Month: September 2025

Rushden & Higham

CLUB OF THE MONTH: Rushden & Higham Town Under 11 Girls

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Congratulations to the Under 11 Girls of Rushden & Higham Town, whose first season has just concluded. It was certainly an eventful one, including helping provide a guard of honour at the Northamptonshire County Ground, growing from 4 members to 12, and winning their last game of the season (against Earls Barton CC) by a single run!

The girls’ section was formed by Ben and Lisa Hodges. Ben had been coaching the under-9s for a couple of seasons and volunteering as an All Stars Activator, and could see that more girls were coming through but could also see that they were sometimes intimidated by the loud and over-confident boys. It was clear that there were girls with talent, but they needed their own space to find it.

The girls play at Short Stocks in Rushden, featuring an astroturf wicket, an astroturf net and a nice bar – always appreciated by parents during the Friday night training sessions!

Ben and the girls threw themselves into the deep end by entering a league in their first season, playing in the Corby and District Youth U11 League (East). Sadly one of the teams dropped out and fixtures were a bit erratic this season, but they held their own.

“Music and dance play a big part in the team!” says coach Ben Hodges. “Cartwheels in the outfield between overs can often be seen. We are fortunate (or unfortunate sometimes when we are trying to get the girls to focus) that six of our girls all dance together at Starlight Dance in Rushden. So, whatever the latest song is that they are dancing to, you can guarantee that it will be heard and the six will be doing their best to teach the others the moves.“

“Special mention to Jennifer, who during one training session was practicing singing her part as Anne Boleyn for her school’s performance of the musical ‘Six’ while bowling at her teammates.”

They were fortunate to be mentored by the Northants County Cricket Club Steelbacks in the Community Team who assisted with putting on the fixtures, including providing some of their girls from the Young Leaders programme to act as scorers and umpires.

They were also lucky to be successful in bidding for a Metro Bank Girls in Cricket Fund award this season, which funded 20 hours of mentoring from community coaches from Steelbacks in the Community. A big thanks to Liam, Patricia, Beth and Louise.

Meanwhile Ben continues to coach and manage the team and has secured funding through Northamptonshire Sport to top up his coaching qualifications before next season.

Ben says that his season highlight was the team’s first victory, which came against Earls Barton when Jess Hambleton-Clark hit a six in the final over: “It was the last game of the season and the victory felt incredible. Seeing how chuffed the girls were and seeing how hard they had worked all season, and it was finally paying off.”

He also wants to give a shout out to the Committee at Rushden & Higham Town Cricket Club for supporting and embracing the girls team this season, and to all the parents for ferrying their daughters to matches, helping set up, and adding to a great family atmosphere at the club.

Aims for 2026 include developing a women’s softball team, doubling the number of girls playing, and perhaps playing some hardball cricket. Good luck to all involved!

If anyone is interested in joining the club, they should contact Ben Hodges on womenandgirls@rushdenhighamtowncc.com

Nicola Carey

WNCL: South Australia vs Tasmania – The Green Machine Kicks In

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By Helen Maynard-Casely

And so we returned to Karen Rolton Oval for the second WCNL game between South Australia and Tasmania, where conditions could not have been more different to those of Friday. Bright warm sunshine gave way to overcast grey mizzle, classic early season cricket weather. Play was delayed by half an hour while umpires, ground staff and players alike waited for conditions to brighten. South Australian captain Jemma Barsby again won the toss and decided to bat first, with both sides fielding unchanged sides from Friday’s game.

The contrast in the weather also reflected the contrast in SA’s batting innings from Friday – with the side struggling from the very first ball. Nic Carey’s glorious in-swinger took the bails off Emma de Broughe’s wicket leaving the batter stunned as she walked right back to the pavilion. Then, by the fourth over fellow opener Bridget Patterson had been tempted into lofting a shot to Gibson fielding at mid on. Any hopes that Penna and Webb would fill the run void at this point were dashed by the next over, with Penna falling into a trap set by Carey again for her second wicket.

Carey’s bowling continued to be crafty all through the innings, and also claimed the wicket of Friday’s player of the match Courtney Webb for 14 with a shorter delivery. By this point SA were still in the powerplay, but severely struggling on 36/4. Excellent captaincy by Tasmania’s Elyse Villani kept the South Australian batters under wraps, with the next wicket brought about by a change of the bowling, Larosa caught at mid-off off Gibson’s ball.

South Australia continued to grind out some runs with the highlight being Ellie Johnston’s 63 off 82 balls.  She and Barsby weathered a long section of tight bowling from Tasmania, and chipped away, only being able to pick the field for the odd precious boundary. Johnston brought up her 50 with a stylish 6 over covers off Kathryn Bryce’s bowling just before second drinks. She looked to be finding her stride, but as is often the way was bowled by Carey the next ball after successfully threading through to the boundary.

Carey now sat on 4 wickets, but was denied her 5-fer by a belligerent Amanda-Jade Wellington who hit her for 6 and 4 in Carey’s tenth over. Wellington’s aggressive cameo of 20 runs came to an end with her run out at the non-strikers end, after chasing runs in the back of the innings. The tail fell cheaply, leaving South Australia on 196. Carey was the pick of the bowlers with 4-48 after 10 overs, but an honourable mention to Bryce’s 1-35 off her 10 overs, an economy rate that definitely helped keep the total limited.

By the time Tasmania’s inning’s commenced, Karen Rolton Oval was bathed in warm afternoon sunshine. With the outfield drying out it seemed that boundaries would come easier – but that proved not to be the case. Openers Lizelle Lee and Rachel Trenaman, unhurried by the chasable total, kept the scoreboard ticking over – but boundaries were hard won in the very early stages.  By the seventh over, however, the outfield was nipping and both Trenaman and Lee had the measure of the new ball and SA’s opening bowlers Courtney Neale and Ella Wilson.

But never count SA out, especially with a bowling attack that includes Amanda-Jade Wellington, now ably assisted by Isabella Malgioglio. Between them the run rate was brought down, and in the 15th over Wellington affected a breakthrough with Lee succumbing for 60 off a great running catch by Penna, followed by Carey being bowled for a duck. Villani worked to support Trenaman as Adelaide life literally flew past (a helicopter swooping over the Oval on its way to the next door hospital). But the temptation to knock the runs off at a fast rate saw Villani go for a boundary in the air, but find opposing captain Jemma Barsby instead. A few overs later Kathryn Bryce was at the crease, and together with Trenaman weathered the tight mid-innings spin, keeping the score ticking along.  It was all they needed to do, and by the 36th over a cover drive by Trenaman found the boundary to both make the total and see her carry her bat for 75 not out.

So brought to a close a fascinating weekend of cricket. Tasmania had done their homework over the rest day, and came up with successful plans to combat the SA batting attack. They capitalised on the momentum of a first ball wicket to keep SA to 196, quite a feat on a famously batter-friendly Oval.

Helen (Crystallised Cricket) is a writer based in Dharug and Gundagarra country, and here is writing about a game played on Kaurna country. She acknowledges the traditional owners of the lands that she writes from.

PLAYER RANKINGS: One Day Cup

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Batting Rankings

Batting Rankings Matches Runs Dot % Single % Boundary % Strike Rate
1. EL Lamb 12 794 46 38 11 93
2. AN Davidson-Richards 13 595 35 49 11 105
3. KE Bryce 14 632 53 31 10 84
4. ME Bouchier 14 539 53 26 14 97
5. HJ Armitage 13 624 54 31 9 81
6. GA Elwiss 13 543 45 41 9 88
7. A Capsey 10 448 48 35 14 99
8. SW Bates 10 467 55 27 12 89
9. A Wellington 11 282 36 36 22 140
10. GL Adams 13 525 53 36 7 73
11. FG Kemp 6 298 38 39 17 127
12. E Jones 9 456 58 28 10 77
13. NAJ Wraith 13 339 39 40 9 99
14. G Scrivens 12 429 56 30 9 76
15. S Smale 15 391 45 41 7 83
16. BF Smith 12 357 59 23 14 89
17. D Perrin 11 364 57 24 10 85
18. R Southby 13 381 54 32 10 81
19. FC Wilson 13 333 45 39 9 90
20. SIR Dunkley 6 319 45 39 8 89
Ranking = Runs * Strike Rate ©CRICKETher/cricsheet.org

Bowling Rankings

Bowling Rankings Matches Wickets Dot % Boundary % Wide % Economy
1. KA Levick 13 21 54 6 2 4.55
2. GK Davis 13 23 52 8 2 5.03
3. LCN Smith 7 16 60 5 0 3.71
4. PE Turner 13 22 59 10 5 5.17
5. A Wellington 11 19 56 6 2 4.53
6. FR Davies 14 19 61 8 3 4.54
7. KE Bryce 13 18 55 7 2 4.50
8. G Ballinger 13 18 58 10 2 4.86
9. MK Villiers 13 16 55 8 3 4.73
10. KL Cross 15 15 61 9 2 4.49
11. G Potts 11 16 51 7 6 4.91
12. HE Jones 10 14 54 7 1 4.44
13. D Gregory 13 19 41 10 3 6.09
14. EL Arlott 7 14 60 9 3 4.63
15. E Gray 14 15 56 10 4 5.19
16. FMK Morris 11 15 40 6 2 5.43
17. C Skelton 12 15 49 10 2 5.55
18. E Anderson 12 16 59 13 7 5.93
19. GL Adams 14 14 47 7 2 5.20
20. R MacDonald-Gay 9 15 59 12 10 5.59
Ranking = Wickets / Economy ©CRICKETher/cricsheet.org
Maddie Penna celebrates her century on Karen Rolton Oval en route to her 109

WNCL: South Australia vs Tasmania – The ladies in red have a bright start to the season

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by Helen Maynard-Casely

A stunning Wirltuti (Spring day) marked the start of the WNCL for South Australia and Tasmania. It was held at Karen Rolton Oval, which sits very much in the thick of Adelaide life – traffic bustling around the ground, commuters able to glimpse pitchside as they scurry about their lives in Australia’s cathedral city. Those who paused and took in the match were treated to batting masterclasses followed by a remarkable stint of fielding captaincy.

The teams could be forgiven for first-game nerves, but neither of them showed it – instead the trepidation was only shown by the ground’s scoreboard which took until the 19th over of the game to be tamed to show updates from the pitch. South Australia had won the toss, and elected to bat – preferring to start the season on their own terms it would seem. What followed was a perfect attritional innings – with the teamsheet batters building a skyscraper of a total for the SA women to defend.

South Australian openers Emma de Broughe and Bridget Patterson played it perfectly, with a new-ball soaking 50 run partnership – including a lofty six from B Pat in the 6th over. With both falling within a couple of overs, Courtney Webb and Madeline Penna found themselves together at the crease by the end of the 14th over. And there they dug in, in spectacular style – building a match-winning 197-run partnership which saw both players reach centuries, textbook middle order batting. Webb remained to the end of the innings, and saw SA put a total of 330 on the board.

Though Tasmania didn’t seem to show too many nerves, the players who took their honours in the field were those on debut for the team – Scotswoman Kathryn Bryce took three wickets for 60 runs. Queenslander-in-search-of-cooler-climate Courtney Sippel took most of the high-impact catches, as well as the bonus wicket of Eleanor Larosa late in the innings. In fact, Sippel was highly visible on the field, and was in amongst most of the big fielding moments. Bowling changes seemed a little haphazard, with Tasmanian captain Villani choosing to bowl Lauren Smith out with the finish of the innings, rather than turning to end-of-innings specialist Nicola Carey.

With 330 to defend, a relaxed South Australia took to the field after the innings break. Opening bowling from Courtney Neale and Ella Wilson squeezed the Tasmanian openers and had the run rate starting to climb. Tasmanian opener Lizelle Lee brought a level of restraint to her shots not often seen, suggesting the ball around the field rather than her more usual slog/insistence way of playing shots. Along with Rachel Trenaman, Lee built a good partnership weathering the aggressive spell of bowling, particularly from Neale. Here, though, was where the genius of Jemma Barsby’s captaincy became clear – preventing the batting side from finding stride to shoot for the total. Four of the seven wickets taken from Tasmania were straight after bowling changes, coupled with fielding set and bowling executed in a way that prevented the batters from getting into the rhythm they needed. This was exemplified in the 18th over, which saw Barsby both bowling and commanding the fielders with the authority that only bowling captains show.

Then the openers were gone. Trenaman skied a ball which was caught by Busby off debutant Isa Malgioglio’s bowling and Lee was caught by Penna off the bowling of stalwart Amanda-Jade Wellington. Nicola Carey and Ellyse Villani were now in batting for Tasmania and fought valiantly to keep the required run rate under control. At times it seemed like they were grappling with a slippery fish, it writhed and wriggled, but by over 29 it looked like they might be starting to wrestle it under control. Then Carey got a metaphorical fin-slap – she tonked a ball towards mid-on, only to see bowler Barsby snatch it from the air, leaving Carey to depart the crease for 24.

From there the maths started to hurt, and the required run rate steadily climbed, while wickets ticked over. A seventh wicket stand from Hayley Silver-Holmes and Sippel was entertaining at the back of the innings, but ultimately Tasmania reached 294/7, 36 runs short.

A win on the table for South Australia, and on Sunday they return to face Tasmania again. Conditions for Sunday’s game are starkly different – cloudy with a slight chance of rain. Will this aid the Tasmanian spinners, perhaps preventing SA from getting the two-fer at their home ground? Or will SA brazen it out – Sunday’s match awaits.

Helen (Crystallised Cricket) is a writer based in Dharug and Gundagarra country, and here is writing about a game played on Kaurna country. She acknowledges the traditional owners of the lands that she writes from.

NEWS: Lindow Land First Cheshire Women’s League Title

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by Martin Saxon

As has been so often the case in recent years, there was a new name on the Cheshire Women’s League trophy this year. There has only been one instance of a team retaining the title in the last 13 years, and in this time, as many as eight different clubs have topped the table. 

For the first time, the Championship was won by Wilmslow club Lindow, completing their remarkable rise through the league structure, with their women’s first team having been champions of division 4 as recently as 2019. Heidi Cheadle grabbed many of the headlines throughout the season, scoring a league record 777 runs, including four centuries. Lindow’s varied and exciting young bowling attack also played a significant role though. 

Lindow didn’t have it all their own way, losing two league matches along the way, and you now must go back as far as 2013 to find the last time that a Division 1 team went through a season unbeaten. Chester Boughton Hall finished second and Leigh third. 

In the highly competitive top division, it was always going to be a good team who were relegated, and here Stockport Georgians well and truly pulled off a great escape, winning all of their last three matches when their position had looked more than precarious prior to this. It was Nantwich who eventually ended up with the wooden spoon, and they will be replaced in next year’s top flight by Northop Hall.  

The joint highest wicket takers in Division 1 were Chester Boughton Hall’s Carys Lambe and Oakmere’s Sarah Worsdale, with 18 each. 

Lindow’s successes continued as their second team won Division 3 East, while the only teams in the hardball leagues to finish with an unbeaten record were Runcorn in Division 4 West and Whalley Range in Division 4 East. The feat was also repeated by three of the six winners of the Division 5 softball competitions: Widnes, Sale and Macclesfield. Didsbury were unbeaten champions of the senior T20 competition. 

There were also significant achievements for league clubs in external competitions. Leyland became the first Cheshire League team to win a national competition by landing the Plate prize in the ECB’s National Knockout.  

Five of the league’s Division 1 teams were chosen – alongside three from the Lancashire League – to play in the Thunder Cup, a new competition for the north-west of England, organised by Lancashire CCC. Significantly, the final of this competition was played at Old Trafford, surely the first time that a women’s club match has been played at the Test ground? It was Stockport Georgians who emerged triumphant here, beating Leigh by eight wickets in the final. 

2025 TEAM HONOURS


WINNERSRUNNERS-UP
Division 1LindowChester Boughton Hall
Division 2Northop HallUpton
Division 3 WestAlvanleyChester Boughton Hall 2nd XI
Division 3 EastLindow 2nd XIStockport Georgians 2nd XI
Division 4 WestRuncornKingsley
Division 4 EastWhalley RangeBrooklands
Division 4 South EastNorth East CheshireNew Mills & High Peak North
Division 5 WirralOld ParkoniansNew Brighton
Division 5 MidWidnesChristleton
Division 5 South 1CreweAston
Division 5 South 2ElworthCrewe 2nd XI
Division 5 East 1SaleBrooklands
Division 5 East 2MacclesfieldRomiley
T20 ChampionshipDidsbury SwordettesChester Boughton Hall Deemons

WNCL PREVIEW: A Great Season for New Stars to Shine

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by Helen Maynard-Casely

A timelapse of the milky way making its way across the sky of the Southern hemisphere.

One thing you will notice is that in the cacophony of stars, those celestial bodies you would normally recognise fade a bit, as the great mass of others become brighter – it is not that anything has dimmed, you just get to see all the stars a bit more. A good metaphor for the coming Australian domestic cricket summer.

The crossover of the seasons is upon us, as Autumn’s grasp and muddy fields take hold, finals have reached their dramatic conclusions in the UK. Down in the Southern half of the globe training camps are reaching their fruition and first game nerves are taking hold. With that, the curtain will rise on the 2025/26 season of the Women’s National Cricket League (WNCL) on Wednesday.

Those unfamiliar to Australian domestic women’s cricket may not be so aware of the league, which like the Sheffield Shield weaves around other adventures in the domestic and international cricketing calendar. Though mainly state based, the WNCL includes a seventh team in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) Meteors. In deference to the geography of Australia, there are not ‘home and away’ fixtures – but each team does play each other twice within each round, so seven rounds in total will play out with each team given a bye over the course of the season.

Why cacophony of stars metaphor? Well the established Australian internationals will struggle to make it out for their state teams teams (despite the fanfare of Ellyse Perry’s return to the NSW Breakers), with neat overlaps of the WNCL rounds occurring between every major international calendar date in their season. Hence, the chances for others to find their luminance.

Rounds one and two are squeezed in before the pomp and circuses of the domestic 20/20 season, and will be missing the Australian internationals as they warm up and compete in India for the 50 over World Cup. There’s then a long break in proceedings as the Spring challenge and Big Bash roll into town, so that the WNCL doesn’t recommence until 2026. The two January rounds will overlap with the Women’s Premier League in India, where Australian International stars are in high demand, keeping them from State duties. February’s two rounds will then overlap with the Australia v India multi-format tour. The last round (and the final, between the two teams that finish at the top of the table) will be in mid-March, when the Aussie team will have jetted to the Caribbean for the next multi-format international adventure. So without the ‘big’ players – who will rise to prominence?

Who to watch in 25/26? (you’ll note that in the team pages, despite now in the 8th year of full professionalism of the WNCL, not all the women even have a picture on their state page… sigh)

QLD Fire – It is only perhaps a matter of time before Charli Knott becomes a fixture in the international side, but until then we can marvel at her domestic outings. Jess Jonassen will lead a side that has kept together pretty well from last season, stats demonstrate that their success last year derived from an all-round team performance.

NSW Breakers – The success of the breakers last year can be traced to batting powerhouses Tahlia Wilson and Annika Learoyd, who both had terrific seasons and topped the number of runs in the competition respectively in 24/25. They will be back for more – and will be ably assisted by Katie Mack who has moved from the ACT Meteors into the side. The young sensation of WBBL10, Caoimhe Bray has also scored a contract with the side. NSW breakers look formidable and up for keeping their mitts on the trophy.

TAS Tigers – After a run of titles, Tasmania will be hungry to get back to the top, and with the most experienced captain in the competition, Elyse Villani, they no doubt have the leadership to get back there. They have recruited Scotswoman Kathryn Bryce, along with Courtney Sippel who will only add to their team strengths.

SA Women – Amanda-Jade Wellington topped the table of wickets over last season’s WNCL by a margin of 6, she also bowled A LOT – 117 overs (only topped by NSW’s Sam Bates). Bridget Patterson, the quiet achiever (and nonchalant celebrator) of Australia domestic cricket takes the gloves and along with Courtney Webb will lead the batting. SA are always a challenging team to beat, and were the ones to arguably keep Tasmania out of the final last season. They will continue to be a thorn in the side of the others.

VIC Women – With six of their contracted players due to be away from the WNCL on national duties, Victoria will probably struggle to make headway. But Molly Strano is back at her home state, and as ever it will be hard not to see a certain M Lanning make an impact in her 50 over element.

ACT Meteors – Georgia Elwiss returns to play for the Meteors this season, and steps neatly into the senior play position left vacant by Katie Mack. She will be supported in building runs by Olivia Porter and Zoe Cooke, along with newly contracted locals Stella Wilde and Rachel Carroll.

WA Women – WA will be looking to improve their table spot this season, and of the table last year, and bringing Heather Graham over from Tasmania would have seen the most excellent way to start this. But with Grace Harris’ injury Graham has now been drafted into the national side, which will be a blow for WA for rounds one and two at least. The team though has much young talent, an exciting trio in Innes McKeon, Rebbecca McGrath and Maddie White will be fun to see develop over the season.

Round 1 fixtures – ACT Meteors with a bye

DateHomeAwayGroundStart (AEST)Start (UT)
24/09WAQLDWACA – Perth15:305:30
26/09VICNSWJunction Oval – Melbourne10:000:00
26/09SATASKaren Rolten Oval – Adelaide10:300:30
26/09WAQLDWACA – Perth16:006:00
28/09VICNSWJunction Oval – Melbourne10:000:00
28/09SATASKaren Rolten Oval – Adelaide10:300:30

That’s the preview. Think of it like lying back on a grassy bank, taking in a deep breath and filling your lungs with the damp grassy scent. Open your eyes, see the stars above you. Enjoy.

Helen (Crystallised Cricket) is a writer based in Dharug and Gundagarra country and acknowledges the traditional owners of the lands that she writes from.

ONE DAY CUP FINAL: Hampshire v Lancashire – Gift Of The Gaby

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A big hundred from Ireland captain Gaby Lewis was the difference between the two sides as Lancashire beat Hampshire by 6 wickets to lift the inaugural county One Day Cup at the Utilita Bowl.

One Day Cup Final – Hampshire v Lancashire #ODC 🏏

— CRICKETher (@crickether.com) 2025-09-21T10:09:08.300Z

Lewis had the Luck of the Irish™ on her side – she should have been given out on 62 – running a sharp single off a misfield, she was out of her crease when the bails were broken via an underarm throw from Abi Norgrove, but the umpire’s decision didn’t go Hampshire’s way, and Lewis survived.

The umpires have a tough job to do, but… Gaby Lewis should have been out here. #ODC 🏏

— CRICKETher (@crickether.com) 2025-09-21T15:03:03.774Z

It was a difficult call for the umpire – there was only a frame in it, with the next frame showing Lewis’s bat in the crease – but equally Lewis can obviously have had no complaint if she had been given out; as she would have been if TV reviews had been available, as they apparently were in the men’s final.

… and Smale should have been out here. #ODC 🏏

— CRICKETher (@crickether.com) 2025-09-21T15:05:37.537Z

Misery was piled on misery for Hampshire a couple of overs later, as history repeated itself as tragedy – Seren Smale given not out, despite once again replays showing she was clearly out of her ground when the wickets were broken. Smale went on to make 72 in a partnership of 144 with Lewis, which broke the back of Hampshire’s defence.

Smale was finally dismissed in the 33rd over – popping a leading edge up to a diving Freya Kemp at short midwicket; but Lewis went on to finish unbeaten on 141 – the joint-third-highest score in the One Day Cup this season.

With 3 overs remaining, Lancashire still needed 21 to win, and Hampshire were still just about in the game; but Lewis piled into a slightly wayward 48th over from Georgia Adams, hitting three 4s as the over went for 16. There was one last moment of hope for Hampshire as Lewis launched the final ball of the over towards Maia Bouchier, running across to deep mid on; but Bouchier could only get a fingertip to it as it went for 4, leaving Ailsa Lister to put the icing on the cake of a breakthrough season by striking the winning runs from Freya Davies’s final deliveries in professional cricket.

Player of the Match Gaby Lewis #ODC 🏏

— CRICKETher (@crickether.com) 2025-09-21T17:02:57.283Z

There was no fairytale ending for the 29-year-old former England seamer Davies, who now leaves cricket to pursue a career in law; but she leaves the game with her reputation held high and a collection of 35 England caps as well as winners medals from the old Women’s County Championship and the Kia Super League.

On a crisp, bright autumn day, which contrasted sharply with the mudbath of the semi-final earlier in the week, Hampshire were put into bat by Lancashire captain Ellie Threlkeld, and started circumspectly in the face of Lancashire’s dangerous opening bowling partnership of Mahika Gaur and Kate Cross.

Cross passed the bat of Bouchier a few times in the early salvos, leaving the England opener looking down at her bat with a bamboozled expression. A thick outside edge flashed just out of reach of Seren Smale at slip; but Bouchier survived and went on to make 66. It was a solid contribution, but was emblematic of Hampshire’s day, as she failed for the 6th time in the One Day Cup this season to convert 50 to 100 – giving her wicket away with a limp push to mid on off a pretty innocuous delivery from Gaur.

As with Bouchier, so too with both Georgia Adams (77) and Freya Kemp (41). Both did the hard yards, but couldn’t push on in the way Lewis later did – Adams bowled trying to reverse sweep Fi Morris; and Kemp pushing a catch to Lister on the ring.

Hampshire 288-6 v Lancashire 289-4 #ODC 🏏

— CRICKETher (@crickether.com) 2025-09-21T16:22:12.411Z

Hampshire did have a decent final 10 – or more accurately, a decent penultimate 5, as Adams and Abi Norgrove hit out to get them close to the 300 that they really needed on a pitch which played wonderfully well, despite having spent Wednesday under a carpet as the rest of the square was turned to mud in Hampshire’s semi-final win.

Hampshire somewhat got out of jail that day, but they couldn’t pull off that trick twice in a week, and a crowd of 2,500 – most of whom were clearly rooting for a home win – ultimately went home disappointed, as Lancashire celebrated their second trophy of the season, after winning the T20 “FA Cup” at Taunton back in May.

Having underperformed through the regional era, a change of coach seems to have done the trick for Lancashire, with Chris Read finally fulfilling expectations that have so often been stronger than the outcomes. To have done it without their two big run-scorers this season, Eve Jones (injured) and Emma Lamb (on England duty) who between them scored ten 50s and three 100s for the team in the One Day Cup, was against the odds, but showed that they have the depth to potentially be the New Vipers – the team to beat in the new county era.

ONE-DAY CUP SEMI-FINAL: Hampshire v Surrey – A Hampshire Heist

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Hampshire pulled off the heist of the decade, winning their semi-final against Surrey by four wickets despite being behind the DLS par score for the vast majority of the run-chase.

Battling driving rain, fading light, and a pitch which eventually resembled the Somme, Georgia Adams and Mary Taylor shared a winning 104-run partnership which propelled their team into Sunday’s final against Lancashire.

Adams’ unbeaten century will win all the plaudits, but the more remarkable effort was from Hampshire’s no.8 Taylor, who struck a maiden List A fifty (her previous highest List A score was just 21), driving, flicking and pulling.

Crucially, she achieved a strike rate of 100, ensuring that by the time she was hit on the elbow by a ball from Alice Monaghan which reared up at her, Hampshire were within touching distance of their target:

“The physio said, do you want any painkillers? I said no, let’s crack on,” she told CRICKETher. “I was in the zone and I didn’t want to disrupt that in any way. I probably would have batted with my arm falling off!”

Taylor had joined the fray with Hampshire six wickets down and still requiring 102 to win: Surrey would have felt they were into the Hampshire “tail”. But Adams and Taylor were able to gradually whittle down the required runs, first getting ahead of DLS and then – when it became apparent that the umpires were going to see this one through to its end, come what may – managing to overhaul their mammoth 288-run target.

Hypocaust points out that several other record run-chases have been achieved in 50-over women’s cricket this season:

That was the sixth highest successful women's List A run chase in England.In a remarkable season that has completely transformed the concept of a chaseable target, five of the top six highest have occurred in Metro Bank League 1 this year.

— Hypocaust (@hypocaust.bsky.social) 2025-09-17T17:26:14.513Z

Perhaps the key difference is that the other four record-breaking run chases of 2025 took place amid a baking hot summer which has now vanished. Today’s effort from Hampshire was achieved despite, not because of, the prevailing conditions.

“I was a bit cold [coming out to bat],” Taylor said. “Gads [Adams] said, ‘play straight and hit the sight screen, hit the gaps and we’ll try and run twos’. That proved quite difficult when the mud started clogging up our shoes.”

Surrey had opted to bat first after winning the toss, in spite of the weather forecast – a choice which surprised everyone, going against the general cricketing wisdom that if rain is forecast then it is always better to chase and know exactly what you need to do to stay ahead of DLS.

Today, however, that wisdom did not quite apply, due to a very unfortunate issue with the electronic scorecard, which flickered off in the first over of the Hampshire chase and never came back on. Energy company Utilita’s slogan “Life With Power”, which adorns the scoreboard, appeared a brilliant trolling exercise at the expense of the hosts.

Eventually, the club found a temporary solution in the form of the old-style scoreboard above the groundskeeper’s cubbyhole:

Scoreboard problems at the Bowl 🏏

— CRICKETher (@crickether.com) 2025-09-17T15:55:43.182Z

Ten overs in, Hampshire had reached 73-2 – exactly par with DLS. That was largely thanks to Freya Kemp, who brought up a 26-ball fifty in the 11th, after clobbering seven fours and two sixes – almost all between midwicket and long-on.

But when Kemp swung, missed and was bowled by Kalea Moore, the DLS par suddenly took a flying jump. It took another one when Abi Norgrove sent a catch straight into the hands of short midwicket; seconds later, the umpires were pulling the players off the field with Hampshire on 103-4, 20 runs behind DLS par.

It looked like it might all be over… but the shower was brief and 20 minutes later, the umpires brought the players back on.

Hampshire then lost Nancy Harman in the 20th over, leg-before to Phoebe Franklin, and seemed to be falling even further behind DLS – but, intriguingly, Win-Her saw the situation differently, putting Hampshire at a 63% chance of winning:

Surrey 287 v Hampshire 153-5 #ODC 🏏

— CRICKETher (@crickether.com) 2025-09-17T15:37:25.880Z

At this point I was so disillusioned with our Win Calculator that I suggested we might rename it Put-It-In-The-Bin-Her. How wrong I was!

As time ticked away and the chase went from unthinkable to possibly-reachable, nerves ratcheted up around the ground. Martin from Women’s Cricket Blog could be seen pacing up and down, Freya Kemp refused to move from her seat for 25 long minutes, while next-woman-in Freya Davies – whose metronomic bowling and three wickets at the death had been critical in preventing Surrey reaching 300 – had to wrap her bat in a towel as she sat for 45 long minutes waiting to see if she would be required.

The overwhelming feeling from everyone when Adams scored the winning runs, just two overs after bringing up her hundred, was therefore relief – as well as knowing that the real job isn’t yet done. “I’m trying to stay level because we’ve got to play the final yet,” Taylor admitted.

Whatever happens on Sunday, this semi-final will live long in the memory.