Live Wyatt

Almost exactly a year ago, I wrote that Danni Wyatt was Mark Robinson’s Biggest Challenge Yet – she had just come off the back of a poor series against Sri Lanka, making scores of 4, 4 and 0 against the weakest of the “top” sides in the women’s international game, and was surely heading (again) for the last-chance saloon.

But just as he did with Tammy Beaumont, Mark Robinson kept believing in her, and today he got his reward. It wasn’t “just” 100 off 57 balls – a Strike Rate of 175 – it was the pressure she did it under: England were 30-3 at the end of the PowerPlay – their own mums wouldn’t have given them a prayer, staring down the barrel of a Required Rate of over 10-an-over at that stage in the game; but what followed was quite literally history, as England recorded the highest ever successful run-chase in a women’s T20 international.

What’s Next To The Mooney

[I think that’s enough AC/DC song title puns now – Ed.]

Spare a thought though for Beth Mooney – she played the innings of her career – the highest women’s international T20 score ever against a “top” side – and in some ways a better “cricket” innings than Wyatt, who took her usual share of risks; but then saw it eclipsed by Wyatt, as (if we are honest) her team mates threw it away with a hat-full of awful-looking dropped catches – yes, the lights were clearly a factor; but at a professional level, that shouldn’t really be an excuse these days.

Powerage?

[Ok… that’s it – you’re grounded – Ed.]

It will be interesting to see if this game, and indeed this T20 series, marks the start of a new dawn for women’s international T20 cricket, where the “power game” comes to the fore? We are going to be watching a lot of T20 cricket in the next year or so, leading up to the World T20 in the West Indies next autumn, with England playing not one but two T20 Tri-Series – v South Africa & New Zealand and v Australia & India; and you can bet some other sides will be playing even more as they ramp-up to WWT20.

Before today, we only had four centuries scored in nearly 400 women’s T20Is – we’ve just added another two to make it six – how many will it be this time next year? My guess is as good as yours; but if it is still six this time next year, I’ll be very surprised!

Brunt Bounces Back

Something Mark Robinson’s England have in spades is resilience. To bounce back after throwing away the Ashes in the space of a few overs on Friday can’t have been easy, but the way they came out today, to not just win but wipe out their opponents, made an important statement about the way this side want to play their cricket.

No one epitomised that attitude more than Katherine Brunt. In tears after the loss on Friday, she somehow channelled all her disappointment and frustration into a sparkling innings of 32* – including the only 2 sixes of England’s innings – and then followed it up with a pace bowling T20 masterclass, conceding just 10 runs from her 4 overs. Sarah Taylor’s stumping of Elyse Villani was itself a masterclass, of course, but it was Brunt’s 3 dot balls up top in the over that forced Villani’s hand.

Basically, don’t upset Katherine Brunt. It’ll come back to bite you in the end.

Gunn Earns Her Spot

There have been question marks over Jenny Gunn’s inclusion in this T20 team, given that it’s Georgia Elwiss – the star of Day 4 at North Sydney – who appears to have given way for her. But Gunn’s bowling in T20 is incredibly precious – she is economical AND takes wickets – and today she really did provide the turning point for England, with her direct hit run out of Beth Mooney; plus that little matter of 4 wickets to boot.

Two Differing Approaches

There were times when you felt today that Matthew Mott had sat the Aussies down before their innings and told them they needed to hit all the runs in boundaries – far too many reckless shots were played, with Healy, Gardner and Haynes all caught trying to hit big. England were much more content to rack up singles and twos, leaving them with wickets in the bank for the crucial final 5 overs.

Nonetheless, the attacking approach has served Australia well over the years, and England might want to consider taking a leaf out of their book. The stats that Syd put out on Twitter earlier about Nat Sciver v Alyssa Healy provide a good point of comparison:

It’s not that Sciver isn’t capable of hitting big, more that she hasn’t often done so in a T20 situation for England – something that needs to change.

So England may have won this match, but there is no room for complacency: their batting, and power hitting in particular, has to be a key area of focus ahead of next year’s WWT20.

Wyatt Up Top

It’s still a bit of a mystery why Heather Knight opened in the first T20 of the series given that she has repeatedly said she doesn’t want to open while captaining – perhaps Robinson felt it was the best option, or perhaps it was just an experiment gone wrong. Either way, it was great to see Danni Wyatt rewarded for her 50 on Friday with a boost to the top of the order; and she certainly did the job required of her today, with quick runs up top to get England off to a positive start. She’s opened before in T20 – the last time was in Cardiff against Australia in 2015 – but has never had a sustained run at it, so maybe that time is now.

A Dead Rubber?

Some will argue that Australia took their foot off the gas today, relaxed about the whole endeavour now they have secured the Ashes trophy. If there’s any truth in that, it’s pretty poor – England could still go on and draw the series on points. They could also still win the T20 leg of the series; and a T20 series win in the year before a T20 World Cup is not to be sniffed at. In short, it’s all to play for come Tuesday.

Last week I posed four big questions ahead of the Ashes Test match. Now that Test cricket is – sadly – behind them for another two years, did England find any answers?

1. What is their best Test XI?

Mark Robinson’s big call was to not only select Georgia Elwiss ahead of Jenny Gunn, but to bat her at 4, a position she’s never before occupied in her England career. At a crucial time for England, she came good. Her unbeaten 41 was, in my book, even more impressive than Knight’s own stoic effort – Elwiss was under more pressure (she must have known she was playing for her place in the side), and much rustier, having played no international cricket at all over the past 12 months. It’s perhaps too early to say whether she’s done enough to retain her place for the foreseeable future, but you’d have to conclude that she’s put herself back in strong contention.

Would having Gunn in the side have made any difference to the result? Probably not. Her great talent is bowling for long periods very economically, but that wasn’t really the issue here – England managed to restrict the Australian run rate reasonably successfully. What they really needed was wickets, and it’s difficult on this pitch to see Gunn having been much more successful than her counterparts there.

2. Can anyone “do a Heather Knight”?

Yes – sadly her name is Ellyse Perry, and she plays for the opposition (despite my job share suggestion!)

England lost this match by not batting long enough in the first innings. Though Tammy Beaumont and Heather Knight both passed 50, once again none of the England batting line-up could push on to 3 figures. Last week I said that at least two England players would have to get their heads down and dig in, if they were to have any chance of winning this match – that didn’t happen.

Somehow, with the limited opportunities available for multi-day practice before the next Test comes around, England need to resolve this. If they can’t, they aren’t going to win very many Tests!

3. Can they stop Australia batting them out of the game?

Yes, but it was perhaps more down to luck than judgement! England were fortunate enough to win the toss, which prevented the somewhat nightmare scenario of the follow-on rearing its ugly head. Australia then essentially ran out of time to bowl England out. Had Perry arrived at the crease on day one, who knows what might have happened?

4. Can they avoid a draw?

No. Obviously.

Of course, a draw actually looks like a good result, given what might have happened at the start of day 4! Even better, England have got the Canterbury 2015 monkey off their backs – they didn’t fold, they fought, and there’s no shame at all in the way that they dug in today.

Having said that, I still stick by my belief that it isn’t a good enough result for England. Above all else, it’s going to be very tough mentally for them to go into the T20 leg of the series knowing they have to win all 3 games.

Let’s hope they can prove me wrong!

Member of ICC Women’s Committee and leading voice at Cricket Australia Belinda Clark has confirmed that the ICC’s policy going forward is to continue to focus on the shorter formats of the game, with no intention to increase the amount of Test cricket played.

Speaking on commentary during the third day of the Ashes Test at the North Sydney Oval, Clark said:

“If we’re thinking about growth of the international game, the answer to that question is T20.”

“The one-day game also has a place – the World Cup in England shows that.”

The current match has already broken recent records for attendance at a women’s Test in Australia, with over 6000 people present over the first two days, but Clark nonetheless rejected the suggestion that the ICC might seek to encourage the playing of more women’s Tests:

“This game is absolutely critical for these two nations [England and Australia], but beyond that, I’m not sure that Test cricket holds a place in people’s hearts.”

ECB’s director of women’s cricket Clare Connor has previously placed her full support behind the longer-format, stating:

“I would never want to be part of an administration that strikes a line through Test cricket. I would hate that.”

“I will fight to continue to [keep Tests alive].”

Nonetheless Cricket Australia has consistently refused the ECB’s suggestion that the Women’s Ashes might be expanded to incorporate two or even more Test matches.

The statement by Clark today appears to confirm that policy, at least for the immediate future.

For England to keep their women’s Ashes hopes alive, they 100% need to win this Test match.* Can they do it? It will all depend on whether they can find an answer to the following questions:

1. What is their best Test XI?

Mark Robinson has several selectorial decisions to weigh up right now. As Syd suggested the other day, the big one is the choice between batting Georgia Elwiss or Fran Wilson at number 6. It’s a tough call – one might argue that Elwiss’s medium-pace could be valuable as a back-up bowling option for Knight to have up her sleeve. Personally I’d probably go with Wilson – she’s showed better form with the bat of late, and England are going to need all the batting they can get over the next 4 days (see below!)

The other tough call is going to be the ever-present Alex Hartley v Sophie Ecclestone dilemma. As Martin points out, playing two left-arm spinners is probably a bit too much of a luxury in a Test situation, plus England might well need Laura “The Wall” Marsh’s runs. Personally I’d keep the faith in World-Cup-winning Hartley (she has 6 wickets so far this series, vs Ecclestone’s 2) – but given that she didn’t play in the warm-up game, I’m not sure Robinson will see eye to eye with me on that one!

2. Can anyone “do a Heather Knight”?

Whoever makes the final team sheet, the key thing that England will need to do is bat long. Easy to say, and not so easy to do. My chief worry for England, in fact, is their batting – recent history does not portend well. Nobody has made a Test century for England since Knight’s famous innings at Wormsley in 2013 – in fact, only one current England player has even made a half-century in a Test since then. (Guess who? – Jenny Gunn of course!) “Starts” are no good in a Test match – at least two England players are going to have to get their heads down and dig in, if England are to have any chance of winning this match.

3. Can they stop Australia batting them out of the game?

If Australia win the toss tomorrow morning, they will bat – that’s certain. The worry is that England will revert to type, not make early breakthroughs, and be left facing an uphill struggle: the suggestion seems to be that the pink ball wears a lot quicker than the red / white ones, and that this Test will end up being a batsman’s game. It’s going to take some skilled captaincy by Knight, and persistence and accuracy by the England bowlers, to stop Australia’s mouth-watering batting line-up in its tracks.

4. Can they avoid a draw?

If Australia race away, bat for the first day and a half and England are left playing catch-up, there might well be a temptation to revert to defensive cricket – batten down the hatches and avoid defeat. In this instance, that would be tantamount to accepting defeat in the series.* England have to attack, attack, attack, from the start of day 1 to the end of day 4. Hopefully that’s exactly what Robinson is currently telling his players!

*NB: A draw would still keep England in the series (just), but they’d then have to win all 3 T20s – a format which hasn’t been their forte of late.

An unbeaten innings of 85 from Sarah Taylor put England in a position to claim a “points victory” in their day-night Test warm-up against a young Australia XI in Sydney.

Having come in with England in slightly dicey water at 91-4, Taylor built partnerships with Nat Sciver (42), Fran Wilson (45) and Katherine Brunt (43*) allowing the tourists to declare on 305-7 – an unassailable lead of 265, with 40-odd overs remaining in the day.

With Katherine Brunt rested from the attack, Kate Cross opened the bowling with Anya Shrubsole; but the target – in excess of 6-an-over – was just too big to tempt the Australians into a real chase, and they played instead for the draw – eventually closing on 182-7, after a late 3-fer for Heather Knight had made things a little bit interesting in the last couple of overs.

In terms of positives from the match as a whole, England avoided defeat (which looked a possibility at one stage) and there were runs for Winfield, who has struggled of late, and Taylor of course.

Whether anyone’s performances will have changed anything in terms of selection is an open question – Winfield was never likely to be dropped even if she hadn’t made a score here; but perhaps Fran Wilson, with her 45, has pushed the case that her runs might be worth more than Georgia Elwiss’s handful of medium-pace overs? (Elwiss didn’t take a wicket, and made 13 and 8 with the bat.)

Given that Sophie Ecclestone did not bowl at all in the 2nd innings (after bowling a lot of overs in the 1st), we’d guess that she was being rested and therefore will play in the Test, probably alongside Laura Marsh.

Probable England Test Team:

1. Winfield
2. Beaumont
3. Knight
4. Sciver
5. Taylor
6. Wilson
7. Brunt
8. Gunn
9. Marsh
10. Shrubsole
11. Ecclestone