Once-upon-a-time, not all that long ago, there was a farm-field between the church and the pub in the village of Sindlesham in Berkshire. It had been a farm-field for hundreds of years – being a farm-field was probably all it ever remembered being! In the early 2010s, after months of excavators excavating and builders building, it became the new home of Wokingham Cricket Club.

And for a brief moment in time, it was also the centre of the world for women’s cricket. Charlotte Edwards and Claire Taylor lived nearby; and one of the country’s top teams, Berkshire – featuring Isa Guha and a young Heather Knight – played there.

It was also the place where I reconnected with cricket, after a 10 year estrangement following a dalliance with baseball when I’d lived in America in my twenties. I used to come down with my young son on a Sunday to watch Berkshire and (at the encouragement of Martin Davies – AKA Women’s Cricket Blog) I started my own blog (it’s still there!) through which I met Raf Nicholson. And we all know how that ended, right?

I think it is fair to say that Wokingham Cricket Club changed my life; and so when it came to the choice between going to watch Hampshire v Essex today at The Bowl, or Berkshire v Kent at Wokingham, there was only one place I wanted to be.

Berkshire and Kent have history at Wokingham, though there aren’t too many here today who remember a famous last-ball victory for the Beavers (that’s Berkshire!) in 2016 – the only survivor on either side is Kent’s now-captain Megan Belt, though the scorecard is something of an honours board of women’s cricket superstardom featuring over 1,000 international caps.

There were no such heroics for Berkshire today however, as the difference between Tier 2 and Tier 3 ultimately asserted itself, with Tier 2 Kent the winners by 47 runs over their Tier 3 opponents.

Nonetheless Berkshire did not disgrace themselves. Chasing 162, at the half-way mark they were actually ahead on DLS at 70-1, albeit thanks in part to a series of gifts which included a bowled off a no ball, a bowled off a free hit, and a caught off a free hit. But Berkshire’s chase petered out after Kent struck back in the 11th and 12 overs, with set batters Izzy Storrar (31) and Shristi Patil (40) both dismissed – Patil run out, and Storra bowled by Amy Gordon – the third of three crucial interjections from the former Surrey captain.

Having led Surrey’s county team during the regional era, Gordon had been discarded by her home county with the acquisition of Tier 1 professional status over the summer; but is now enjoying life at Kent. “It feels more stable,” she told us after the game. “I’m absolutely loving cricket this year, and it’s been a good move all round.”

Opening the batting with Kent having been inserted by Berkshire, Gordon had set a positive tone in the very first over, smacking Eliza Bristowe for four 4s, as she contributed 26 off 13 balls to Kent’s rocket-fueled powerplay. Kent hit 52 off the powerplay for the loss of two wickets, which included Grace Pool brilliantly caught by a diving Iqraa Hussain off a thickish edge behind the sticks. Their run-rate subsequently slowed through the middle overs, but they kept enough wickets in hand to throw the bat at the death, smashing 41 off the final 3 overs to post 162 – Tilly Callaghan top-scoring with a run-a-ball 42.

Amy Gordon was then straight into the action again, opening the bowling with her right-arm off-spin, and striking with her very first delivery – Alex Avoth the recipient of a shiny platinum duck. The recovery led by Storrar and Patil was brave, but it wasn’t quite enough. DLS might have had Berkshire ahead at 10 overs, but they were well under half-way to the target, and our WinHer Win Predictor (which is based only on women’s cricket) was probably more realistic, giving Berkshire just a 43% chance at that stage. Only Lily Bowlby followed Storrar and Patil into double-figures as Berkshire were bowled out in the final over.

Berkshire were well short of their target but they had made a game of it – a not inconsequential achievement for “a band of thieves in ripped up jeans” against one of the more professional Tier 2 setups, with Kent having been accompanied to the match by no less than 7 coaches and support staff. The Beavers might not be travelling to Cambridge next weekend for Round 3 of the T20 Cup, but they made sure that Kent knew that Tier 3 perhaps aren’t quite so far behind them as they (and to be fair, we) might have expected.