Author: Raf Nicholson

POLL: Who Should Be The Next England Coach?

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It was announced last week that Paul Shaw will be stepping down at the end of the year as England Head of Performance, to be replaced by a new Head Coach in due course.

The question on everyone’s lips is: who should replace him?

CRICKETher thinks there are several possible contenders…

1. Mark Lane

Lane was previously England coach between 2008 and 2013, during which time England had their most successful year ever, winning the World Cup, T20 World Cup and the Ashes all in the space of one calendar year (2009). A recent interview with Lane by Martin Davies of Women’s Cricket Blog suggests that he might well be willing to resume his old post, if asked. Given the lack of coaches around with direct experience and knowledge of the women’s game, he surely has to be a contender – but would the ECB see re-appointing him as a backward step?

2. Salliann Briggs

The Head Coach at Loughborough MCCU, Briggs will be familiar with the majority of the current contracted players, many of whom are either current students at Loughborough or have previously studied there. She has also coached on the England Under 19s Women’s Development Programme and would be well-placed to assess the talent currently coming through the ranks. But does she have the top-level experience to take over the reins from Shaw?

3. Jen Laycock

Earlier this year Laycock made it onto the All Out Cricket Women’s Cricket Power List, and for good reason. She is currently Head Coach on the MCC Young Cricketers program, which provides a vital link between age-group and senior cricket – giving the up and coming generation of 19/20 year-olds the opportunity to spend a summer playing as full-time pros. The likes of Heather Knight and Danni Wyatt have come through the program. She also coaches the newly-branded Lancashire Thunder – a team she previously captained – and works as Lancashire’s Women’s and Girls Development Officer, helping grow the sport across the county. Aged just 26, Jen has risen rapidly through her coaching badges. Could she make the step-up to the top job?

4. Beth Morgan

Having captained Middlesex for 8 years, Morgan stepped down as skipper at the end of last season and this year served as player-coach for her county, who finished in a respectable mid-table position in the championship. Tactically astute, a brilliant (wo)man-manager and with a wealth of knowledge about the women’s game – she herself represented England between 2003 and 2011 – she is CRICKETher’s current favourite for the job. But would she have the authority to coach a team led by Charlotte Edwards, the captain Morgan served under during most of her international career?

5. Cathryn Fitzpatrick

Following her 16 years playing international cricket for Australia, terrorising batsmen with her fast bowling, Fitzpatrick took over as head coach of Australia in 2012. In her 3-year stint in the role, she took Australia to 3 World Cup victories, and their recent anointment as number 1 team in the world, according to the new ICC rankings, is surely at least partly attributable to her. She stepped down from the top job in May so would certainly be free to take over the England role – but would the ECB prefer to look closer to home?

CRICKETher thinks the field is still wide open for other possible candidates to emerge, but we’re interested to know who YOU think should get the top job? Vote now!

OPINION: Will the Super League succeed where the County Championship has failed?

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This year’s County Championship and T20 Cup have recently concluded – in what looks set to be the last domestic season of its kind ever.

This time next year the inaugural T20 element of the Women’s Cricket Super League will have taken place – assuming all goes according to plan over the next few months.

In a recent interview Clare Connor outlined the rationale behind the Super League as follows:

“We wanted a competition that would excite and engage new players and new fans that would be a good shop window for women’s domestic cricket in this country. A competition that could eventually drive commercial income through TV and sponsorship revenues and a competition that would give us another platform other than international women’s cricket to grow the profile of the game. Women’s domestic cricket doesn’t achieve that.”

The suggestion is that the current domestic T20 competition has failed to secure the interest of the public in the same way that England Women have in recent years.

If that is the case, it is surely at least partly the fault of the ECB.

This season the following things have occurred:

1. T20 Finals Day – one of the most exciting days in the domestic calendar, which in previous years has attracted a crowd of several hundred – was cancelled ahead of this season, the winner of the T20 Cup this season being calculated simply based on who had scored the most points in the initial four rounds. No explanation was offered as to why the change was made, and CRICKETher are still not entirely clear about the rationale behind this.

2. On the final day of T20 games, it came down to a three-way tie between Yorkshire, Sussex and Kent on points, after all three won their final games. The winner would be decided by Net Run Rate… but who was it? Frantic calculations by Martin Davies from Women’s Cricket Blog initially suggested that Yorkshire had won… until the official scorecards were published on Play Cricket 24 hours later, and it was shown that Sussex were in fact the champions, by the tiniest of margins (0.02).

Was anyone from the ECB on hand to do the required calculations on Sunday evening? No – the whole situation was farcical.

3. Sussex were presented with the T20 Cup after their final 50-over game against Berkshire, by Tim Shutt of the Sussex Cricket Board. The ECB once again showed their commitment to the domestic competition, by… sending no representative to the presentation whatsoever.

This is all in addition to the ridiculous way in which the 50-over Cup was decided this season, whereby Yorkshire were able to win the entire Championship by refusing to play 3rd-placed Sussex, with nothing in the regulations to prevent this from happening.

Sadly all these things are indicative of the fact that, despite all the progress made at international level in recent years, very little attention (or finances) have been devoted to advancing the domestic game.

The Super League is an exciting prospect. If it succeeds where the County Championship has failed… if indeed it does bring in sponsorship revenue and grow crowds at domestic games… it will be at least partly because of the time, money and effort invested in it by the ECB.

It just seems a shame that it has taken this long for the domestic game to be given any kind of priority.

CLUB OF THE MONTH: Ickenham Ladies CC

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Here at CRICKETher, we’re passionate about women’s cricket at all levels, including club cricket. It’s our mission to offer coverage of women’s (and girls’) club cricket wherever we can! Our ‘Club of the Month’ feature will focus on one women’s or girls’ club every month, giving you the lowdown on their highs, lows, and everything in between.

If you’d like to see your club featured here, get in touch – we’d love to hear from you!

The current Ickenham Ladies club formed back in 2002. There had been a club at Ickenham playing in a local women’s league during the 1980s, and they even won the national Knock-Out Cup, but it had disbanded. Then, in 2002, the daughter of then President of Ickenham CC (who had played friendlies at ICC as a colt) decided it was time for a new ladies team to form.

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Coached by Pete Cook, Ickenham Ladies are part of the wider Ickenham CC, which supports four Men’s Saturday and two Men’s Sunday XIs, as well as age group colts cricket from U10 upwards for boys, U13 and U15 girls teams and a busy Foundation section for boys and girls under 10. They play at the club’s home ground at Oak Avenue, Ickenham and are enjoying the club’s new refurbished Clubhouse, which opened at the beginning of the 2014 season. Since the refurb, which included reconfiguring the changing rooms, men’s and women’s cricket can now be played simultaneously at the club, which happens most Sundays in the summer.

The club initially played in friendlies, but since 2009 have been involved with the North London Women’s Cricket League. Current captain Julie Fielder, described by teammate Paula Redpath as “one of our most prolific batsmen, and our bravest (and most injury-prone) fielder”, has recently led the team to success in the North London League, and they finished as champions in both the 2014 and 2015 seasons. A number of Ickenham players have also represented Middlesex over the years.

This season Ickenham have also participated in the Women’s Cricket Southern League, and in the newly-created Middlesex Development League, a 20-over competition designed to help teams get their cricket off the ground. Their membership of these three different leagues helps fulfil their stated aim of providing cricket to all women and girls who want to play, which is at the heart of everything the club does.

The club also host their own 6-a-side tournament at the beginning of every season, on a Bank Holiday Monday, a well-attended event which consists of two leagues playing round robin matches, and finished with a final. Breakfast, a BBQ lunch and a bar are all provided. This year Hursley Park won the tournament, and donations were also made to two charities: CURA and Cricket Without Boundaries.

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Ickenham have gone on club tours every year since 2007 and have visited Amsterdam, Madrid, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Wales, Devon and Skegness. The tours are purely team bonding exercises, with no cricket involved, and when asked about the highlights, club member Paula (mysteriously!) told CRICKETher that it was probably best not to mention “the iron fairground horse, baby Dave, cooo-eeeeee, Martin, or Tour Tourette’s”!!

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The club have been supported excellently over the years by their umpire Michele O’Grady, their dedicated scorer Jo Potter, Fixtures Secretary Pax, all-round behind-the-scenes organiser Geoff and the women behind the club’s admin, Tracey, Julie and Peeeee.

Overall, Paula describes it as “a very exciting time at ICC. We are lucky to have a lot of girls playing age group county cricket and starting to become the mainstays of the ladies team. It is a pleasure to see how all the different players and ages mix together and the way they all encourage each other.”

More info about Ickenham can be found on the club’s website, www.ickenhamcc.com and in particular their women’s page.

Congratulations on everything you have achieved, Ickenham, and keep it up!

EXCLUSIVE: England Selectors De-Selected

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In a somewhat incredible centralising move, CRICKETher have discovered that prior to the recent Women’s Ashes, the entire England Women’s Selection Panel was completely abolished. Instead as of this summer, responsibility for squad selection has rested entirely with the Head of England Women’s Performance, Paul Shaw.

All of the existing selectors – including the Chair, Sarah Pickford – received an email back in June informing them that they were dismissed with immediate effect.

Additionally, the England Women’s Academy Head Coach (until last week, Lisa Keightley) was given sole responsibility for the selection of EWA squads.

While the ECB are currently seeking to appoint a team of senior and development scouts, led by a new Head of Scouting, the post of “England Selector” has been permanently abolished. Shaw will now, according to the ECB, “work closely with a group of key stakeholders” (selected by himself) to make all selectorial decisions. Meanwhile Sarah Pickford – who had been an England selector for 8 years – is likely to have no further involvement in the selection process whatsoever.

Previously, the England Women’s selection processes have always aligned with that of their male counterparts, whereby an independent chair, alongside several senior selectors and the coach, meet prior to every series to decide on the final squad selection. However, power now seems to be largely concentrated in the hands of the Head of Performance – who, it is alleged, failed to attend several selection meetings prior to the changes being implemented.

The ECB have stated that the new system makes the selection process “more robust and resourced than ever before”. However, a source who was previously involved in the selection process has told CRICKETher that they believe the changes to be “a re-invention of the wheel and thoroughly misguided”.

Women’s Ashes Trophy Gaffe

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The Australians have recently headed back home with the Women’s Ashes trophy back in their grasp, presumably soon to be added to the silverware on display in their trophy cabinet.

There’s just one little problem: the trophy contains a glaring error.

CRICKETher’s editor Raf Nicholson spotted the mistake during the recent series, when the trophy was being displayed prior to the beginning of the Test match at Canterbury.

The discs on the base of the trophy contain the dates and results of the 21 women’s England-Australia series’ played to date (with space to show all results until 2030). The third series listed appears on the trophy as “1949/50 – Australia”. But… the series concerned actually took place during the 1948/9 season – with the three Tests (of which one was won by the Aussies, and two ended in draws) occurring in January and February 1949, at Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney.

Detail of the Women's Ashes Trophy

Detail of the Women’s Ashes Trophy

The Women’s “Ashes” – which are the remains of a miniature bat signed by both teams burned prior to the 1998 series – were originally housed within a timber cricket ball, but a new version of the trophy, which now surrounds the ball with nine golden stumps, was jointly commissioned by the ECB and Cricket Australia prior to the 2013 series. A company based in Kyneton, Victoria – Flynn Silver – was responsible for its production. Apparently the error on this new version of the trophy had until now gone unnoticed by either board.

While the correct series dates are on both the Cricket Archive and ESPNcricinfo databases, Wikipedia for some unknown reason has the same (incorrect) dates as the trophy. Perhaps the trophy’s engravers checked the wrong source before they did their job?!

CRICKETher did bring the gaffe to the attention of the ECB during the recent series, so it may be that something will be done to amend the error before the next Ashes encounter Down Under in 2017/18.

For now, though, there’s just one word to sum up the situation…

Oops!

Cricket Society Goes In To Bat For Chance to Shine Street

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Before England’s match at Chelmsford last Wednesday evening a special ceremony took place, as three girls from the East London Girls club were presented with bats on behalf of the Cricket Society.

The bats – which are from Cricket Deal Direct’s Heather Knight Collection – are part of a wider three-year bursary scheme funded by the Cricket Society through Chance to Shine Street. The Society are using a legacy which was left to them by a former officer, Vivienne Hogarth, with the request that it be used to help talented but needy cricketers.

Chairman of the Cricket Society Nigel Hancock was at Chelmsford to witness the presentation, and explained that the Society had been keen to use the money to aid grassroots women’s cricket, and had chosen to act as a funder for Chance to Shine as a result.

The girls themselves were clearly thrilled with their new bats, which they personally chose, and with the opportunity to meet England players Charlotte Edwards and Heather Knight before seeing them in action. 15-year-old Kiran, who has been playing cricket for two years, said:

“The bat feels amazing. It’s so good. My bat’s nothing like this!”

Kiran is just one of 400 girls annually who since 2011 have benefitted from the expansion of Chance to Shine’s Street scheme, which is now a national programme designed to provide opportunities to participate in cricket where the sport would not otherwise be accessible.

While cricket was not offered at her school, when Chance to Shine Street held an event at Wanstead School two years ago Kiran decided to go along, and fell in love with the game.

“Cricket’s not like any other sport,” she told CRICKETher. “Every ball you’re watching, and every ball is different. I would love to play for England one day!”

The East London Girls club is one of several girls-only schemes which Chance to Shine Street have introduced, and forms part of the general expansion of girls’ cricket in Essex in recent years, spearheaded by Essex Cricket Board’s Dave Letch. Several of the girls from East London now also play for Wanstead CC.

After the award, the girls stayed on to watch England Women beat Australia in spectacular fashion. It was certainly great to see them being inspired by the very player, Heather Knight, whose name and signature adorns their new bats.

OPINION: Are Questions Over Edwards’ Future as Captain Justified?

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In the wake of England’s poor performance this Ashes series, which culminated in the final T20 at Cardiff yesterday, The Independent’s Stephen Brenkley has directly called for Charlotte Edwards to step down as England captain.

In a piece published this morning, Brenkley states:

“The time has come when Edwards…must think seriously of letting somebody else have a go. No, more than that, she should step aside as England captain.”

“England now probably need a younger player who is more at home with the rhythms of the new, modern women’s game and may indeed have ideas about how its rapid progress can be accelerated still further.”

While Brenkley’s critique is not unjustified – England should leave no stone unturned in their analysis of what went wrong this series – he comprehensively fails to answer the key question: If Edwards steps down as captain, who is there that could replace her?

Of the 18 centrally-contracted players, only six are senior enough to be plausible candidates to take over: Anya Shrubsole, Katherine Brunt, Heather Knight, Sarah Taylor, Jenny Gunn and Lydia Greenway.

Shrubsole and Brunt are probably out of the running simply because it is widely recognised that it is a difficult ask for a bowler, especially a pace bowler, to both captain and bowl effectively.

Heather Knight is the most obvious candidate for the job. She was made vice-captain just over a year ago, prior to England’s series against India last summer, and it is no secret that in the eyes of the England management this was done with the intention of her taking over from Edwards at some point in the future.

But is now really the right time? Knight has had a poor series with the bat. She has made scores of 12, 38, 38, 14, 5, 4 and 1*. Adding to the pressure on her by making her step up to the captaincy would surely be extremely counter-productive.

The same could be said of Sarah Taylor, whose inconsistency with the bat is a real concern for England going forward. The burden of keeping wicket combined with coming in at number 3 is surely enough to be going on with. Taylor may be brilliant behind the stumps, but she is no future England captain.

Jenny Gunn is the only player bar Edwards amongst the contracted 18 who has ever captained England, having done the job on three previous occasions, most recently in West Indies in 2013. Yet she has played only two of the seven games this series, and in any case at 29 must surely be in the autumn of her career. The same could be said of Lydia Greenway (now aged 30), who alone of England’s top 5 has had a reasonable series with the bat.

Gunn or Greenway would be interim captains at best, and one thing England do not need in this crucial two-year rebuilding period leading up to the 2017 World Cup is a stop-gap captain.

A final point: Brenkley suggests that, while Edwards should step down as captain, she “still has plenty to offer as a batsman”. Indeed. Yet sources close to Edwards have made it plain in the past that she simply will not carry on for England purely as a batsman. If she retires as captain, England lose her altogether. Considering her contribution this series – she has outscored every batsman in the side bar Greenway and Natalie Sciver – not to mention over the last few years more generally, can they really afford to do that?

It is right and proper for a full post-mortem of this series to be carried out by the ECB; England certainly have not covered themselves with glory. But to get rid of the England captain when there is no one who is currently capable of replacing her would be the height of irresponsibility.

CRICKETher believes that Edwards should stay firmly where she is.

REPORT: Scotland Castled as Essex Continue “Operation No Relegation”

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A five-fer from Kelly Castle saw Essex continue their late-season bid to remain in Division 2 of the county championship, as they bowled Scotland out for 116 to win by 34 runs.

It was a day for the bowlers, as Hannah Jeffery also had cause to celebrate, becoming the first ever woman to take 100 1st XI wickets for Essex.

Scotland struggled in conditions which became ever more overcast as the afternoon progressed, losing 3 quick wickets early on, all to the accuracy of Castle (5-18), who bowled Rachel Scholes and then trapped both Kathryn Bryce and Kari Anderson lbw.

Jeffery, who had been keeping her team on tenterhooks, then at last had the chance to celebrate her 100th wicket as she bowled Kirstie Gordon for a duck, leaving Scotland 36-5 after 18 overs.

Scotland rallied with a 42-run partnership between skipper Abbi Aitken (22) and Sarah Bryce (11), but when the two were dismissed in successive overs just after drinks – Aitken caught at silly point attempting to punish the bowling of Essex captain Hannah Courtnell – Scotland slid further towards the point of no return.

Sam “Haggis” Haggo lived up to her nickname, playing with heart for a late-order 25*. But she was left stranded as Castle wrapped up a successful day for herself and her side with two more quick wickets to finish Scotland off in the 37th over.

Earlier, having won the toss, Scotland had elected to field first on a green wicket, but Essex got off to a flier, reaching 31-0 after 5 overs.

The introduction of left-arm spinner Gordon (3-16) to the attack helped peg Essex back, but a quick-fire 23 from Mady Villiers, batting in conjunction with her captain, clawed it back for the home side and allowed them to reach a fair total of 150.

While Scotland were sharp in the field – with three good run-outs, including a throw-in from Scholes to end Villiers’ innings – their bowlers did struggle at times to find the right line, with “Wides” (29) finishing the day as top-scorer for Essex.

Essex have labelled their late-season fixtures “Operation No Relegation”, after a poor start to the season left them languishing second from bottom of Division 2. Captain Hannah Courtnell, speaking to CRICKETher after the game, praised her team for their recent two wins, but emphasised how important it is that they finish the season well:

“We’ve gone down last year from Division 1 and that hit us hard, and we’re in a phase now where we’re trying to rebuild. We’re finding our game now, we’re finding what’s right for us.”

“We know we’re bottom of the table, and we know how tight it is, and we don’t want to go down.”

This year there are no county championship play-offs, meaning that the two teams who finish bottom of Division 2 – currently Essex and Scotland – will face automatic relegation. Essex’s final two fixtures of the season – against Staffordshire today, and Durham on 13 September – will thus be crucial in determining whether Courtnell’s team can do as they are hoping to and succeed in Operation No Relegation.

MATCH REPORT: Wanderers Win Sets Bath Up For Title

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A convincing 8-wicket win by Bath Wanderers yesterday in their match against Wokingham Ridgeway at Wokingham CC took them one step closer to their goal of winning the Women’s Cricket Southern Premier League title.

CRICKETher were there to see the match, which was reduced to 35 overs a side after two hours of play were lost to rain.

A 10-player Ridgeway, batting first, lasted for all bar one ball of their 35 overs, but managed to accumulate just 70 runs in that time, with only Corinne Hall (11) and Lissy MacLeod (15) offering many scoring strokes. Both were eventually out caught on the leg side trying to slog the ball, as Kate Randall finished with figures of 4-14.

Bath showed their intent from the outset, with Fran Wilson (who top-scored with 30) hitting three boundaries off the first over of their innings, as they raced to their target in just 12 and a half overs. Only Sarah Clarke (2-16) was able to stem the flow, removing both openers before Sophie Luff hit the winning run off Clark’s sixth over of the day.

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Bath chased down the runs just in time, with more rain arriving shortly after the players trudged off the pitch.

It puts them at the top of the Southern Premier League table with just one round of Championship matches left to be played, on 6 September. Bath’s game against second-placed Hursley Park CC, who are behind (but only just) with an average of 16.42 to Bath’s 16.69*, will be a decisive one in determining whether they can retain their place at the top of the Premier League at the end of the season.

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* As in the women’s county championship, the number of points a team accumulates is averaged out, based on the number of completed games, and the winner of the Premier League is the team with the highest average at the end of the season.

Hazell and Wyatt Return For Ashes T20s

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The ECB have today announced the squad which will contest the three Ashes T20s against Australia, beginning on August 26 at Chelmsford.

There are two changes from the Test squad, with Danielle Wyatt and Danielle Hazell replacing Kate Cross and Fran Wilson.

Hazell was the surprise omission from the initial ODI squad and, as current number 1-ranked bowler in the world in T20s, must surely be in contention to start for England at Chelmsford.

Wyatt is presumably back into the squad at least partly on the back of her unrivalled season with the bat at county level, having hit 287 runs at an average of 57, including a century against Somerset back in June.

Meanwhile Jenny Gunn, after sitting the Test out due to the flaring up of an old neck injury on the first morning, is evidently back to full match fitness – fresh from hitting 51* and taking 5-3 against Kent last weekend to deny them the county T20 title.

The only real surprise is the non-selection of Kent’s Tash Farrant, who has not featured in any of England’s squads this summer. Given that the ECB’s central contracts are up for renewal in October, this perhaps does not bode well for her prospects of retaining her place in the elite 18.

The series is of vital importance for England, who need to win all three games in order to draw the series on points and thus retain the Ashes. Meanwhile, even a no-result due to bad weather (worth 1 point apiece) would see Australia win an Ashes series in England for the first time since 2001.

The full T20 squad is as follows:

  • Charlotte Edwards (Kent)
  • Katherine Brunt (Yorkshire)
  • Georgia Elwiss (Sussex)
  • Lydia Greenway (Kent)
  • Becky Grundy (Warwickshire)
  • Jenny Gunn (Nottinghamshire)
  • Danielle Hazell (Yorkshire)
  • Heather Knight (Berkshire)
  • Laura Marsh (Kent)
  • Nat Sciver (Surrey)
  • Anya Shrubsole (Somerset)
  • Sarah Taylor (Sussex)
  • Lauren Winfield (Yorkshire)
  • Danielle Wyatt (Nottinghamshire)