Month: May 2026

INTERVIEW: Scotland Coach Craig Wallace Relishing Kirstie Gordon’s Return

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Kirstie Gordon
Image: © Cricket Scotland

On the day Scotland announced their squad for the forthcoming T20 World Cup, Scotland head coach Craig Wallace spoke to CRICKETher about the long-awaited return of a certain Kirstie Gordon – who is available for selection for Scotland for the first time since 2017.

Back in February, Raf interviewed Kirstie for The Observer (paywalled link); the Blaze captain explained that a conversation with Craig had been instrumental in her decision to return to her home nation. So we got his side of the story!

He recalled: “The last time I was in Nottingham, seeing Kathryn and Sarah [Bryce], I messaged Kirstie saying, ‘shall we have a little catch-up?’ 

“I tried not to be too intense. We had a drink. I literally said, ‘what is your plan?’ And I managed to outline the next year and a half to her.

“And I could see in her eyes, she was like, ‘wow, I want to do that’. I left that meeting quite happy!”

We asked exactly what he said to persuade Kirstie that the time was right to return. “It’s the team,” he said. “It’s how well we’re playing, how well we’re acting as human beings and as people. For me that was the easiest sell – we are going to this World Cup, we are going hopefully to many more World Cups, and we will keep improving and playing a brand of cricket that I can be proud of, that she wants to be part of.

“It’s not the team it was when she made her debut – it’s so much bigger and better than that,” he added.

He apparently messaged Kirstie when the England squad was released to check in, concerned that there might be doubt or regret bubbling up. “But there was literally nothing. She just said, ‘I cannot wait to get started’.”

As for how Kirstie is feeling about facing her old team, England, at Headingley on 20 June?

“She’ll be excited to take them on. That day will be me trying to calm her down, more than anything! And try and make sure that we get the best out of her.”

A fired-up Kirstie Gordon? It should be a cracker of a match!

The full Scotland World Cup squad is below:

  • Kathryn Bryce (captain) – Blaze
  • Chloe Abel – Gunnersbury / New Town
  • Olivia Bell – Lancashire
  • Sarah Bryce – Blaze
  • Darcey Carter – Lancashire
  • Priyanaz Chatterji – Surrey
  • Gabriella Fontenla – Yorkshire Academy
  • Katherine Fraser – Durham
  • Kirstie Gordon – Blaze
  • Ailsa Lister – Lancashire
  • Maisie Maceira – Carlton
  • Abtaha Maqsood – Essex
  • Megan McColl – Glamorgan
  • Rachel Slater – Yorkshire
  • Pippa Sproul – Hampshire

ENGLAND v NEW ZEALAND – 1st ODI: The Nearest Run Thing You Ever Saw In Your Life

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4

If you’d told me two weeks ago that England would scrape over the line in the 1st ODI, with their captain bailing them out after an otherwise pretty hapless batting performance, I’d have believed you: Nat Sciver-Brunt has done it so many times it’s become routine!

New Zealand 210 v England 211-9 #ENGvNZ 🏏

— CRICKETher (@crickether.com) 2026-05-10T17:26:28.192Z

England inched their way to victory by 1 wicket, with 10 balls remaining; but the captain in question was of course not Nat Sciver-Brunt, but Charlie Dean, who waved farewell to Maia Bouchier with 51 still required, and somehow shepherded England’s three No. 11s up hill and down dale to the win.

In some ways it was a situation tailor-made for Dean. England needed runs, but they had plenty of balls in the bag, so perhaps the key requirement was simply to follow the advice of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: Don’t Panic! And whilst there were certainly moments when it could have gone the other way, with Nensi Patel dropping a pretty straightforward catching opportunity at backward point which would have won New Zealand the game, Dean kept her wits about her. She didn’t rush things, or try to win it in a couple of hits; instead almost letting the runs come to her, and trusting her partners just enough to eke out the result.

New Zealand 210 v England 211-9 #ENGvNZ 🏏

— CRICKETher (@crickether.com) 2026-05-10T17:26:45.967Z

England were fortunate to be chasing a target of only 211, largely because New Zealand succumbed to the most horrible of collapses in the final phase of their innings, having been well-placed at 183-4 with 8 overs left and 230 very much on the cards. As Charlie Dean mentioned at the toss, there have been a couple of high-scoring county games at The Riverside this season, with Lancashire and Durham both notching up 300+ scores there in the One Day Cup; but with heavy rain having fallen in recent days this was clearly not a 300 pitch. 230 would have won this match.

But the good work done by Melie Kerr and Maddy Green, who put on 105 through the middle overs, was undone with the bottom 5 making just 12 runs between them; and 210 wasn’t… quite… enough.

England will feel happy with the bowling performance, having struggled to finish sides off of late. Bell was excellent – the slower balls at the back end may be predictable, but if they remain on-the-mark, they’ll do the job; Corteen-Coleman doesn’t have Ecclestone’s range quite yet, but she feels like the type who will work hard to attain it; and Lauren Filer handled a difficult situation well enough, having been drafted-in to the XI only at the last minute after Issy Wong pulled up short in the warmups.

Jodi Grewcock was the one under the most pressure with her leg-spin, and while she wasn’t perfect, she probably did enough to make it difficult watching for Sarah Glenn, whose chances of ever playing for England again get slimmer by the day, given Grewcock’s potential to be the batting allrounder England are so desperate to discover. Her innings with the bat was sawn off today by her lack of confidence to review an LBW that would have been overturned; but hopefully there are further opportunities for her in the remaining ODIs to show the grit she has displayed for Essex this season and which England could sorely have done with as they trod firmly on rake after rake.

The Duke of Wellington is said to have admitted his victory at Waterloo was “the nearest run thing you ever saw in your life”; but all anyone remembers now is that he won. Wellington went on to become Prime Minister, and now lies buried in St Paul’s Cathedral; because a win is a win, however you get there.

NEWS: Last Ball Drama in Delayed 2025 Cheshire Knockout Final

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By Martin Saxon

2025 Senior Knockout Final: Didsbury 87-8, Lindow 88-8

2025 Development Knockout Final: Alvanley 70-9, Lindow 71-1

Early May isn’t usually the time for cricket cup finals, but at Grappenhall today, four teams were engaged in a third attempt to play the 2025 hardball T20 knockout finals, after two unsuccessful attempts last year.

It turned out to be a double celebration for Lindow as their first team won the Senior Knockout final and their seconds triumphed in the Development Knockout final. This also completed a season double for both teams at the Wilmslow club, as their 1st XI were champions of Cheshire Women’s League Division 1 in 2025, and their 2nd XI won Division 3 East.

There may have been some close finishes to Cheshire cup finals over the years, but surely nothing to match the drama of today’s encounter. Lindow’s Katie Farmer hit a single from the final ball to take the Wilmslow club past the target. In truth, Didsbury needed a wicket from that last delivery to pull off victory, as a simple dot ball would have left the teams tied on both runs and wickets. With the 19 over scores also the same, the decisive factor would have been the 18 over countback, when Lindow were one run ahead.

Didsbury’s Emily Wilkins opened the match by hitting the first delivery for four, but the runs quickly dried up. Emily Page took two early wickets, Libby Ackerley bowled her four overs straight through for just 10 runs and at the halfway stage, Didsbury had still scored only 35 and had not hit any more boundaries.

Things improved a little with 52 in the second half, but Roshini Prince-Navaratnam’s 35 from 45 balls was the only double figure score in the South Manchester club’s innings. Libby Taylor took 3-5 in two overs at the death just as Didsbury would have been hoping to accelerate.

Lindow began their reply by losing regular wickets, but at 37-3 after six overs and 51-4 after nine, they were staying well ahead of the required rate. The next seven overs would produce just 15 further runs and see three wickets fall, including that of Lindow top scorer Heidi Cheadle for 29. It really did seem like the bowling efforts of Prince-Navaratnam and Isabelle Hevican had turned the game in Didsbury’s favour.

The next twist came in the 17th over as 10 were added to the score. This kicked off a stand between Farmer and Page which took Lindow within 12 of victory. Three more overs of four runs each – including a couple of wides as the pressure mounted, and some scampered byes and leg byes – then took Lindow to the magic score of 88.

Earlier in the day, Lindow’s second team enjoyed a more comfortable victory. Last August, in the first attempt to play the match, Alvanley’s bowlers reduced their opposition to 39-9, but the tables were turned here by Lindow’s new ball pair of Claire Ashworth and Bethany Seddon.

Put into bat, Alvanley slumped to 19-6. After surviving the first eight deliveries without mishap, two wickets fell before the end of the second over, and further wickets fell in the third, fourth, fifth and six overs as Seddon claimed a 4-14 return and Ashworth bowled her three overs for just four runs, taking two wickets.

Agatha Simmons and Lucy Powell led a recovery of sorts, adding 33 for the seventh wicket, with Simmons the eighth to fall, for the innings top score of 70.

Despite the partial recovery, a target of 71 never looked a daunting one. Lindow’s reply began at a rate of five per over and the scoring rate never dropped too far below this, as a nine-wicket win was wrapped up in 15.2 overs – Nikki Hill’s 25 not out being the top score.

The League thanks Grappenhall CC for hosting the event, and umpires Derek Barnett and Tony Sayle.