Author: Syd Egan

MATCH REPORT: Middlesex Edge Thriller in Mill Hill-er

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Middlesex ran out winners by a single run against Berkshire at Mill Hill School, but there was controversy aplenty which left Berkshire ruing not one but two unfortunate umpiring decisions – Fi Morris given out LBW to a ball that appeared to hit her very high on her pads; and then on what turned out to be the final ball of the day, a catch off a high full-toss from Middlesex quick Naomi Dattani, which arguably should have been called a No Ball.

At the start of the day, Dattani had won the toss and opted to bat first on a pitch which was expected to get harder to score on as the day progressed. In fact, it proved hard to score on from the first, as Middlesex made a plodding start, looking to see off openers Lauren Bell and Catherine Guppy. That they did, and it was the introduction of off-spinner Emma Walker in the 9th over which brought the breakthrough, trapping Dattani LBW.

Walker’s first spell also saw the fall of Tash Miles and Fran Wilson, both nicely taken C&Bs, before a middle-order recovery led by (who else?) Beth Morgan took Middlesex past the hundred mark to 116-4.

The return of Walker for a second spell brought the breakthrough once more, as the 18-year-old had Holly Huddleston caught by Millie Allerton, followed by Kathy Morley LBW, to bring up her maiden 5-fer in only her third ever match at this level. Meanwhile at the other end, Lauren Bell began a new over with 2 consecutive wides, but a quiet word from veteran Kiwi Rachel Priest obviously had the desired effect, as Bell sent down two rockets to trap Beth Morgan LBW for 37, and then Izzy Westbury, utterly flummoxed for pace, LBW for 1; with Middlesex finally closing at 152-8 from their 50 overs.

Berkshire’s reply got off to a lopsided start, as Priest hit out, whilst Annabel Flack played the blocking game at the other end – by the time Priest was out for a rollicking 47 off 37 balls, pulling Dattani to Cath Dalton at mid off, Flack was still only on 4! Flack made another 5, off 47 balls, before she became the second of Westbury’s 4 victims.

Victory appeared to be heading Middlesex’s way as they eyed up Berkshire’s long tail, but a stubborn stand between Bell (26) and Allerton (only 5, but lasting 31 balls in the process) looked to spoil the party, before Dattani took the decision to bring back Holly Huddleston early to try to finish things off. The “Hudd Missile” repaid the faith, bowling both Allerton and Bell – the latter perhaps slightly unfortunately off her pads – and then getting a bit of luck from the umpire to add Morris LBW.

But the end of Huddleston’s spell still left Middlesex with two wickets to find, and the target edged closer and closer as Ashleigh Muttitt dibbed and dabbed Berkshire to within one run of the Middlesex total, before the agonising finale ensued.

Afterwards, Middlesex captain Dattani admitted it was a close-run thing:

“We seem to put ourselves into positions like that: we were in control – we had them 7 wickets down – and we thought the 3 wickets should come relatively easy, but they did very well to dig in there at the end – they put up a good fight – it was a good competition.”

And on the final controversy?

“If it was a no ball, it’s the umpire’s call at the end of the day… It was a bad ball, but a wicket is a wicket.”

The result means that Middlesex can breathe a little easier in the Women’s County Championship, with a win under their belts at last; but leaves Berskhire bogged down in the “relegation zone” alongside Sussex, both with no wins from the first 3 rounds.

OPINION: Surrey’s Aylish Cranstone Turns Lanning’s Law On Its Head

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Lanning’s Law asserts that:

It’s not a good shot if it goes straight to the fielder.

(I’m sure it isn’t a totally original thought; but Anna Lanning’s statement of it, attributed to her sister Meg, is the clearest expression of it that I’ve heard in 40 years of watching cricket.)

But in a 31-run cameo, off just 23 balls, in the Middlesex v Surrey London Cup at Radlett last night, Surrey’s left-handed No. 3 Aylish Cranstone set out to prove that the opposite might just also be true.

It started with a cut – chipped upishly into the area backward of square on the off-side, covered by two fielders. I gasped, waiting for the catch, but instead the ball found the gap between gully and point, and a single was chalked into the scorebook. Turning to my companion, I grimaced: “Lucky!”

A few balls later, Cranstone got fortunate again – a drive flew into the breeze between midwicket and mid on; but it wasn’t until the lightning struck a third time, through vacant extra cover, that it hit me: this wasn’t luck at all – Cranstone was perfectly comfortable playing the ball in the air, because she knew where it was going – into the gaps bisecting the fielders, wherever they were, off side or on!

In fact, Cranstone wasn’t really batting with her bat at all, but with her brain – and doing so quite exquisitely, running the Middlesex fielders all around the park, the ball dancing between them, sometimes just trickling to the boundary as they chased in vain. Even when Middlesex captain Natasha Miles reset the field, all it did was open up new spaces for Cranstone to play with.

I’ll be the first to admit that Cranstone’s shots don’t look “all that” – she doesn’t have the power of a Nat Sciver or the timing of a Sarah Taylor… though to be fair in the latter case, who does?

But if Lanning’s Law is right – it’s not a good shot if it goes straight to the fielder – then perhaps what Cranstone proved last night is that the opposite is also true:

If it finds the perfect gap… it is a good shot!

INTERVIEW: Warwickshire Captain Marie Kelly

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We caught up with the Warwickshire skipper – batsman Marie Kelly – following her match-winning half-century against Kent last weekend.

When Marie Kelly first captained Warwickshire, standing-in for Becky Grundy in 2015, the club’s status as a “Div 1” county looked precarious at best – they had survived the previous season by the skin of their teeth, thanks to an unlikely last-gasp play-off victory against Somerset; and the start of the 2015 season saw them lose their first 3 matches to leave them bottom of the Championship.

In retrospect the 4th match of the 2015 season – a nail-biting 5-run victory against Surrey – represented something of a turning point. The Bears pulled off a further two wins to avoid relegation; and by the start of the 2016 season, big changes were afoot. Warwickshire CCC took the decision to get serious about women’s cricket, and appointed Kelly as captain to take the Bears into the new era.

2016 began brightly, with the Bears topping both the 50-over and T20 tables after a string of victories; until they finally ran into the Suzie Bates-driven Kent juggernaut in both competitions, finally finishing 2nd in the T20 Cup and 3rd in the County Championship.

Ultimately, then, 2016 ended in disappointment; but looking back now, Kelly isn’t too downhearted:

“We’ve had a lot of reflection on last season – we were happy with how we played and this season we are looking to do exactly the same again if we can.”

A cancellation against Staffs, and then the long international / Super League break, meant that Warwickshire unbelievably went almost three months in 2016 with no 50-over cricket, between their initial run of victories in May and their loss to Kent at the end of August; and Kelly admits they didn’t handle it as well as they might have done:

“We just expected it to pick up from where we left off – expecting it all to just fall back in place – but we found it hard getting the momentum back.”

It is something they will try to avoid this time around, with a similar schedule in this year’s County Championship:

“Rather than having a month break without seeing each other, we’ll try and get a few friendly matches in; and then it is just about training – even if it is just bowling a few balls; hitting a few balls – doing something to keep the momentum going ready for our next games.”

For Kelly, one of the big advantages Warwickshire now have thanks to their closer relationship with the men’s club is a proper “home” at the Edgbaston Foundation Ground – a professionally curated facility they share with the men’s 2nd XI:

“We love having a home ground – somewhere we can come to and know how the pitch is going to play. It is always difficult going from ground to ground – you never know what you are going to get – whereas coming here we know exactly what we are going to get; we know exactly how it is going to play so there shouldn’t be any excuses!”

Does it give them an edge over other teams? Kelly believes so:

“100 percent it is an advantage – just to have the same changing room and the same environment – it settles you and that is one less thing to think about – you just get on with the job in hand.”

Additionally, this season Warwickshire are also providing travelling expenses and some kit upgrades:

“That’s really important – it shows that we’ve got their support – Ashley Giles, our Sporting Director, and Neil Snowball [Warwickshire CEO] are fully on board with everything, so we feel really part of the club and they are backing us.”

“We always go to the Chairman’s Lunch and we had a double-header at Edgbaston last year, and we’ve got it again this year, so it is just nice to be involved in the club like that and to know that we are fully supported.”

Having russelled-up (sic!!) a second victory against Sussex the day after our chat last weekend, Kelly’s side are repaying that support, sitting second in the Women’s County Championship table, just half a point behind the early pace-setters, Lancashire. There’s a long season ahead of course, and Warwickshire aren’t a side full of international, or even Super League, stars; but for Kelly, this is actually the point:

“At Warwickshire we’ve always been a “team” – we don’t just rely on a few people to score all the runs or take all the wickets – the team comes first. It’s a team game, and it is all about a team win, so we are just going to try and play as a team and use all of our players.”

It’s the kind of thing you’ll hear a lot of captains say, but on Sunday it was tested, as leg-spinner Nish Patel struggled with her length early-on. A different captain would have taken her off – bowled herself perhaps, to stay on the safe side – but Kelly persisted. Patel bowled out her 10 overs, but the real reward came the following day, as Patel took 3-19 to clean-up the Sussex tail and earn the win against one of their big Championship rivals.

That’s leadership; and if Warwickshire do indeed go all the way this season, Kelly’s leadership will have been a big part of why.

MATCH REPORT: Kent Exit Pursued by Bears

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A battling batting performance, led by captain Marie Kelly and new recruit Jo Gardner, dragged Warwickshire over the line to beat Kent by 2 wickets at the Edgbaston Foundation Ground in the opening round of the Women’s County Championship.

Marie Kelly might have begun the day with a wild toss of the coin, forcing one of the umpires to leap out of the way, but she won the call nonetheless. The luck stayed with her until the end, when a direct hit went for 4 overthrows, and Warwickshire celebrated a victory which hadn’t all been plain sailing.

Sent into bat, Kent put on 44 for the first wicket before Molly Davies prodded a loose delivery from Georgia Hennessy into the vacant area behind midwicket. The single looked easy, and it would have been were it not for a brilliant bit of fielding from Nish Patel – a direct hit sending Davies back to the dressing room for 20.

The luck continued to flow Warwickshire’s way as Lottie Bryan played back to an unthreatening delivery from Liz Russell, pushing the ball safely out to cover, but in the process somehow managing to take out her own stumps.

The wickets came pretty easily after that, and Kent were on the ropes at 133-8 when Megan Belt came out to join Jenni Jackson in the 38th over. Belt may only be 19, but in a County Championship shorn of its international stars that makes her a senior player these days, and she looked it as she put on 66 with Jackson – making 29, including five 4s, before she was finally dismissed at the death. Jackson finished on 44*, as Kent made exactly the 200 they needed for full batting bonus points; whilst Warwickshire achieved the same with their 9 wickets.

In reply, Warwickshire lost Minahil Zahoor early, but Georgia Hennessy and Kathryn Bryce calmly took them to 47 without any real alarms. Bryce was caught mistiming a drive off Izzy Cloke for 13, bringing in Kelly who looked happy initially to let the ever-dangerous Hennessy play the leading role. But when Hennessy was out – Emily Thompson taking a low catch at backward square – Kelly began to take the initiative herself, running single after single on her way to 57 in partnership with Jo Gardner (who was on debut for Warwickshire, having signed from Northants).

As is so often the case, though, it only takes one wicket to bring two and then three, as Warwickshire collapsed from 163-3 to 167-6 and Kent were back into the game once more. Gardner rode her luck – including being dropped twice and caught off a no-ball – but she continued to play her shots as Kent began to pick off the stragglers in the tail at the other end. A drama ensued worthy of a David Attenborough voice-over – Kent chasing the final wickets, and Warwickshire just a handful of runs, with overs not an issue by this stage.

It was then – in the 47th over – that luck had its final say: a direct hit off a tight run could easily have been the final nail in Warwickshire’s coffin, but the ball ricocheted off the stumps and raced over the carpet of the outfield to the rope for 4 overthrows and the final victory to Warwickshire.

Speaking to CRICKETher after the game, Marie Kelly told us:

“I’m used to batting with Jo [Gardner] at Loughborough University and I think we work well together – we had a good partnership and I thought we were going to see it home, so it was frustrating for me to get out, but Jo saw us home.”

But for Kelly there were also lessons to be learned:

“We had them 130-8 but we just didn’t put sweepers out and they got away a bit – we need to learn from that and get the sweepers out early on – we’ll take that into tomorrow’s game [against Sussex]. Then towards the end… it has become the Warwickshire way, but rather than leaving it until the end like we did today, we need to make our wins a bit more clinical.”

Nonetheless, it was the start Warwickshire needed in the County Championship – a win against the champions, with full bonus points – and they will go into that match against Sussex full of confidence, and deservedly so.

NEWS: Sarah Taylor To Join UAE Camp

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England have announced that Sarah Taylor will after all join England’s pre-season training camp in the UAE, during which an England XI will play 3 non-international matches against Ireland.

Although Taylor has stayed out of the limelight for the past year, and hasn’t played any competitive cricket since the World T2o semi-final in India last March, she has remained a part of the England squad throughout that period, and has been training over the winter.

Nevertheless if she is, as England clearly hope, to make her return in time for the World Cup, she needs something more than nets at Loughborough to prepare, and hopefully this fairly low-key training camp offers that opportunity.

Additionally joining England on the camp in a coaching capacity will be recently retired Lancashire men’s captain Tom Smith, who is also going to be involved with Lancashire Thunder during KSL2.

England Head Coach Mark Robinson said:

“Bringing people [like Tom Smith] in helps further their own careers and brings continuity and quality within the coaching setup… He is fresh out of the game and is hungry to learn and develop as a coach. It’s great to get him in.”

BREAKING: The Women’s County Championship

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At the launch event for the (Men’s) County Championship at Merchant Taylors School last week, Clare Connor stood on stage alongside the bigwigs of the men’s game to celebrate the inclusion of a fourth “major” trophy into the pantheon of English domestic cricket – alongside the (Men’s) County Championship, the (Men’s) One Day Cup and the (Men’s) T20 Blast, we now have the Women’s Kia Super League.

“It’s a visual reminder for the game that we now have four major trophies on offer in our domestic season.”

The following day, Scyld Berry reported to readers of the Telegraph:

“Clare Connor, the ECB’s director of women’s cricket, made the point that counties had ceased to produce a good national women’s team and had to be replaced by franchises.”

Replaced?

Replaced?

Well, no – we can assure you that on Sunday 30th April, players from Berkshire to Yorkshire, and all manner of shires in-between, will walk out onto the fields of England to embark upon the chase for the Women’s County Championship of 2017.

To be fair to Scyld Berry, he was only reporting what he heard… and to be equally fair to Clare Connor, we don’t doubt that what he heard probably wasn’t quite what she said.

But the impression is clear enough – as far as the ECB are concerned, the Women’s County Championship occupies the status of Mrs Rochester to the KSL’s Jane Eyre, and we all remember what happened to Mrs Rochester… right? (TLDR: madness, fire, suicide, blar, blar, blar.)

As if to emphasise the point, at the end of last week, the ECB sent out a press release detailing the international player rosters for KSL2, which (lest we forget) doesn’t even start until after the World Cup, in which the only mention of the word “county” was to confirm that Finals Day will be held at the “Central County Ground” in Hove.

But the fact of the matter is that it is county cricket, with the Women’s County Championship at its heart, which remains the bedrock of the elite women’s game in this country – Div 1 offering 3,920 overs of cricket (including the T2o Cup) compared to the KSL’s 680 overs. We should be shouting from the rooftops… not jumping from them! [Okay… that’s enough Jane Eyre references – Ed.]

But perhaps the real lesson here, however, isn’t for us at all – it is for the fans of the men’s game, who are being told that the coming City T20, designed around the same franchise model as the KSL, won’t downgrade the status of their County Championship.

Yer.

We were told that too.

BREAKING: England & Overseas Players Announced For KSL2

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The ECB have revealed the England and Overseas player rosters for KSL2, with moves for a number of players, including for England’s two Danielle’s: Hazell heading across the Pennines to captain the Thunder, and Wyatt moving down south to the Vipers.

It has also been announced that both Charlotte Edwards and Arran Brindle will be returning for the Vipers; but not Lydia Greenway, who effectively therefore confirms her retirement from the “spotlight” level of the game, though she may yet appear for Kent this season in a “player-coach” capacity.

Two overseas players (at the Stars and the Storm) are still “To Be Confirmed”.

Lancashire Thunder

  • Kate Cross
  • Danielle Hazell
  • Sarah Taylor
  • Jess Jonassen (AUS)
  • Amy Satterthwaite (NZ)
  • Lea Tahuhu (NZ)

Loughborough Lightning

  • Georgia Elwiss
  • Amy Jones
  • Beth Langston
  • Kristen Beams (AUS)
  • Ellyse Perry (AUS)
  • Elyse Villani (AUS)

Southern Vipers

  • Tash Farrant
  • Danielle Wyatt
  • Suzie Bates (NZ)
  • Hayley Matthews (WI)
  • Dane van Niekerk (SA)
  • Charlotte Edwards
  • Arran Brindle

Surrey Stars

  • Tammy Beaumont
  • Alex Hartley
  • Laura Marsh
  • Natalie Sciver
  • Rene Farrell (AUS)
  • Marizanne Kapp (SA)
  • TBC (OS)

Western Storm

  • Heather Knight
  • Anya Shrubsole
  • Fran Wilson
  • Rachel Priest (NZ)
  • Stafanie Taylor (WI)
  • TBC (OS)

Yorkshire Diamonds

  • Katherine Brunt
  • Jenny Gunn
  • Lauren Winfield
  • Sophie Devine (NZ)
  • Sune Luus (SA)
  • Beth Mooney (AUS)

NEWS: 2017 Women’s Cricket World Cup Cancelled

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The 2017 Women’s World Cup, which was due to be staged in England this summer, has been cancelled, according to a statement from Cricket Australia.

Bruce Bruceton, the Deputy Vice Chief Executive of Women’s Cricket in Australia, made the announcement at a special press conference last night in Melbourne.

Bruceton said:

“It was clear to everyone that Australia were going to win the World Cup anyway, so we’ve decided to do the sensible thing and just keep the trophy for another 4 years.”

Australian skipper Meg Megastar, who has been credited with an additional 9 international centuries, to make up for the ones she would have scored anyway if the tournament had been played, added:

“I’m really, really good at the crickets. By the way… has anyone seen Warnie?”

It is expected that a decision on the 2021 World Cup in New Zealand will be made shortly after midday.

NEWS: England Name Squad For UAE Training Camp & Ireland Matches

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England have named a huge squad of 24 players for their up-coming training camp in the UAE, which will include 3 one-day matches (NB – not “official” ODIs) against Ireland on 24th, 26th and 28th of April, as well as a number of inter-squad games.

The squad includes all the contracted players except Sarah Taylor; plus 7 faces from the Senior Academy squad, including Berkshire’s Linsey Smith and Kent’s Alice Davidson-Richards. Although neither Smith nor Davidson-Richards have quite “come from nowhere”, neither was really in the England picture a year ago, but as with Alex Hartley, it shows that Mark Robinson’s England are prepared to cast their net a little wider than might have been the case in the past.

As for Taylor, England are clearly still hoping she might make the World Cup – she is back in training, but not at full fitness, and England have stressed that there are no timescales in place – she will be back when she is ready, be that in time for the World Cup, or not.

UPDATE

The ECB have confirmed that the contracted players will not be available for the first two rounds of the County Championship on April 30th/ May 1st; whilst the Academy players will be released on a case-by-case basis.

Full Squad:

  • Heather Knight
  • Anya Shrubsole
  • Tammy Beaumont
  • Katherine Brunt
  • Kate Cross
  • Georgia Elwiss
  • Tash Farrant
  • Jenny Gunn
  • Alexandra Hartley
  • Danielle Hazell
  • Amy Jones
  • Beth Langston
  • Laura Marsh
  • Nat Sciver
  • Fran Wilson
  • Lauren Winfield
  • Danielle Wyatt
  • Georgia Adams
  • Hollie Armitage
  • Alice Davidson-Richards
  • Sophie Ecclestone
  • Eve Jones
  • Emma Lamb
  • Linsey Smith

OPINION: Women’s Salaries In Australia – The Story… And The REAL Story

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Give them their due, Cricket Australia really are the masters of media management. This morning we’ve seen the mainstream newspapers, not to mention some of the cricket press who really should know better, fall over themselves to laud CA over a one-sided press release which in reality is just another battle in their war with the Australian (Men’s) Cricketers’ Association (ACA) over the future of men’s salaries.

The press release proclaims an amazing leap forwards for the women’s game:

“Women’s Pay Set To Double” is typical of the headlines in the mainstream press; and this would be big news if it was news… but unfortunately that isn’t quite what it is.

The small print begins even in that tweet from Cricket Australia – this isn’t a deal, it is an “offer” made by CA to the ACA – the latest bargaining chip in the protracted round of negotiations over a new deal for Australia’s men’s cricketers.

For a few years now, the men in Australia… in an agreement based on a “memorandum of understanding” which totally excludes the women… have been paid based on a revenue sharing agreement – when CA does well, the men do well; and when CA win the lottery (as they have with the BBL), the men win the lottery.

CA want to ditch this deal, for reasons both good and bad – they want to keep back more money for CA itself, but they would argue that this will allow them to invest in the future of the game, and put aside grain for the lean years which will inevitably roll around one day.

Unsurprisingly, the men aren’t terribly keen on this, and through their union – which is what the ACA is – they are fighting tooth and nail to keep revenue sharing.

Today’s offer is an attempt by CA to cut through the Gordian Knott of the ACA’s intransigence on this issue. By bringing the women into it, and aspiring to double their salaries, CA make themselves out to be the good guys, and challenge the ACA to look like sexist dinosaurs if they spurn this latest offer.

And by releasing it to the media the way they have, CA also clearly hope to create a fait accompli – to make the deal almost impossible for the ACA to reject, because the media have already painted it as “done”.

If it eventually happens, and if the small print lives up to the headlines, then sure – it would be a game-changer. But those are big “ifs”; and the media are doing the women, who are being used as cannon-fodder in a cynical game of “blink” between CA and the ACA, a disservice in writing those headlines based on where we really are at right now.