Berkshire

All rounder Lissy Macleod has been appointed the new Berkshire captain. With Heather Knight stepping down from the role due to her international commitments with England in a home World Cup summer, Macleod was the obvious candidate to take over, having made over 100 appearances for the Beavers since her debut in 2008, with 14 fifties, 1 century, and 77 wickets to her name. Knight will continue to play for Berkshire where her schedule allows.

Lancashire

England spinner Alex Hartley has re-signed for Lancashire after 4 seasons at Middlesex. Hartley first emerged through the Lancashire youth system, but joined Middlesex to reboot a career which had appeared to be stalled at the time – a smart move, which ended with her being awarded a full England contract off the back of her international debut last summer.

Also heading to Lancashire is England Academy batsman Eve Jones, as the side look to avoid the fate they suffered last time they were promoted to Div 1, when they were sent immediately back down to Div 2 after 8 straight defeats.

Nottinghamshire

Notts – the other newly promoted county in Div 1 – have also been shopping, acquiring Jodie Dibble from Devon, Lucy Higham from Leicestershire and Megan Burton from Wales. Dibble dropped out of the national squad last year, and had a pretty indifferent Super League for the Western Storm; but she is only 22 and it isn’t beyond the bounds of possibility that Notts represents a way back for her to some day add to her one England cap.

Middlesex

Despite the disappointment of not winning a Super League franchise last year, Middlesex have taken the bold step of appointing Danni Warren as their new Head of Women’s Cricket, to oversee both the county and MCC sides. Warren made over 100 appearances for the county between 2002-2015, taking more than 150 wickets.

Having lost Hartley, Middlesex will be looking very much to youth this season, and have promoted both Gayatri Gole and Katie Wolfe from their U19 squad, as they try to improve on last season’s narrow scrape with relegation in Div 1.

Hampshire

Hampshire narrowly missed out on promotion from Div 2 last season, but it will be a different business down at the Ageas Bowl this year. With Charlotte Edwards and now New Zealand captain Suzie Bates also signed up to play county cricket in 2017, Hampshire are clearly making a big long-term play for a future in the women’s game, keeping their eggs in both the KSL and county baskets, ahead of the likelihood of further fluidity* in the structure of women’s domestic cricket in 2019/20.

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* We don’t have any inside info on this; but with the changes coming to The Other Game, we suspect the logical move would be to create parallel women’s teams, and if the Super League is still going in 2021, we’ll eat our own pizzas!!

Our bowling rankings, covering the T20 and ODI Rosebowl series between Australia and New Zealand, see a number of unexpected new faces in the leading positions: of the top 4, only New Zealand’s Holly Huddleston has played more than 10 internationals, and the “Hudd Missile” herself has played less than 30 – a number she now looks nailed-on to add to at the World Cup in England in the summer.

After an underwhelming WBBL with wooden-spooners the Adelaide Strikers, 19-year-old Amanda Wellington has come roaring back to the top of her game with 15 wickets, including a best of 4-16 to restrict New Zealand to just 113 in the 3rd T20 – a match-winning platform which the Southern Stars batsmen then proceeded to throw away in spectacular fashion, as they were bowled out for just 66.

New Zealand’s own new teenage sensation – sixteen-year-old Amelia Kerr – also took her best figures in a losing cause – 4-54 in the 2nd ODI. They weren’t just any wickets either, but included a set Meg Lanning and Beth Mooney (on 44 and 57, respectively) and Elyse Villani for a golden duck. Kerr also finished the series with the best economy rate of any of the leading bowlers – just 4.5.

Having made her Southern Stars debut in this series, Molly Strano played just the 3 T20s and already has an international fifer to her name – 5-10 in the 2nd T20. But guess what? That was also in a lost match, as Australia fell short chasing a Duckworth-Lewis adjusted target of 70 off 13 overs, limping to 61-9.

Ranking = Wickets / Economy

The ICC and ECB have this morning announced England’s schedule for the up-coming World Cup this summer, with the home side playing at all 4 “host” grounds – Derby, Leicester, Taunton and Bristol – during the round-robin stages; followed by a semi-final at either Bristol or Derby, and (if they get there, of course) the final at Lords on July 23rd.

England begin by hosting the subcontinental trio – India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. You’d think they’d have to be looking to win all 3 of those games to put themselves in a strong position for the tougher tests to come, when a slip-up somewhere along the line is probably inevitable. England certainly won’t want to be going into the last couple of games, versus New Zealand and the West Indies, with semi-final qualification in doubt, though that will possibly depend very-much on how evenly all those other results fall.

With everyone playing everyone else in the group stages, it is going to be a huge tournament – 31 matches in just 30 days – so whoever eventually lifts that trophy at Lords will truly have earned the title of “World Champions”.

She might be the best player in the world right now… she might have more ODI centuries than any other woman ever, after she passed Charlotte Edwards record 9 during this series… but for once Meg Lanning isn’t at the top of our batting rankings, covering the T20 and ODI Rosebowl series between Australia and New Zealand.

Instead, it is Amy Satterthwaite who rules the roost with the blade – she has been in spectacular international nick over the past few months, and after dominating New Zealand’s series with South Africa last October, she continued her rich vein of form here, including a match-winning century in the 1st ODI.

For the Australians, Beth Mooney had a break-out series, almost certainly confirming her ticket to England in the summer; but Elyse Villani was actually arguably even more important, with a big Strike Rate of 118, coming in a bit further down the order at 4 or 5, having usually opened in her international career to date; and it clearly worked, so you’d think this is probably where we are likely to see her batting during the World Cup.

Ranking = Runs * Strike Rate

The ICC have announced remarkable viewing numbers for the live streams from the Women’s World Cup Qualifying tournament, held recently in Sri Lanka. A total of 1.75 million people watched the live streams, whilst the highlights packages attracted an amazing 18 million viewers – and all for a tournament which didn’t even feature the top 4 teams!

Tournament Director Holly Colvin, the ex-England spinner who now works for the ICC, said:

“It’s great to know that so many people took interest in the competition and watched the live-stream and highlights.”

“I’m extremely excited for the Women’s World Cup which will take the game to the next level and set the stage to attract even more fans to the global game.”

Sadly one thing we do know is that the World Cup itself will not attract these kinds of numbers – certainly not in England anyway, where it will be hidden away behind Sky’s paywall, where new fans will simply be unable to stumble across it.

Nevertheless it is certainly still great news. After the success of the WBBL live-streams, “online” really does appear to be the way to go for the future of women’s cricket; and with numbers like these, it might even be possible to fund such coverage through advertising and sponsorship, so the old “we don’t have the budget” excuses won’t apply. And if this is the future… we can’t wait!!

The 2017 Women’s World Cup Qualifying tournament moves into the Super Sixes stage out in Sri Lanka tomorrow.

With the initial rounds going pretty-much to form, India and South Africa won all their games to top their respective groups, followed by Sri Lanka and Pakistan in second place, then Ireland and Bangladesh taking the last two Super Sixes slots in third.

The final 3 rounds, in which each team play the Super Sixes teams not in their group – i.e. the ones they haven’t played yet – will determine which four sides will travel to England in the summer for the World Cup.

Ireland are certainly still in with a shout, but they will rue their defeat to Sri Lanka earlier in the tournament, which was probably their most winnable match against the teams ranked above them. Realistically, they now have to beat Bangladesh tomorrow, and Pakistan too later in the week, if they are to make it to England.

On their way home are Zimbabwe and Scotland, with one win apiece, and Thailand and Papua New Guinea, who will be “taking the positives”.

For Scotland it truly is the end of an era, with the announcement that Kari Carswell (née Anderson) is to retire. The 34-year-old is without a doubt the greatest player in Scotland’s (admittedly short) history; and at one point held the roles of captain, coach and director of women’s cricket, before gradually relinquishing them over the past few years. Having recently taken a coaching job in New Zealand, her departure from the international scene was not entirely unexpected; but Scotland will miss her – she was their leading run-scorer in this tournament, and also chipped-in with 3 wickets – and to say she is irreplaceable would, for once, perhaps not be hyperbole.

At the half-way (ish) point in the World Cup Qualifiers out in Sri Lanka, the two groups are exactly where you would have predicted them to be: South Africa and India out in front, followed by the other two “Championship” teams, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, with the “full-time amateur” sides – Zimbabwe, Scotland, Papua New Guinea and Thailand – propping up the bottoms of the tables.

And in the middle sit Ireland and Bangladesh – the two ODI countries which are not part of the Women’s International Championship circus. As we’ve already seen in the 10-team World T20 last year, these two are effectively in a group of their own – they cruised through the qualifiers for that tournament (which didn’t include any Championship sides) but struggled against the Championship teams when they actually got to India.

Caught in a Catch-22, their exclusion from the Championship means that they don’t get enough cricket against the top teams to really improve; but unless they can improve, they will never break into the Championship, in its current 8-team format, to get that cricket.

Ireland in particular are so close to being good enough right now – on their day, in home conditions, they could beat Sri Lanka and Pakistan, as well as Bangladesh, who they defeated in the final of the WWT20 Qualifiers; but for economic and scheduling reasons, these qualifiers seem mainly to be played in the subcontinent – the Irish players face wearying jet-lag, oppressive heat, and unfamiliar pitches, loading the dice against them.

Equally, if Ireland do pull it off – beat Pakistan and Bangladesh in the Super Sixes, and qualify for England 2017, which would see them play in the Championship for the next four years; that would leave one of Pakistan or Sri Lanka excluded, just as Ireland have been – it might even be the death of the women’s game in that country.

Rumour has it that the ICC were discussing the option of expanding the Championship to 10 teams, giving Ireland and Bangladesh a route forwards. Nothing seems to have come of it; but what we’ve seen in Sri Lanka proves that they have to go back and reconsider.

It isn’t too late to do the right thing… and the right thing would be to expand the Championship to all 10 ODI teams, including Ireland and Bangladesh.

Former Southern Star, and current Melbourne Star, Jess Cameron played her part in the historic season-opener of the new Women’s AFL [Aussie Rules] competition in Australia, in front of a staggering crowd of 24,000 at Ikon Park in Melbourne.

Cameron played for Collingwood versus local rivals Carlton in the opening match of the 8-team competition, which looks set to give the WBBL a fair run for its money as the biggest draw in women’s domestic sport in Australia.

Today’s match was free entry, with hundreds of fans apparently turned away at the gates. As with the WBBL, all matches are being live-streamed.

According to the Guardian’s Minute By Minute, Cameron literally “made her mark” on today’s match in the closing seconds of the first half:

Jess Cameron marks on a tough angle. She becomes the first player to be mozzed by a commentator when described as the best kick in the competition shortly before hitting the post.

Carlton ran-out eventual winners by a wide margin – 7.4 – 1.5.

This year’s KSL will take place between 10th August and 1st September, with the semi and final taking place in Hove, on a Friday to accommodate Sky TV coverage. In all, 6 group fixtures (all double-headers with men’s T20 Blast matches) plus the semi and final will be live on Sky Sports TV, and TMS are also expected to cover most (but possibly not all) games on BBC radio.

* = Live on Sky Sports

Strength In Depth

A year ago, we were musing that having 8 teams in WBBL was perhaps as much as two too many; but this season has shown those fears to have been unfounded – it has given us 50-odd games of high-class cricket. While there were winners and losers, of course, no team was totally outclassed through the tournament as a whole; and no player looked like she didn’t deserve to be there. It may be true that the Aussies have a seam problem – though the leading bowler in the tournament, Sarah Aley, is a seamer – but WBBL02 makes it clear that they nevertheless have a strength in depth that has to be the envy of the world.

Having The Best Player Is Overrated

Though Beth Mooney was named the official Player of the Tournament, there isn’t much doubt who the best cricketer in the world is – Meg Lanning is the T-1000 of the women’s game, and seems virtually certain to break almost every record in the book before she retires. (Though I have an inkling she won’t overtake Charlotte Edwards’ 10,264 international runs.) But as in WBBL01, the Women’s World T20, and now in WBBL02, it seems like having the best player isn’t enough, as Lanning’s Melbourne Stars crashed out in the group stages. Cricket might be the most individual of team games… but it is still a team game!

A Crowded(ish) House

Cricket Australia tell us that 100,000 spectators watched WBBL02, which is impressive stuff, when you consider that KSL averaged just over 1,000 per game; but… all of those KSL games were stand-alone; whilst a full quarter of the total Aussie spectators (25,000) were for just one match: a double-header – the Melbourne derby on New Year’s Day. Take out this game (even ignoring the other double-headers) and the average for WBBL02 was around 1,500 per match – not too shabby, by any means; but not that much more than the KSL, which was only in its first year after all, and without the men’s teams to piggy-back aboard.

Don’t Read Too Much Too Early Into Individual Performances

WBBL02 has seen some impressive performances from young players; but looking back to WBBL01, I wonder if both the Southern Stars selectors, and we in the media, were too quick to pile the pressure on young players after one good tournament, leading to a couple of last year’s breakout stars comparatively under-performing this time around? Tournament “Young Gun”, 19-year-old Ashleigh Gardner, could come to England next summer and tear it up at the World Cup… but on the other hand, she has time on her side, and she might actually just need it! Her international call-up, pretty-much on the basis of one successful tournament, should be considered carefully against the question of whether she really is the finished article yet – some are at that age… but some aren’t; and the surest way to drown someone is to throw them in before they are actually ready to swim!