This week:

• NSB faces the press
• England’s new selector
• Lamb and Arlott in on domestic form
• West Indies series predictions

Once-upon-a-time, not all that long ago, there was a farm-field between the church and the pub in the village of Sindlesham in Berkshire. It had been a farm-field for hundreds of years – being a farm-field was probably all it ever remembered being! In the early 2010s, after months of excavators excavating and builders building, it became the new home of Wokingham Cricket Club.

And for a brief moment in time, it was also the centre of the world for women’s cricket. Charlotte Edwards and Claire Taylor lived nearby; and one of the country’s top teams, Berkshire – featuring Isa Guha and a young Heather Knight – played there.

It was also the place where I reconnected with cricket, after a 10 year estrangement following a dalliance with baseball when I’d lived in America in my twenties. I used to come down with my young son on a Sunday to watch Berkshire and (at the encouragement of Martin Davies – AKA Women’s Cricket Blog) I started my own blog (it’s still there!) through which I met Raf Nicholson. And we all know how that ended, right?

I think it is fair to say that Wokingham Cricket Club changed my life; and so when it came to the choice between going to watch Hampshire v Essex today at The Bowl, or Berkshire v Kent at Wokingham, there was only one place I wanted to be.

Berkshire and Kent have history at Wokingham, though there aren’t too many here today who remember a famous last-ball victory for the Beavers (that’s Berkshire!) in 2016 – the only survivor on either side is Kent’s now-captain Megan Belt, though the scorecard is something of an honours board of women’s cricket superstardom featuring over 1,000 international caps.

There were no such heroics for Berkshire today however, as the difference between Tier 2 and Tier 3 ultimately asserted itself, with Tier 2 Kent the winners by 47 runs over their Tier 3 opponents.

Nonetheless Berkshire did not disgrace themselves. Chasing 162, at the half-way mark they were actually ahead on DLS at 70-1, albeit thanks in part to a series of gifts which included a bowled off a no ball, a bowled off a free hit, and a caught off a free hit. But Berkshire’s chase petered out after Kent struck back in the 11th and 12 overs, with set batters Izzy Storrar (31) and Shristi Patil (40) both dismissed – Patil run out, and Storra bowled by Amy Gordon – the third of three crucial interjections from the former Surrey captain.

Having led Surrey’s county team during the regional era, Gordon had been discarded by her home county with the acquisition of Tier 1 professional status over the summer; but is now enjoying life at Kent. “It feels more stable,” she told us after the game. “I’m absolutely loving cricket this year, and it’s been a good move all round.”

Opening the batting with Kent having been inserted by Berkshire, Gordon had set a positive tone in the very first over, smacking Eliza Bristowe for four 4s, as she contributed 26 off 13 balls to Kent’s rocket-fueled powerplay. Kent hit 52 off the powerplay for the loss of two wickets, which included Grace Pool brilliantly caught by a diving Iqraa Hussain off a thickish edge behind the sticks. Their run-rate subsequently slowed through the middle overs, but they kept enough wickets in hand to throw the bat at the death, smashing 41 off the final 3 overs to post 162 – Tilly Callaghan top-scoring with a run-a-ball 42.

Amy Gordon was then straight into the action again, opening the bowling with her right-arm off-spin, and striking with her very first delivery – Alex Avoth the recipient of a shiny platinum duck. The recovery led by Storrar and Patil was brave, but it wasn’t quite enough. DLS might have had Berkshire ahead at 10 overs, but they were well under half-way to the target, and our WinHer Win Predictor (which is based only on women’s cricket) was probably more realistic, giving Berkshire just a 43% chance at that stage. Only Lily Bowlby followed Storrar and Patil into double-figures as Berkshire were bowled out in the final over.

Berkshire were well short of their target but they had made a game of it – a not inconsequential achievement for “a band of thieves in ripped up jeans” against one of the more professional Tier 2 setups, with Kent having been accompanied to the match by no less than 7 coaches and support staff. The Beavers might not be travelling to Cambridge next weekend for Round 3 of the T20 Cup, but they made sure that Kent knew that Tier 3 perhaps aren’t quite so far behind them as they (and to be fair, we) might have expected.

This week:

• The magic of the County Cup
• England v West Indies: will Lottie make any surprise picks?
• Controversy as UAE retire out their entire team v Qatar

The Blaze ended Hampshire’s unbeaten season on a chilly day in Nottingham, thanks to a century from stand-in captain Tammy Beaumont.

Invited to bowl after Hampshire won the toss, The Blaze opened with two maidens, bowled by Charley Phillips and Grace Ballinger – Ella McCaughan playing and missing several times in the first over, as Phillips ploughed a furrow outside off stump; whist Maia Bouchier was kept pinned-back in her crease by Ballinger bowling wicket-to-wicket.

But McCaughan, having started the day 133 not out following her midweek century against Lancashire, was soon piercing the ring with pinpoint accuracy to find runs on a spacious outfield at Trent Bridge.

Ballinger in particular bowled well, but a rare loose delivery brought the first wicket in the 10th over – Bouchier latching on to an inviting half-tracker well outside off and inside-edging it onto her stumps, as Hampshire finished the powerplay at 41-1.

McCaughan was dropped at cover on 31 off Sarah Glenn, but Glenn did pick up Charli Knott shortly after – bowled trying to cut the England leg-spinner off the back foot – a dismissal which suggested the Australian had not done her homework on Glenn. Glenn then added the wicket of Georgia Adams – the veteran Hampshire captain pinned plumb in front LBW for 13.

The drop aside McCaughan looked largely untroubled, passing 50 for the third consecutive outing in the 25th over. The same cannot be said of Rhianna Southby however – bowled by Sarah Glenn in a copycat of Knott’s dismissal, trying to cut Glenn off the back foot on the stroke of drinks, leaving the visitors 91-4 and looking wobbly.

A lapse in concentration from McCaughan saw her steer a catch to backward point off Josie Groves with 57 to her name, as Blaze continued to press with spin from both ends, Glenn finishing a spell of 10 straight overs with 3-36.

Short on runs, Hampshire could ill-afford to mark time, but that is nonetheless what they found themselves doing. Abi Norgrove and Nancy Harman dug in for a few overs, but Norgrove was caught in the deep by Kathryn Bryce for 17 whilst Harman was LBW to Phillips for 19.

Freya Davies was given a let off by Sarah Bryce, who could only get her glove-tips to a flying edge behind the stumps, on her way to an unbeaten 23 as she and Poppy Tulloch (18) dragged Hampshire to 189-7 at the turn.

With Blaze’s top 6 boasting just the 744 caps between them, Hampshire’s only option was to go on the attack in search of early wickets, posting slips to both opening bowlers. Amy Jones gave a half-chance early-doors to Davies off her own bowling, but it was struck so hard that Davies was not only unable to hold on, but had to leave the field temporarily for medical attention. Unfortunately for Jones however, Davies returned in time to bowl her next over – the England keeper slicing a catch to Lauren Bell at mid off for the opening wicket.

Bell meanwhile was making the batters look uncomfortable, but with no reward until the 10th over, when Kathryn Bryce chased a short, wide delivery she should probably have left alone and was caught by Norgrove at point. At the end of the powerplay, Blaze were 31-2. It wasn’t the 3 wickets in the powerplay they probably needed, but the third wicket wasn’t far behind – Bell striking again as Sarah Bryce spooned some catching practice to Poppy Tulloch, running around the umpire to take the catch at backward at square.

A period of quiet accumulation followed, with Georgia Elwiss playing much the same role for the Blaze that she did so often for Vipers – nudging and nurdling her contribution to a 50 partnership with Tammy Beaumont. Boundaries were hard to come by, but Beaumont brought up her 50 by absolutely hammering a pull through midwicket for 4, and followed it up with another 4 behind of square to put Blaze well in control at drinks on 106-3.

The 50 partnership between Elwiss and Beaumont turned into 100 off 115 balls, with the two old-timers continuing to play low-risk cricket – Elwiss also passing 50 as the finish line drew into view with the asking rate now under 3-an-over.

A century for Tammy Beaumont remained mathematically possible but looked unlikely until she suddenly exploded with a flurry of boundaries, including a six down the ground off Freya Davies, celebrating her hundred off just 110 balls and finishing on 112 off 113 balls as the Blaze won with a country mile to spare.

This week:

• Lottie talks NSB captaincy
• Who will be vice captain?
• 2026 T20 World Cup launched at Lord’s
• Hampshire make the running in T1
• New BBC TV deal

1. England won’t have a permanent vice-captain… at least for now

Charlotte Edwards went for a significant proportion of her own captaincy without a permanent vice-captain, and that’s the model she plans to follow as head coach, at least initially as she works out who in the squad might have the necessary skills to deputise for NSB: “It’s a time where I want to just have a little look at what the squads are going to look like. I don’t want to make that kind of decision just yet.”

She did, however, say that she plans to create a broader “leadership group” which will initially rotate between players across different series and formats. That was something Jon Lewis said he had done, but there was never much evidence of the group actually contributing to team strategy – so it will be interesting to see how visible the “group” (or groups?) is during matches in future.

2. Get your “Heather Knight Is Bowling” klaxons at the ready

Lest there be any doubt, Edwards very much sees Knight as an integral part of the England line-up over the next 2 years: “She’s been great around the group. I genuinely think we’re going to see Heather Knight scoring a lot of runs over the next couple of years.”

The new coach also wants to see a lot more of Knight’s off-spin – which was rarely used in the last 2 years of her captaincy: “We’ve had some good chats around where I see her role in the team. I want to see her bowling more, which she was quite excited about.”

3. Edwards wants the England players to post less on social media

During the World Cup last October, a number of England players attracted criticism when they posted photographs of themselves out and about in Dubai – and then got knocked out of the tournament in the group stages. Edwards is stamping down on that pretty unequivocally:

“We’ve got to look at our professional behaviours and how we go about stuff. We’ve got to change people’s perceptions. We’ve got to stop putting stuff on social media that doesn’t need to be on there. If it’s not going to positively impact on them or us as a group, then it probably isn’t worth posting.”

4. England’s squad to face West Indies will be selected on 12 May – and Emma Lamb should probably stay quite close to her phone

The new national selector will be in post by then and the idea is for that person, Edwards and NSB to sit down together to select the team to face West Indies.

Asked who had particularly impressed so far in domestic cricket, one name came immediately to the fore: “The leading run-scorer is Emma Lamb. She’s performing well – that’s exactly what I’ve asked people to go and do,” Edwards said.

Hampshire’s first home game of the new era – played out in front of a crowd of 600-odd on a sunny day at the Utilita Bowl – ended in a surprise 50-run win against trophy-favourites Surrey.

On a good batting track, with new England coach Charlotte Edwards looking on from the top of the Rod Bramsgrove Pavilion, this was the ideal chance for any number of England squaddies / hopefuls to stick up a hand.

But while Em Arlott hit a match-winning century over in Chelmsford, and Eve Jones struck 97 for Lancs down in the West Country, none of the half-centurions at Southampton managed to make quite such a definitive contribution.

Maia Bouchier’s gorgeous lofted drives and well-placed pulls will have pleased Edwards, and Bouchier herself labelled her 69-ball 61 as “really important” after a difficult Ashes series.

“All I can do is learn and grow from that, and try and improve in every possible way,” Bouchier said. “We [the England players] have got six games, and we’ll make the most of those six games. It’s really competitive at the moment and that’s what we want.”

But Bouchier was eventually lured into a well-signalled trap by ADR, who followed up her first bouncer by immediately bowling a second; Bouchier tried to hook this one, and only succeeded in edging to Kira Chathli behind the stumps.

Alice Capsey – presumably also desperate to impress Edwards – picked up a couple of cheap wickets with her off-spin, and then scratched out her own 81-ball fifty.

But Capsey was also involved in the unfortunate run-out of Paige Scholfield, who came three-quarters of the way down the track despite Capsey never leaving her ground, as Surrey collapsed to 93 for five.

To be fair, Surrey had earlier had to contend with a major disruption to their bowling plans: their opening bowler Phoebe Franklin left the field nursing an injury after just 10 balls, leaving Bryony Smith to step into the breach.

Hampshire initially made hay while the sun shone (literally), as openers Bouchier and Ella McCaughan put on a century stand in just 20 overs.

That should have laid the foundation for a 300+ total. Instead, a middle-over collapse of 3 for 11 saw the run-rate plummet, although some timely cameos from Abi Norgrove and Nancy Harman eventually pushed the total above 250.

Surrey boast the most England experience of any Tier 1 top order, so a target of 260 should have been well within their grasp. But some reckless slogging from Smith and Danni Wyatt-Hodge against Hampshire’s new-ball pair Lauren Bell and Freya Davies cost them two early wickets.

Sophia Dunkley then made a mess of trying to defend a fuller, straighter ball from Bell and was bowled, leaving Surrey three down at the end of the powerplay.

Two weeks ago, Surrey convincingly defeated Hampshire on this same ground in their pre-season warm-up after Alice Monaghan smashed a quickfire 71. But in the real thing, Monaghan’s deft, run-a-ball 40 – despite being struck with a fluency which put the top order to shame – couldn’t quite make up for the disastrous start.

Hampshire clearly felt the pressure as Monaghan’s 64-run partnership with Capsey progressed, dropping several catches and botching a couple of run-out chances. But the reintroduction of Linsey Smith in the 32nd over eventually did the trick, her sharp c&b seeing off Monaghan before fellow left-armer Bex Tyson wrapped things up with the final two Surrey wickets.

There’s still a long way to go, but for now, a Surrey team which everyone predicted would dominate this new competition are (alongside Essex) bringing up the rear of the Tier 1 points table.

This week:

• Smriti Mandhana and Sophie Ecclestone win in Wisden
• ⁠A new portrait of Charlotte Edwards in the Long Room
• ⁠A breathless start to Tier 1 as Somerset pull off a heist & Warwickshire v Hampshire ends in a tie

This week:

• Breaking news on the new Eng captain!
• NRR drama at the World Cup Qualifier
• Winners & losers from the Eng A tour
• The season has started & we’re backing Surrey & The Blaze
• ICC belatedly offer support to Afghanistan’s women