Jake Perry reports

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Carlton 126 for 3 (R Willis 60, F Gardee 2 for 6) beat McRea West of Scotland 85-7 (R Hawkins 34, G Henderson 2 for 14) by 41 runs

Carlton claimed the Beyond Boundaries Women’s Scottish Cup after an imposing all-round display in the Final against McRea West of Scotland. A magnificent partnership of 106 between Ruth Willis and Abbi Aitken-Drummond, backed by two wickets each for Samantha Haggo and Georgia Henderson, was enough to take their team to a comfortable 41-run victory in Stirling.

Carlton had begun the day by posting 180 for 3 in their 136-run Semi-Final win over George Watson’s College, but on the expansive lower pitch at New Williamfield runs initially proved harder to come by. West of Scotland opening bowlers Rachel Hawkins and Faatima Gardee conceded only 10 between them from the first three overs, and when Heather Tait (7) was bowled by Gardee off the second ball of the fourth, Carlton, at 10 for 1, were in need of a foothold on the game.

It came via the experienced Scotland pair of Aitken-Drummond and Willis. Although the deep-set boundary and slow outfield made the rope difficult to find in the early stages of the innings – a terrific lofted drive over the top from Aitken-Drummond providing a notable exception – the two set about building the total with a fine display of running between the wickets.

Willis, fresh from her unbeaten 80 in the Semi-Final, was in excellent touch again as she raced past 30 in a combination of twos and threes, while Aitken-Drummond began to find the boundary with more regularity, bringing up the fifty partnership with a towering six over deep backward square off the last ball of the tenth. With Carlton 63 for 1, it was now West of Scotland who were feeling the pressure.

Still the runs came, and in the 15^th over Willis brought up her second half-century of the day with a crunching drive to the rope past mid-off. Both perished before the end – Willis (60) lbw to Maryam Faisal (1 for 7) and Aitken-Drummond (41) was bowled – but Carlton’s closing total of 126 for 3 looked above par nevertheless.

Not that West of Scotland had been left without hope. A half-century from Rachel Hawkins had proved the difference in their Semi-Final win over Stirling County, and the Scotland all-rounder was fast out of the blocks again as she took 12 from the first over. Three quick wickets in the third and fourth put the batting side on their heels, however, and when Hawkins herself fell, caught by Heather Tait off the bowling of Georgia Henderson for 34, it struck a blow from which they would never recover.

The West’s remaining batters fought hard, Maryam Faisal leading the way with a battling 14, but victory was confirmed to give the Edinburgh side victory in the showpiece knock-out event for the third time in their history.

“I’m just delighted for everyone in the team to be honest,” said winning captain Ruth Willis. “It’s been a really hard season, much of which has been played without our Scotland players, and it’s so pleasing to see the team come through and do well.”

“It’s a real testament to the hard work that our coach Caleb Whitefoord and interim captain Ellie Hird have put in throughout the year, and a huge part of our victory today is down to them. It’s fantastic for the girls and you can see how delighted they are.”

In the Third Place Play-Off, Becky Glen’s 41 and an unbeaten 37 from Lois Wilkinson helped Stirling County chase down 124 against George Watson’s College with more than four overs to spare to add the finishing touches to a day which was a tremendous advertisement for women’s cricket in Scotland.

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Jake Perry is a cricket writer based in Scotland.

Twitter: @jperry_cricket / Facebook: Jake Perry Cricket

A blitz of boundaries from Rachel Priest knocked Surrey out for the count in their last ever home Super League fixture against Western Storm at Guildford.

Western Storm may have already qualified directly for the final, at the Sussex County Ground in Hove next weekend, but despite the blistering 32-degree heat there was no holding back from Priest, who reached 89 runs in 55 balls, hitting all-but 13 of those runs in boundaries, dominating a 97-run partnership with England captain Heather Knight.

Knight herself also went on to a half-century, as the Storm posted 171-4 at a ground where 140/ 150 has been a winning score over the course of this tournament.

“I had a bit of a lean start to the tournament so it is nice to be contributing at the top at the time that matters,” Priest told us after the game.

Indeed, having begun with scores of 12, 12 and 4, Priest is now the 3rd highest run-scorer of this KSL season with 331, behind Jemimah Rodrigues (341) and Danni Wyatt (362); and is currently also 2nd in the “All Time” KSL list with 908, behind only Heather Knight (980).

Priest could, and probably should, have gone on to record her 2nd KSL hundred today, but was philosophical about the missed opportunity.

“In the moment I was a little bit frustrated not to reach 100, just because it was a silly way to get out – it was a tired shot – but as long as we get across the line it doesn’t really matter at the end of the day.”

The Storm were helped by a poor fielding performance from the Stars, who dropped 4 catches and let far too many runs past them in the outfield. This was in contrast to the Storm’s own performance in the field, which Priest believes has been crucial in their thus-far unbeaten season.

“Our powerplay bowling really helps – obviously if we get a good start with the batting that helps too, but it is the fielding that has been really, really good for us this year – our fielding has been phenomenal!”

With the Storm continuing to batter them, Surrey Stars crawled to 94 all out off 17.5 overs, including a 4fer for veteran all-rounder Sonia Odedra. It was possibly the poorest performance I’ve seen from a team playing in Surrey shirts… and I’ve seen the county side get bowled out for 25 in a T20 versus Middlesex!

There may be one round still to play, but with all 3 finalists now decided, after Southern Vipers held Yorkshire back enough to prevent them getting the bonus point they needed to keep their hopes alive, Rachel Priest and the Storm can now start to look forward to Finals Day, where they will meet either the Vipers or Loughborough Lightning in the final.

“We are the only team that’s made Finals Day every year, so that’s quite special,” said Priest. “It is always a fantastic day and a really great atmosphere, so hopefully things go well for us.”

The departure of Head Coach Mark Robinson leaves the ECB with some huge shoes to fill in the England camp.

The role the ECB will (presumably) be advertising is not an easy one. The Head Coach isn’t just a coach – they are responsible for running a squad which eats, works, and plays together for most of the year up at Loughborough. As well as being the head coach, you’re head of a family of twenty girls!

Oh… and you have to win cricket matches too!

On paper, the latter looks most important – England need someone with cricketing credentials, who has experience at the highest levels of the game – not necessarily as a player, but definitely as a coach.

But coaching women is not the same as coaching men – it has to be someone who understands that women are not just men with pony tails. In this regard, England massively lucked-out with Robinson, who despite having zero experience coaching women coming into the job, really did “get” this.

It is not just about the Playing XI though – it is about running a squad, which has to be constantly cultivated like a garden. The coach needs to know not just the England “team”… not just the England “squad”… but the levels below that in addition – identifying which players to bring in, and which players to sadly let go too.

That head of the family thing is pretty vital as well  – you are the boss, but you are also a counsellor, a confidante and a friend.

And finally, you have to do it all within the constraints of a fairly limited budget, at least compared to Australia, whose success you will always be measured against, as Robinson ultimately was.

Given all this, it’s amazing that anyone would want the role! (It is well paid, of course, compared to the jobs most of us do – but it isn’t in the realms of what you can earn at the highest echelons of the men’s game.)

But England need someone, and they need them fast, with the T20 World Cup coming up in Australia in less than 6 months, which will probably be closer to 3 months by the time they are appointed.

Looking around, there aren’t many candidates not currently under an expensive contract somewhere else.

But there is one.

A 3 times World Cup winner, who played 10 Tests and over 80 ODIs during a 10 year international career, who has since gone on to successfully coach at the highest levels of women’s domestic cricket, leading sides who consistently over-performed despite a limited budget.

She (and it is a she) is rated by everyone who has worked with her as a brilliant coach; and because she has worked almost exclusively in the women’s game, she knows the players, and they know and respect her.

She has a long-standing relationship with Heather Knight, who was her captain in WNCL and WBBL, and who credits her partly for becoming the player she is.

We are talking, of course, about Julia Price – Australia’s wicket-keeper during the glory-years around the turn of the century; who went on to coach Tasmania and Hobart Hurricanes; and is currently coach of the USA national side.

Mark Robinson will be a tough act to follow, but “JP” ticks all the boxes.

Frankly, the ECB should be beating down her door; because they say everyone has their Price… and England should too!

After a profitable powerplay in which Danni Wyatt successfully hogged much of the strike, plundering three sixes and six fours, Southern Vipers looked to have set a good platform for themselves against Yorkshire Diamonds – reaching 62 without the loss of a wicket.

However, the next few overs swung things hugely back in the Diamonds’ favour – the dismissal of Suzie Bates the cue for a top-order collapse, courtesy of another brilliant spell by leg-spinner Katie Levick, who finished with 2-17 from her 4 overs – only marginally more expensive than her 2-13 at Guildford on Tuesday.

By the time Paige Scholfield reached the crease, in the 14th over, Vipers were 90-5 and badly feeling the absence of their usual big-hitting middle-order batsman, Stafanie Taylor (sitting out with an injury niggle). “It was a lot of pressure”, the 23-year-old admitted after the game. “We do train for those situations, but it’s never nice to go into that.”

Scholfield did not tee off straight away, but focused instead on running hard between the wickets with partner Thea Brookes – the pair added 17 runs across the next 3-and-a-bit overs, all in singles.

“As soon as I came in I said to Thea we’ve got to put pressure back on Yorkshire because I thought they were on top of us at this point,” Scholfield said. “And I said if we run hard between the wickets and set ourselves a nice little platform for the last remaining overs, then it takes a lot of pressure off us and we can play a lot more freely.”

It meant that Scholfield was still there in the penultimate over, when Diamonds reintroduced Beth Langston – at which point she pounced, stroking two boundaries through the leg side before pelting up and down the pitch for successive twos. The pressure got to Diamonds so much that even the impeccable Alyssa Healy fumbled a straightforward run out opportunity behind the stumps.

“I said anything off my legs I’m going to go at, because I like to play off my legs. Put it in the pockets and hit the gaps. It paid off today,” Schofield said.

“And then with Langers I do prefer pace on the ball, so I said anything that misses my pads is going.”

It still looked to be an under-par total – “I felt like I should have been there to the end, and I was hoping in that last over to put another 6 or 8 runs on the board”, Scholfield admitted, having been brilliantly caught by Jemimah Rodrigues at cover off the second ball of the 20th over – but at the very least you felt like it was one that Vipers COULD defend, if they bowled well.

They started well – Diamonds hitting just 29 from the powerplay overs and losing Healy along the way, run out by Wyatt having made only a very half-hearted effort to make her ground at the non-striker’s end.

Holly Armitage should have gone early – TV reviews showing she was plumb LBW to Lauren Bell when still in single figures – but ended up sticking around until the 14th over, making a 38-ball 34. By that time Diamonds were 83-3 and needing simply to bat sensibly at a run a ball to make the target.

“The last 4 overs we were all just very nervous,” Scholfield admitted. “But I think the girls held it really well together. We all said heads in the game, don’t let anything get to us. Tammy captained really well, making sure the girls were still in the game, and no one gave up, which is a big thing in T20 because it does always come down to the last ball.”

And so it did on this occasion – Katie George facing off against Suzie Bates, needing to hit six from the final ball, after Bates had earlier taken the crucial wicket of the in-batsman Rodrigues as the 18-year-old tried to finish things in style and was bowled.

It was tense – up on the Vipers balcony, Charlotte Edwards could barely bring herself to watch – but Bates hit a good length and George managed just the single, handing Vipers the win by 3 runs.

Move over Marizanne Kapp: there’s a new death bowler in town, and her name is Suzie Bates.

Martin Saxon reports

——

Loughborough Lightning 157-7 (20), Lancashire Thunder 74-6 (13.4). Lightning win by 35 runs on D/L/S

Once again Lancashire Thunder went down to a heavy defeat when playing at Old Trafford. This was the fifth occasion on which they had played on Manchester’s Test ground, and the first four resulted in defeats by 95 runs, 33 runs, seven wickets and 55 runs. This one can certainly be added to that list, with Thunder a long way behind on Duckworth/Lewis/Stern when the umpires took the players off.

All but one of these five matches have been televised and three were double headers with men’s Blast games, so Lancashire’s elite women’s team really haven’t made the most of their ‘showcase’ matches. That said, here the crowd was well down on the 875 who attended the only other standalone Thunder match at Old Trafford, which was back in 2016. We’re so used to women’s cricket moving forward that sometimes we need to remind ourselves that things can sometimes go in the opposite direction. The previous results at ‘headquarters’ may have put off some Lancashire CCC members from attending tonight?

Thunder enjoyed an almost perfect powerplay at the start of the match but nothing went their way thereafter. Those who have played or managed any sports team that hits a bad patch will know the feeling, and even if you enjoy some periods of being on top, things always seem to go wrong in the end.

After the first five, Loughborough Lightning’s batting line up did not look fearsome, on paper anyway, so when a wicket for Kate Cross in the second over was followed by one for Sophie Ecclestone in the third it seemed this might be Thunder’s day. After two early wickets, Chamari Atapattu chose to dig in initially, then the moment she played an attacking shot she top edged a catch.

Lightning were 18-3 after six overs and few would have expected them to post a daunting total, but they managed to score at almost 10 per over thereafter. Things started to go wrong when Alex Hartley came into the attack – sadly this World Cup hero is not enjoying the best of times of late. KSL rookie Alice Dyson also bowled some nervy overs where she struggled to find her length, and this helped to give Lightning vital momentum.

Georgia Adams may not have hit the headlines with big scores, but those who follow the tournament closely may have noted that she had only been dismissed once. Her 50 from 33 balls with three sixes is possibly her career highlight to date. Georgia Elwiss was second top scorer with 38 and Kathryn Bryce made 32 from 18 balls, adding 82 in seven and a half overs with Adams.

Ecclestone’s 15 dot balls from 24 deliveries and overall figures of 3-17 was yet another demonstration of her world class talent, and while she may have taken some punishment in her final over, Cross’s 2-23 was also a fine effort. The other Thunder bowling analyses were less than perfect though.

Tahlia McGrath hit two sixes and a four in the fifth over, but then contrived to hit a rank full toss to mid off in the next, even though it took a fine one handed effort from Atapattu to dismiss her. Sophia Dunkley was then sent back to the pavilion two balls later as Loughborough started to get on top.

Sune Luus played some impressive strokes but her 30 runs were made at less than a run a ball, and Harmanpreet Kaur struggled for 15 balls before departing for just seven.

Kaur’s dismissal at 65-3 after 11 overs marked the point at which the required rate hit ten per over, and this was probably the point at which Thunder lost hope. 16 balls later the score was 74-6 and the innings was showing every sign of ending with a whimper when the weather brought about an early finish.

Kirstie Gordon finished with 3-18 and Hayley Matthews with two wickets for one run, and Thunder also struggled to score against Sarah Glenn and Elwiss.

The Diamonds have tried a number of different opening bowling combinations this season, but it wasn’t until their match against Surrey Stars on Tuesday that Yorkshire’s “born and bred” leg-spinner Katie Levick was handed the ball up-top – and she came up with a match-winning performance at Guildford to justify the coach’s confidence in her.

“I got the nod this morning – ‘we want you to open the bowling’ – I’ve not done that yet so far this tournament,” Levick said afterwards.

Levick bowled the first and third overs, conceding 8 runs and taking the wickets of Bryony Smith (bowled) and Sarah Taylor (caught behind by Alyssa Healy) to put the Stars on the back foot early.

She then returned for two more overs in the middle period to finish with miserly figures of 4 overs, 2-13 – an Economy Rate of 3.25 in a match where no one else clocked below 4, with even the great Marizanne Kapp only managing 4.5.

“It was just not overthinking it,” Levick said of her performance. “It sounds so stupid, but just bowling at the stumps – that’s what we’ve not done for the last however many games.”

The bowlers had a little help from a pitch that, for once, did the batsmen no favours: “Usually they’re roads for the batters, but it was actually nice that we had a bit of something in the pitch!”

With a very short boundary to one side, over which Dane van Niekerk smashed one 6 that cleared the 20-foot fence completely, ending up in the car park of the National Trust property next door, bowler’s lines were more important than ever.

“All the chat before the game was about that ridiculously tiny boundary, but actually I don’t think it came into play that much because the bowlers did their jobs – we just bowled to the plan,” Levick said.

With the Stars finishing on 121, there was still a job to do for the Diamonds’ batsmen… and they made hard work of it – only passing the target off the penultimate ball, after losing 2 wickets in the final over.

That Yorkshire got there was mainly due to Indian overseas Jemimah Rodrigues, who has been growing in confidence as the tournament has progressed. After making 50 in a losing cause against the Lightning at the weekend, Rodrigues kept her cool to score 42* and hit the winning runs with a 4 driven over extra cover.

“We were saying how ridiculously clever she is for 18,” said Levick of Rodrigues. “Such a brilliant cricket brain!”

“She took a bit of pressure off herself getting that 50 in the last game – knowing she can do it in England – and she’s batted brilliantly today.”

The win means Yorkshire Diamonds still have an outside chance of making Finals Day.

“Hopefully today will be the turning point – but it’s stick or bust now,” Levick concluded. “From this point on it’s essentially knock-outs – lose a game and pretty much we rule ourselves out – but we’re not giving up hope!”

Martin Saxon reports

——

The Cheshire Women’s Cricket League and Lancashire Thunder jointly staged a ten-and-a-half hour cricket marathon at Chester Boughton Hall on Sunday, with Thunder’s match with Western Storm sandwiching the League’s four cup finals.

MORNING SESSION

· Trinity outgun Appleton while Hawarden’s batting fires to see off Didsbury seconds

CWCL T20 Divisonal Competition Final:

Stockport Trinity Fire 56-5 (15; Kate Harvey 18, Olivia Horsfield 3-9) BEAT Appleton Tigers 55 (15.5; Georgia Heath 18, Emma Royle 4-7, Hannah Wicks 3-8)

Eastern Division champions Trinity impressively outperformed Western Division champions Appleton to avenge last year’s defeat to the same opposition. This is the first time since 2011 that this trophy has been won by the Stockport club.

Emma Royle flattened the off stump with only the second delivery of the match and by the time she had bowled her four overs straight through, the Tigers were reeling at 20-5 with Royle having taken four wickets for seven runs.

Georgia Heath and Abbey Gore would be the only players to reach double figures, as Hannah Wicks took three late wickets. The bowlers were backed up by some excellent ground fielding and catching and this was perhaps one of the best fielding displays I have seen from a team at this level.

Appleton naturally needed to bowl Trinity out to defend their small total and the opening overs of the reply saw the unfamiliar sight in women’s club cricket of three slips and a gully. However, the Trinity openers took few risks in the opening overs and once Carys White came in at number three, the scoring rate increased dramatically. Having been on 20 after eight overs, White’s cameo of 17 from 14 balls took the score to 46 after 11.

From 48-1 Trinity lost four wickets when in sight of victory, with Olivia Horsfield taking three of these wickets but this only served to make the match look closer than it really had been.

CWCL Development Knockout Final:

Hawarden Park 143-3 (20; Nicky Deane 25ret, Thea Murray-Williams 25ret, Rachel Warrenger 25ret, Laura Wilson 25ret, Rachel Saunders 2-34) BEAT Didsbury 2nd XI 84-5 (20; Shamaila Zaman 21)

In contrast a high scoring match was taking place at the same time on the second ground in the final of the competition for division three and four teams. Hawarden have a number of batsmen who would certainly not look out of place at a higher level and here four of those all rapidly reached the retirement score. The first wicket fell with the score on 102 in the 15th over.

Warrenger then took a wicket in the first over of the reply to make Didsbury’s task even more daunting. Although there was some cultured batting from the likes of Shamaila Zaman, Zoe Conway, Marianne Lea and Zoe Rigley, their side never threatened to chase down the large target.

AFTERNOON SESSION

· Thunder come agonisingly close to ending Storm’s unbeaten run

As the Thunder and Storm players were completing their match preparations a softball event took place on the second ground. The participants from the host club and Heaton Mersey CC and Stockport Georgians CC.

In the meantime, some spectators were amused to note that the groundstaff were bringing the boundary rope in – the international players and other professionals would have a much smaller playing area than for the match that had just taken place between two local club teams.

Kia Super League:

Western Storm 160-5 (19.5; Smriti Mandanha 72, Sophie Ecclestone 2-32) BEAT Lancashire Thunder 159-8 (20; Harmanpreet Kaur 50, Tahlia McGrath 44, Anya Shrubsole 3-36, Heather Knight 2-27)

Still without a win, can Lancashire Thunder take comfort from the fact their last two results are a tie and this narrowest of defeats to the unbeaten leaders? It’s possibly all they can do after another match that exposed their weak batting line up and one-dimensional bowling attack.

Thunder’s openers scored nine off the first three deliveries of the match from Anya Shrubsole but unfortunately the fourth and fifth deliveries both resulted in wickets.

Harmanpreet Kaur shoulders a massive burden in this team and she delivered a 36- ball innings of 50 which included six fours and two sixes. After her departure Tahlia McGrath assumed the role of senior partner, and having batted rather correctly earlier, she was just starting to unleash her range of improvised shots when she fell for 44. The highest score achieved by any of the home-grown players was just 18.

Thunder dismissed Rachel Priest relatively early, but the other half of Storm’s superb opening partnership, Smriti Mandhana, was again in imperious form, scoring 72 from 43 deliveries with nine fours and two sixes. With the captain Kate Cross being Lancashire’s only experienced seam option, she obviously felt she had no option but to bowl spinners in the powerplay. It may be fine for a spinner to take the first over when the batsmen are yet to play themselves in but asking any spinner to bowl the final powerplay over at a rampant Mandanha is a daunting task, even for a world-class one like Sophie Ecclestone. Mandanha duly scored 18 off this Ecclestone over and took her side to 57-1 off six overs and this prompted not only a perceptible loss of interest from the crowd, but it also caused Thunder’s body language to change dramatically. Western Storm duly moved on to 106-1 without alarm.

Then suddenly everything changed. Ecclestone, returning to the club where she took her first steps in senior women’s cricket back in 2012, was able to have the protection of boundary fielders and Heather Knight duly found the safe hands of Sune Luus. Two overs later, Mandanha was dismissed by Emma Lamb, and Fran Wilson and Sophie Luff soon followed.

It all came down to seven from the last over, bowled by Cross, and even though she restricted the batsmen to singles from the first three and then bowled a dot ball, Deepti Sharma hit the winning boundary off the penultimate ball. A visibly distraught Cross could barely drag herself off the field at the end.

What started as a laudable attempt to ensure the North West’s best players turned out for their local KSL team has unfortunately meant that this Thunder team will be forever worried about their brittle batting – this year’s squad appears on paper to be even weaker than in previous years. Only 104 people attended a previous Thunder match this year – surely this must be, at least in part, due to the team not being successful?

EVENING SESSION

· Trinity make it a T20 double after a last over thriller, while Upton scoop further silverware in the Plate

CWCL Senior Knockout Cup Final:

Stockport Trinity Fire 100-7 (19.3; Kate Harvey 26ret, Rosie Wilson 3-15) BEAT Didsbury Swordettes 99-5 (20; Roshini Prince-Navaratnam 25ret, Laura Griffiths 25ret, Hattie Roberts 2-11)

With four finals to be played, the chances were that at least one would produce a tense finish and it proved to be this one as Stockport Trinity got home in the final over to make it a T20 double.

Three of Didsbury’s best batsmen were dismissed cheaply, two of them by Hattie Roberts, but Didsbury still had two dangerous T20 specialists in Roshini Prince-Navaratnam and Laura Griffiths, who duly got the innings back on track after coming together at 27-3.

Didsbury then lost momentum after the pair had reached 25 and been forced to retire, and the final total of 99 was not a daunting target, especially considering that the Chester ground has a great batting pitch and the boundaries remained at the shorter length used in the earlier KSL match.

Just as in their earlier successful run chase, Sarah McCann and Kate Harvey laid a good foundation with their opening stand, and when Carys White came in after the first wicket she played several fine strokes and got her team above the required rate.

However, every time it appeared someone might finish the job for Trinity, they would get out. White, Gaby McKeever and Emily Thomas all looked good for a short time but couldn’t stick it out and when Rosie Wilson delivered a double-wicket maiden in the 17th over it looked like the pendulum had swung Didsbury’s way. Trinity finally got home with three balls to spare with numbers nine and ten at the crease.

Didsbury’s first team, who are surely the only women’s club team in the country to have entered five different competitions this year, are still a good bet for silverware in the remainder of the season. They are unbeaten in Division 1 of the league’s 40 over competition and it is likely only one win from the remaining three matches will be required to clinch their first Championship title.

CWCL Senior Knockout Plate:

Upton 120-6 (20; Charlie Scudder 28ret) BEAT Stockport Georgians 82-7 (20; Maddy White 19ret, Phillipa Dagger 2-8, Hannah McGowan 2-10)

Upton’s imposing total proved too much for their fellow Division 2 side. Maddy White did her best in reply for as long as she could, thrashing three fours in the first over, but shortly after she admitted defeat with her injury, and then none of her team-mates could match her score of 19. Instead it was some excellent bowling from the likes of Phillipa Dagger, Hannah McGowan and Madi Arthur that brought the trophy home for Upton.

In the two seasons since the team was formed, the North Wirral club have now scooped three trophies, after winning Division 3 and the Development Knockout last year. This year they are still in contention for the second division title in a very tight five-horse race.