Steve Dent at Moreton-in-Marsh CC

Gloucestershire started their 2015 County Championship Division 4 campaign with a comprehensive 97-run win against Buckinghamshire at a picturesque Moreton-in-Marsh CC.

Gloucestershire Victorious

Lincolnshire’s Beth Smith at Stocksfield CC

Coming off the back of a first match victory, the Imps were hoping for a repeat performance as they travelled to Northumberland on Sunday. With overcast conditions and a green tinge in the pitch, captain for the day Rachael Dyer elected to field first and put the hosts into bat.

Amy Halloran took the new ball utilising her pace and looking to make the most of the conditions. Beth Smith came in from the other end aiming to use her experience to reduce runs and potentially pick up a wicket or two. The pair bowled well, gaining a lot of movement, but unfortunately the opening batting pair of Hawes and Gillott were unyielding.

A change of bowling to try create a breakthrough was put in place but by drinks the hosts were 150-3. Sloppy fielding and loose bowling had let the Imps down; even with some excellent moments in the field (Smith gaining a run-out and Becki Brooker taking a sharp catch), it was not to the necessary county standard required. At drinks, coach Alan Ward gave Lincs the target to not let Northumberland get more than 230 as a total, meaning the Imps had to sharpen up both in the field and with their bowling!

Lincs looked to be a different team in the second 25 overs. Wickets came from Halloran, Dyer and Smith, with further excellent pieces of fielding: another run-out for Smith, and two more sharp catches for Brooker. Halloran came back on to finish her overs from the opposite end, bowling tightly, and ending with figures of 2-32 in her 10 overs. Smith also returned to finish her overs, finally gaining a wicket (caught and bowled) after having some close chances in her first spell. She ended with 1-30.

This improved fielding performance managed to restrict the hosts to 247-7 from their 50 overs. It was a tall order, but with the pitch holding firm and with what looked a long batting line-up, Lincs felt they could chase down the runs.

India Freeman joined Smith to open the batting, with the first aim being to get to 10 overs without losing a wicket. The pair were ticking the board over steadily until Freeman received a quality delivery from Ali which cleaned her up, bringing Brooker to the middle after 4 overs. Brooker got a quick fire 12 before also receiving an unplayable delivery by Ali, and Halloran followed the next ball shuffling across her stumps to be given LBW – the irony being that Ali had to be taken off in her next over for bowling 3 no balls on height! This left Lincs 31-3 off 7.

The instructions for the incoming batsmen were now to survive for a few overs before looking to press for runs. Unfortunately, Smith was gaining new partners at a steady rate. Lucy Rollinson, Dyer and Abbie Johnson all came in then back out without troubling the scorers too much; some well-timed shots sadly went straight to fielders. Samantha White joined Smith at the crease and the two saw the Imps to drinks with the score at 80-6.

With victory now out of reach, the instructions at drinks were to use time in the middle as batting practice, and try to get as many extra batting points as possible. But even with this being said, two overs later Smith attempted to take a non-existent run to Ali and got herself run-out with a score of 34. The remaining batsmen only managed an additional 8 runs before Lincs were all out for 96 in the 34^th over.

Ultimately it was a disappointing day for the Imps as a result of 15 very poor overs in the field, resulting in 46 extras (the top scorer of the day). This, coupled with two of the top order receiving top quality deliveries and only two batsmen making double figures, means there is a lot to improve upon before the first round of the T20 competition on the 14^th June.

Full Scorecard is available here: http://lincscb.play-cricket.com/website/results/2303647

Licolnshire’s Beth Smith at Moulton Harrox CC

Puddles on the outfield. Pouring with rain. A team text was inevitable, “We’re going to try to get a game in.”

Due to the standard early cricket season British weather, the start of the game was delayed until 1pm with overs reduced to 34. Having won the toss and with the hope that the pitch will dry up throughout the day, newly appointed captain Hayley Butts put Hunts & Cambs into bat.

Debutant Sarah McDowell was given the new ball and showed why she had been approached over the winter; bowling her allotted 7 overs straight through ending with figures 1/9. Hayley Jones took 3 opening overs from the other end bowling with pace which the batsmen utilised to get runs on the board. To restrict the run flow experienced player Beth Smith came on at Jones’ end bowling straight through her overs going for 10 runs.

U17 Lucy Barnes took over from McDowell and took the second wicket of the game with the help of a safe pair of hands from U15 Amelia Gardner. This wicket brought standout batsmen, Karla Durham, to the crease; bringing the run-rate up for Hunts & Cambs she had a third wicket stand of 66 with their number 3, Sainsbury. The partnership was broken by the off-spin of senior Rachael Dyer; by which time the visitors had passed the century mark.

Wickets began to fall steadily after that; in her first senior appearance Gardner replaced Smith and took 2 wickets in her 6 overs- a solid sign of things to come for juniors and potentially seniors. Dyer snatched 2 more wickets including an athletic caught and bowled. U17 captain Becki Brooker was handed the ball for the last over of the innings and gained a wicket with the first ball and a further wicket before the close. Hunts & Cambs ended with 136/9, giving the Imps a target of 137 to win.

A shower at the interval meant that the restart was slightly delayed, but McDowell and Smith went out to the middle looking to put the Imps on the front foot. Hunts & Cambs had the better start with Presland cleaning up Smith without her troubling the scorers.

U17 India Freeman then came to the middle and this new partnership flourished. Quick runs and boundaries seemed to come at ease, yet at drinks the Imps were still slightly behind the run-rate. The pair pushed on until Wala Bowled McDowell ending the 89 run partnership; McDowell ending with 38 – not a bad debut performance!

Captain Butts went to the crease and aided Freeman to her half century. Butts got a quick fire 16 before stepping in front of her stumps and being given LBW. Freemans U17 partner Brooker entered the field of play with the Imps only needing 9 for victory off 4 overs. The pair put on 6 before Presland struck, bowling Freeman with 3 required from 7 balls. A nervous Jones faced her first ball. A wide – 2 off 7. A dot ball to end meant Lincs needed 2 off the final over.

Sainsbury had the ball for the final over, a dot followed by Brooker being caught out left the Imps needing 2 off 4 as Dyer joined Jones at the crease. Dyer got a single, scores were tied. A dot ball followed, the Imps were on the edge of their seats watching as the next ball hit Jones’ leg and Dyer called her through for the winning leg bye.

First game of the season and a first victory in the county champs. The team was elated. This game has fuelled the ladies for the rest of the season. There are still areas to work on, tightness in the field and wilier bowling would have reduced the Hunts & Cambs score by 30; but coach Alan Ward believes this victory is great signs of things to come for the Imps.

Their first impact puts the Imps at the top of Div 4, hopefully this is where they will stay. Their next game is Northumberland away on the 24th May.

Beth Smith

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Lincolnshire batsman Beth Smith looks forward to her first season of county cricket.

As the season approaches, the Lincolnshire ladies set-up are relishing the fact that for the first time they are playing in the County Championship. For a minor county, where women’s and girl’s cricket only really got established 5 years ago, this is a major step forward to establishing themselves in the cricketing world.

The ladies team is still in its infancy under new coach/ manager Alan Ward who joined the Lincs coaching staff 2 years ago, but they are going from strength to strength.

Over the winter months the ladies have undergone a regular training programme in preparation for the coming season; and some of the stronger junior girls were also invited to attend the training sessions with the intention that they will be fighting for the chance to play in some of the ladies fixtures during the summer.

The first game for Lincs Ladies is this coming Sunday (3rd May) and they are sending out a strong team looking to make an impact in their first county champs fixture. Due to work and other commitments some of the senior players are unavailable, so a strong suit of U17s join the five experienced seniors in the match against Huntingdonshire & Cambridgeshire.

Some of the youngsters will be ones to watch in the coming season, both for their respective junior team but also within the ladies team.

Becki Brooker, India Freeman and Alexia Page-Graves all performed with the bat last season and will be required to put in similar performances to aid the senior batsmen – Beth Smith, Hayley Butts and Rachael Dyer.

Lucy Barnes (U17) will be assisting the bowling attack alongside debutant senior Sarah McDowell and returning left-armer Dani Jex.

The close fought matches in 2014 have given the Lincolnshire ladies a good platform to spring from in their inaugural season in the county championship. A match report will follow Sundays match; hopefully showing Lincs as victorious!

Come on You Imps!

Beth Smith