Our first experience of the new Women’s County Cup takes place on a blustery, bright day in Northampton and concludes with something of an upset, as hosts Northamptonshire beat Worcestershire by 5 wickets.
We have an inauspicious start to the day when we arrive at the Northamptonshire County Ground 2 hours before play, to find the gates locked and the fixture board outside the ground merrily suggesting that this match was merely a figment of our imagination.
It turns out that we’re at the wrong gate. Once we find the right entrance, things improve: we are able to easily park at the ground, find the press box open, listen to the PA warming-up, and go to watch Chloe Hill batting ferociously in the nets. The only other person inside Wantage Road at this point is a particularly loyal Northants member in a tartan cap, tucked away at the top of the Turner Stand eating his sandwiches.
This is cricket’s first all-inclusive, all-levels knockout competition, involving 37 teams from across all 3 of the new “tiers” – a brave new world for player, spectator and journalist alike. Syd and I have perhaps got a bit complacent of late, having got used to watching players who we know well, with a live scorecard which always has the correct information, and a stream which at the very least allows you to watch all the wickets back.
But this? This is right back to the Golden Days of the Women’s County Championship, of scrambling for binoculars to see who just fielded the ball, of turning to each other to ask: “I missed that – did you see it?”
I also do something I haven’t done in years: count the number of spectators. I reckon 130-odd – presumably, that’s what happens if no one knows that a match is actually happening.
Worcestershire certainly win the “most confusing team for scorers” award, with 2 Davies’s (Gwen and Poppy) and 1 Davis (Ruby), as well as a Beech (Sophie) and a Beach (Jess). We enjoy a delightful, unofficial running commentary from two of the Northants old-handers (“Clare Boycott?” “No relation”, etc, etc), as Worcestershire unhelpfully collapse to 11 for 3 within the opening 3 overs. This is the team who made the early running in Tier 2 by beating Yorkshire on the opening weekend of the season, so it’s something of a surprise to see them struggling.
Seamer Bethan Robinson is zippy and accurate, clean bowling Bryony Gillgrass second ball before returning at the death to do the same thing to Phoebe Brett with a perfect yorker. There’s a smart piece of fielding from Abby Butcher on the deep backward square leg boundary, which not only saves four but results in the run-out of Poppy Davies, before off-spinner Lenny Sims tempts a leading edge from Hill up to mid-off and the Worcestershire batting effort gradually fizzles out.
Northants are left chasing just 97; and the county’s proactive approach to recruitment over the winter ultimately pays off, as former Hertfordshire duo Gemma Marriott (24) and Amelia Kemp (23) lay the foundations with some well-placed boundaries for an easy win.
Afterwards, I go pitch side and manage to speak to the winning skipper, Marriott, who is delighted with both the result and the entire concept of the County Cup.
“It’s a great idea,” Marriott says. “It gives exposure to so many more teams to play against different levels. We know next week we’ve got Shropshire, so it’ll be interesting to see what a Tier 3 team is like now, and then if we win that, we know we’re going to get a Tier 1 team to play against which, if we get there, is going to be a great experience.”
She admits, though, that it is a little strange to not actually know where they will be playing in just 5 days time. “The Steelbacks will play Shropshire in the next round. Please check the website for details of the fixture,” says the ground announcer, helpfully, as we depart.
Welcome to the era of the Women’s County Cup, where uncertainty and opportunity sit hand in hand.
CRICKETher 