but their batting then imploded against Notts, with Notts skipper and England one-cap-wonder Sonia Odedra taking 4-11 as Notts successfully defended 150.

An overcast day at Guildford Cricket Club ended in a thriller as Lancashire squeaked home by just 1 run against Surrey, having looked dead and buried for much of their opponent’s innings.

A late spell from Emma Lamb eventually saved the day for Lancashire, the off-spinner finishing with figures of 2-39 and, crucially, yielding just 8 runs from her last 4 overs, which included a maiden.

Lamb was finally entrusted with delivering the last over of the day: Surrey needed 8 from it but were only able to pick off singles, and – left needing 3 from the last ball of the day for a win, 2 for a tie – Lamb carefully removed the bails to deny her opponents an attempted second run before Lancashire huddled to celebrate.

The match should have been Surrey’s for the taking: chasing 242, they had initially reached 136 without losing a wicket, with openers Bryony Smith and Kirstie White both reaching half-centuries – Smith in particular slamming the Lancashire bowlers around the park.

Smith eventually fell for 86, sending a straightforward return catch straight into the hands of off-spinner Georgie Boyce. White, though, took on the anchor role and hung around until the 39th over, departing when Surrey needed just 47 runs from the last 11 overs.

Number 3 Aylish Cranstone then notched up a stylish half-century of her own, punishing one Kate Cross over for 14 runs – all still looking hunky dory for Surrey.

That was until the reintroduction of Lamb to the attack in the 44th over, a strategy that paid dividends. The off-spinner firstly had Cranstone caught in the deep; then in her next over was instrumental in the run-out of Kira Chathli, the ball ricocheting off her hand into the path of Alice Dyson at mid-off with Dyson achieving a direct hit at the non-striker’s end.

The very next ball Lamb removed Eva Gray with a smart caught and bowled, leaving Surrey 5 down and with 12 runs still needed from the final 4 overs – ultimately too big an ask for their young middle order.

Earlier, Lamb had also chipped in with the bat, hitting 23 (34 balls) as she put on 50 for Lancashire’s first wicket with opening partner Eve Jones.

Surrey’s captain Hannah Jones eventually broke through, having Lamb caught at point after she tried to push the run rate along. Lamb’s dismissal, though, brought Georgie Boyce to the crease, a position she occupied until the 46th over.

She was able to successfully farm much of the strike, and used the pace of Surrey’s quicks to her advantage, taking 13 runs off one Danielle Gregory over and punching the only six of the Lancashire innings over deep square leg.

Surrey clawed back some momentum (and some bowling bonus points) by continually making inroads at the other end, with Boyce herself eventually dismissed in the 46th over, falling short of 3 figures after Kirstie White took a straightforward catch at midwicket off the bowling of Bryony Smith.

Alex Hartley was then run out off the last ball of the day, leaving Lancashire 9 wickets down and giving Surrey a 4th bowling bonus point – which could yet prove crucial in the fight to top Division 1.

Proceedings were watched by a keen crowd of about 100, including a group from local school Royal Alexandra and Albert School in Reigate, as part of wider Women’s County Cricket Day celebrations around the country. The match was also live-streamed by Surrey CCC on kiaoval.com, in a brilliant innovation for the women’s county game.

The win sees Lancashire go 2 from 2 in the opening weekend of the County Championship after they beat reigning champions Hampshire in yesterday’s match, making them early runners in the battle for this year’s title.

An undefeated 35 off 56 balls from Amanda “Steamer” Potgieter took Berkshire to a 5 wicket victory over Essex at North Maidenhead Cricket Club, in the first round of Division 2 of the County Championship.

Chasing just 100 to win, Berkshire got off to a wobbly start, losing openers Emily Cunningham and Millie Allerton cheaply to leave them 8-2 after 8 overs. But captain Lissy Macleod (30) and new signing Anya Shrubsole (22) steadied the ship to put the Beavers on course to victory, hitting through the aggressive fields set by Essex, which at one point included two slips and a short leg.

Nonetheless, there was still work to do after Shrubsole was adjudged to have nicked behind to to keeper Scarlett Hughes off Mady Villiers and Macleod was bowled by opposing skipper Kelly Castle.

But from 74-5, with plenty of time in hand, Potgieter (35*) and 19-year-old Scottish glove-butler Ellen Watson (5*) kept their cool to guide Berkshire home with 14 overs to spare.

Earlier, England prospect Lauren Bell had taken 3-21 as Essex had been bowled out for exactly 100, with extras making up all but half the total at 47, and no Essex batsman reaching double figures.

Bell opened the bowling with Anya Shrubsole, with the ball swinging under heavy skies, and it wasn’t long before Shrubsole was in the scorebook at her new county, bowling both Essex openers – Beth Harmer and Kelly Castle – for 1 apiece.

Bell then accounted for Mady Villiers, bowled for 4, and Catherine Dalton, run out for 8, to leave the visitors in real trouble at 28-4.

By that stage, the battle for Essex was just to hang around long enough to make it interesting, and that they just about did – Jess Bird seeing off 31 deliveries on her way to 8, and Hayley Arrol lasting 35 balls for 3 – as Essex collapsed over the finish line to close on 100: Bell cleaning up the tail by bowling Arrol and keeper Scarlett Hughes for 4 off 21.

It made it interesting… but not quite interesting enough from an Essex perspective, and they will be hoping to get a few more runs on the board when they travel to Wales next weekend.

Meanwhile Berkshire will go into tomorrow’s Women’s County Cricket Day fixture against Worcestershire with a degree of confidence, bolstered by the return of Heather Knight to their lineup, hoping to make it two-from-two from the opening weekend.

Speaking exclusively to CRICKETher, the ECB have issued a statement clarifying the new Women’s County Championship Playing Regulations.

Two radical new changes have come into force this season:

1. The title will be decided on overall points, not average points. This season, while abandoned and tied matches will result in the points on offer being shared between the two sides, for games that are totally rained off zero points will be awarded to either team.

2. There is now a “rolling subs” rule, whereby teams are required to name 12 players who can be exchanged interchangeably – i.e. there is no requirement to nominate which 11 players will bat.

The ECB’s statement is as follows:

“The decision to decide the Royal London Women’s One-Day Cup on total points, not average points, brings the tournament in line with tournaments across the world and incentivises the playing of cricket. In both cancelled and abandoned games in the Royal London Men’s One-Day Cup the points are shared – but teams are not given the chance to replay the fixture.

We want to avoid losing fixtures where possible, which is why we are giving women’s County teams the chance to replay their games. Teams have until September 29 to replay any abandoned fixtures.

To encourage participation and to provide opportunity for more players, the decision was taken to allow teams to name 12 players, 11 of whom can bat and 11 of whom can field. These names are nominated by the teams prior to the game.

We ask all Counties for feedback throughout the domestic season and Counties have ongoing dialogue with their respective Regional Talent Manager and ECB. Any changes to rules and regulations are debated at end-of-season review meetings.”

In a last-minute surprise move, just days before the start of the season, England allrounder Jenny Gunn has re-signed to play for Nottinghamshire in this year’s Women’s County Championship.

Gunn played for Notts almost her entire career, barring a couple of games for Yorkshire back in 2011, scoring over 3,000 runs and taking 95 wickets over 13 years, up until 2015 when they were relegated from Division 1 of the County Championship.

Following Notts’ demotion, Gunn joined Warwickshire for 3 seasons, but made just 15 appearances due to England commitments.

With over 250 England caps, Gunn – who was awarded an MBE for services to cricket in 2014 – has more experience than Jimi Hendrix; and although she’s played more of a supporting role for England recently, she was retained on a central contract this season and looks likely to be part of England’s plans for the World T20 in Australia early next year.

Now she returns to her home county as they look to battle-out what promises to be one of the closest County Championships in years.

If you are a Notts fan, you’ll be able to see Gunn in action for #YourCounty on Women’s County Cricket Day, as Notts take on Sussex at the Aldridge Academy in Brighton.