With drinks being taken at the 10-over mark in England’s innings at the Oval this evening, some of the 16,500-strong crowd began to file out of the ground to beat the queues for the tube. It was a sign of two things, both positives for England – first that we are starting to pull-in those more casual fans who are happy to miss the end of the game to avoid the crush getting into Vauxhall Underground; and second that by that stage, the game was very-much done and dusted. And indeed, 9 balls later Nat Sciver-Brunt-Gate (as she will be known for the purposes of this report, having opened a new gate in her name here at the Oval this week) hit the second of two consecutive 4s to get England over the line.
England were good; but the cold, hard truth is that New Zealand were so bad with the bat that the result was a foregone conclusion by the halfway point in their innings, with Sophie Devine having (somewhat optimistically, in retrospect) chosen to bat.
New Zealand got through the powerplay unscathed, but having put a mere 33 runs on the board, with both Suzie Bates and Georgia Plimmer struggling to get the ball off the square. Plimmer was announced on the PA as the “Vitality Powerplayer” by virtue of having hit 17 off 20 balls, and just a single 4; Bates at the end of the powerplay was on 15 off 16, again with only the sole boundary to her name.
Plimmer was dismissed the first ball after the powerplay and yet another Kiwi Kollapse™ ensued, from 33-0 to 42-4. The White Ferns did go the distance, just about, finishing on 103-8; with 10 overs having produced 4 or fewer runs. Sarah Glenn was left literally face-palming after probably the worst legal delivery she has ever bowled resulted in the wicket of Melie Kerr, caught on the pull at midwicket off one that pitched closer to the bowler than the batter; but it was New Zealand who should have been embarrassed by their performance on a pitch that’s middle name was (as England later proved) “Entertainment”.
None of this is to say that England bowled badly – they were efficient and (as Sarah Glenn likes to put it, in what must be her favorite cricketing cliche) kept the stumps in play; but in terms of New Zealand terrible / England good, the ratio mostly fell on the side of New Zealand terrible.
England stepped out and partied in their reply though – it took them just 3 overs to pass New Zealand’s dismal powerplay total of 33, and by the time the field went out, they’d reached 64-1 – that’s 200 territory, which is the mark of a really big innings in this format.
At Canterbury on Thursday, Sophia Dunkley looked a very mixed bag early doors, but got better to finish on 35 off 26. Here she went big from the off, building on the confidence from that Canterbury knock. Ironically, she scored fewer runs here (26) but they were much better runs, at a Strike Rate of 163. England did then lose wickets – 3 of them, of which two (Dunks and Danni Wyatt) were just “We’ve already won this” shots.
England’s one concern may be the way Melie Kerr totally flummoxed Alice Capsey, suggesting that maybe… just maybe… England’s problems playing spin haven’t totally hopped on the tube to Balham, but are still very much with us – I guess we’ll find out in Bangladesh in October!
It was however entirely appropriate that losing those couple of wickets meant that it was Sciver-Brunt-Gate who took the final bow. If Surrey have any sense (and you have to assume they have) they will currently be on the phone daily to her agent to get her to re-sign for the county she grew up representing next season, even if she is unlikely to play many matches. She hasn’t played a single game of regionals for Blaze this year, and almost certainly won’t now, with England heading to a pre-World Cup camp in the Middle East when the RHF Trophy resumes after The Hundred. But nonetheless, she’s “the” name in women’s cricket right now, and even if just for the marketing kudos, getting her aboard would be another feather to add to the 3 Surrey already have on their cap – 4 feathers, anyone?
CRICKETher 
Not many comments on here when England are playing well, so I thought I’d put one up! It’s been a very successful summer for England and their selectors, who, after the selection issues last year leading to some poor results and performances, seem to have got it a lot more “right” in 2024. The experimental selections at times may indeed by “dizzying” to some, but there’s been at least a nod to practicality this time around and less picking of players who are obviously not in the best of form.
And the players have really delivered. It’s been great fun to watch. As weak as NZ and Pakistan looked at times (not sure there’s much between those 2 sides) England haven’t let performances slip, have kept their standards very high, and any emerging issues have been quickly corrected. This has been a big improvement from some previous summers. The spin attack has been particularly effective and playing 3 (or even 4!) spinners really works for us. Their performances have always been excellent almost without exception. Lauren Bell has really improved too, to cause all batters all sorts of problems (The other Lauren, Filer as well!). Bell’s now so good at taking wickets with genuinely brilliant deliveries, while minimising the loose deliveries. Maia Bouchier has had a breakout year as well, and has become the very classy, composed player we knew she could be. And as you say, Capsey has added a lot to her game too and sticking around a bit longer has enabled her to play more meaningful innings.
The CE Cup and RHF Trophy have been great and we’ve seen the emergence of so many brilliant young players. It will be a shame if, as seems possible, some may fall foul of the very odd and seemingly directionless way in which the transition to the new county / 2 tier structure is being managed, with the ECB’s moving of the goalposts, and the Durham/Yorkshire debacle being clear cases in point. This is the new way, but it’s certainly not too clear that it’ll be a much better way yet.
On the England captaincy issue, you seem to have taken very much your own unique perspective on this. There seems to me to be a distinct possibility that England could stick with Knight with NSB as stand-in, for the next 2-3 years at least, if not a bit longer. I think Scrivens will need to come into the side and settle in first before becoming captain. Previous captains have. It could be at least 2027-8 before that happens, but who knows. More may be revealed in this upcoming Ireland series. As it is a full England side and not England A, I think we will still see a number of established England players feature, although it would be an ideal opportunity to bring in a few new or fringe players (including wicketkeeper, maybe?) to look at as well. That series is very condensed, with 6 games in 11 days so it will be hard work and we will need backups in all departments. It’s long overdue for Scrivens to come into the England side simply because of what she offers with the bat, let alone the bonus of her spin bowling and obvious leadership skills.
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