The West Indies Cricket Board has become the latest to offer significantly improved central contracts to its women’s team, which like the New Zealand contracts announced earlier this year, will lift many of the squad into the realms of full professionalism for the first time.

The number of contracted players increases from 11 to 15; and although the WICB have not released details of the salaries to be paid, CRICKETher understands that the average remuneration including match fees etc. is likely to be in the realms of $30-40,000 (USD). Adjusted for cost-of-living, this represents something like £35,000 – not a king’s ransom, but a good living wage nonetheless.

Interestingly, the president of the Players Association which negotiated these contracts with the board, Wavell Hinds, cited not the recent WWT20 win, but consistency over a number of years, saying:

“Our women senior team has been a solid elite performing group over the last decade. As such, the improvement and security in their compensation package is well deserved.”

This is an important point – as Raf Nicholson argued in her CricInfo Cordon column last year, tying the contracts to particular successes merely creates a hostage to fortune when those successes inevitably pass into history.

In the wake of this year’s successful T20 KSL competition, the ECB are now making plans for 2017 – including the extension of KSL to 50 overs, which we are assured will definitely take place before the World Cup, due to begin on 26 June.

In fact the current suggestion, according to a recent ECB document seen by CRICKETher, is for matches to take place on Saturdays and Wednesdays during May, with a final on the first weekend in June.

Sounds reasonable… or does it?

There will be very few overseas players in this inaugural 50-over KSL competition. Few boards are likely to release players for a tournament which takes place right before a World Cup. Therefore the teams that contest the 50-over KSL will be almost totally made up of England, Academy and county players.

Nothing wrong with that. Except… it doesn’t seem very compatible with a tournament played on weekdays in May.

Outside of the contracted England players, all female cricketers in England are still amateurs. That means they are either a) students, or b) holding down jobs which they juggle their cricket around.

Students – whether at college or university – will almost all have exams in May. It seems inconceivable that any of these players will choose to put KSL before formal examinations, which cannot be rearranged when (not if) they clash with KSL training / match commitments – and why should they be expected to? Women’s cricket is not yet a meal ticket for any except a very select few.

Those with jobs have the option of taking holiday in order to play in KSL matches – but with two (big) caveats. Firstly, for any of those – such as Vipers’ Carla Rudd and Arran Brindle – who are committed to teaching or term-time coaching jobs (a not inconsiderable number) it is likely to prove nigh on impossible to get leave to play in midweek games in May.

For others like Beth Morgan, who took 3 weeks leave from work (some of which was unpaid) in order to play in the inaugural 20-over KSL, it will come down to a straight choice between playing in 50-over or 20-over KSL. Many will opt for the latter.

So what are we left with? Essentially a competition which will take place with many of the best non-international players in England – surely the very players the tournament was aimed at – unavailable.

Could the 50-over KSL be rescheduled? Unlikely. Timings are going to be very tight next season, with most teams – not least England – likely to want some time to come together and train in the weeks preceding the World Cup; and with the T20 KSL to follow hot on the World Cup’s heels. It is difficult to see when else a 50-over competition could be fitted in, were it not played in May.

But if things go ahead as planned, the risk is surely that the KSL “brand” will be massively devalued, and that the excitement which built up around this year’s competition will quickly dissipate.

Perhaps it might be better to kick the idea of a 50-over KSL into the long grass for the moment, and focus efforts on the Women’s County Championship instead?

The ECB have announced the squad for England’s 5-match ODI series in the West Indies, which begins in Jamaica on October 8th. The final 3 ODIs count towards the Women’s International Championship, in which England currently stand 3rd on 19 points, right behind the West Indies in 2nd with 20 points.

There is disappointment for Western Storm’s Fran Wilson, who has been ruled out of the tour with a broken finger; but one player’s misfortune is another’s lucky break and the beneficiary on this occasion would appear to be Danni Wyatt, who didn’t have a great KSL, but finished the County Championship strongly with a century in front of the England coach at Hove last weekend.

Meanwhile there is good news for Loughborough Lightning’s Beth Langston, who was expected to miss the tour also with a broken finger, but who has nevertheless been in full training with the ball (the break was on her “wrong” (left) hand) and is selected in the hope that she will now be fully fit for the later matches.

Also include are both the “new” left-arm spinners who made their international debuts this summer – Alex Hartley and Sophie Ecclestone.

Full Squad:

• Heather Knight
• Anya Shrubsole
• Tammy Beaumont
• Katherine Brunt
• Sophie Ecclestone
• Georgia Elwiss
• Jenny Gunn
• Alex Hartley
• Dani Hazell
• Amy Jones
• Beth Langston
• Laura Marsh
• Nat Sciver
• Lauren Winfield
• Danni Wyatt

A century from Danni Wyatt made a dead rubber into a thrilling last game of the season, as Sussex fought back from 25-3 to beat Surrey by 3 wickets.

Chasing 218, Sussex had the worst possible start, as Beth Kerins, the pick of the Surrey bowlers today with figures of 3-33, removed both openers cheaply – Georgia Elwiss clean bowled for 6 in her first over of the day, and Georgia Adams (2) caught by Cecily Scutt at mid-off in her third. She followed this up by trapping Izzy Collis lbw for 7.

With Sussex in real trouble, Wyatt’s maturity shone through as she shared a 57-run partnership with Paige Scholfield (28) and then, crucially, remained at the crease for the remainder of Sussex’s innings, as wickets fell steadily at the other end. Even so, Wyatt retained faith in her partners, rotating the strike as Sussex picked off the required runs in ones and twos, thanks to good cameos from Hannah Phelps (19) and Ciara Green (17), always keeping the necessary run rate under 4.5 an over.

When Green fell in the 42nd over with the score on 185-7, Sussex still needed 33 runs, but with words of encouragement from Wyatt she and Tara Norris held their nerve to chase down the target with 2 overs to spare. Wyatt herself finished on 120*, the highest score in Division 1 this season.

Ultimately it was a disciplined and patient innings, compiled with only a smattering of boundaries on a slow pitch, which made it clear to all present that she is more than just a T20 specialist. Made in front of England coach Mark Robinson, it can only have enhanced her international prospects – no bad thing, with the winter squads for the tours to the Caribbean and Sri Lanka to be announced this week.

It came on the back of a solid performance from Wyatt with the ball, finishing as the most economical of the Sussex bowlers with 0-32 from her 10 overs, including a maiden. Bowling in conjunction with captain Georgia Elwiss, the pair put the brakes on Surrey openers Kirstie White and Sophie Pout (27) who had raced away at 4.5 an over in the powerplay but were subsequently restricted to just 2 an over. Wyatt herself also pulled off two run-outs throwing in from midwicket, as Surrey struggled to get much past 200 despite several dropped catches.

It was a big day, too, for Kirstie White, returning from the injury which forced her out of the KSL, yet amassing enough runs across the season (337) to finish as Division 1’s leading run-scorer. Sadly she fell just short of a century, finishing on 98* after 6 Surrey wickets fell in the last 5 overs of their innings to give Sussex maximum bonus points.

After the game Danni Wyatt told CRICKETher that batting conditions had been difficult:

“The pitch got a lot slower and lower in the second innings – you had to really watch the ball. But it was a good opportunity for me to go out there and play every ball on its merit. I’ve been having a few one to ones with Ali Maiden at Loughborough and he said the other day ‘just bat long’. Hopefully it will put me in good stead for selection for West Indies.”

She also praised the performance of the younger Sussex batsmen:

“The young girls that came in towards the end all batted really well, I’m really proud of them. I was quite calm out there and hopefully I made them calm as well. A few of the younger ones were quite nervous but I said ‘just bat, hit the bad balls, run well, it’s a very big outfield, and the runs will come’ – and they did.”

In any team sport (and even in some nominally individual sports, like athletics) the concept of the team as a bonded unit is very important. You play for the team; you work for the team; you win for the team. Ask any player and they will tell you: it is the team – and being part of the team – that really matters!

And yet in the modern era of multiple teams, this presents a dilemma – on Super League Finals Day, Charlotte Edwards was team-mates with Carla Rudd… two weeks later they were facing off against each other in the County Championship, respectively for Kent and Berkshire. In the next few months, she will likely find herself playing against other Vipers team-mates in Australia’s WNCL and WBBL… but then next summer they will be Vipers together once more!

So what do you do with those little pieces of knowledge – the flaw in technique you know the player has been working on in the nets… the slower delivery you’ve overheard the coach discussing? Do you exploit that knowledge against someone who might be your team-mate again in six months time… or do you keep the secret?

It is a dilemma which India’s Smriti Mandhana alluded to in a recent interview with Cricbuzz, discussing the possibility of playing against national team-mate Harmanpreet Kaur in the WBBL, making it pretty clear where she stands:

“I don’t think we’re giving each other’s secrets away!”

Contrast this with the attitude of New Zealand’s Sophie Devine, who spoke to us in the run-up to KSL:

“I don’t care that Georgia [Elwiss] plays for England and I play for New Zealand – for me that goes out the window and it’s just about playing cricket. And if we can help each other get better and if we can help the county players get better, then surely that’s going to be better for the women’s game in general.”

Maybe Devine’s perspective is simply reflective of the reality that, in an age of video analysis, there can’t really be secrets any more… at least not ones that last for more than 5 minutes out in the middle?

But it is also interesting to consider that this more open mindset comes from a New Zealander – the country that, more than any other, seems to be encouraging its stars to embrace the world of the modern, globetrotting, supranational cricketer.

And then you ask yourself: which team are on the up right now, increasingly at the top of many people’s lists of favourites for the World Cup in England next year?

New Zealand, of course!

Coincidence? Perhaps!

Or perhaps not!

With Kent already this year’s County Champions, there was only glory to play for in their final game of the season at Beckenham; but that seemed to be enough of an incentive, as they bowled Berkshire out for 139 to secure victory by 26 runs.

Berkshire were chasing a low total – 166 – on a pitch which had little in it for the bowlers; it was a match situation that required little more than steady accumulation, but Berkshire’s batsmen played in a way that was as baffling as the Beckenham electronic scoreboard, which appeared to have a mind of its own, adding or subtracting runs from Berkshire’s total seemingly at will in a way that bore little resemblance to action on the field of play.

For Berkshire, the dismissals of Rachel Priest (6) – who holed out to Suzie Bates at mid-off – and Heather Knight (0) – who sent a leading edge to Grace Gibbs at extra cover – set the tone; Lissy Macleod, too, looked well on her way to leading Berkshire’s rebuild, but skied a ball she could easily have left alone to Tammy Beaumont at short third man when on 24.

Had everyone played like Sherisa Gumbs (33), who punished anything short or wide from the Kent bowlers, Berkshire would probably have won the match; instead they were bowled out for 139 in the 43rd over of their innings.

It was a disappointing follow-up to what had been a good performance by the Berkshire bowlers, after Lydia Greenway – captaining in place of Charlotte Edwards, who was sitting out today’s match injured – won the toss and elected to bat. Lauren Bell (3-40) caused Kent early problems with a rapid opening spell, continuing to cement her reputation for big-name scalps, this time trapping Tammy Beaumont lbw in the very first over of the day. Her next wicket was none other than Wisden’s 2016 Leading Female Cricketer in the World, Suzie Bates (22), who was caught by Knight at slip, chasing an away-swinger she really should have left alone.

It was left to Kent’s younger players to rebuild, which they did admirably, the highlight being a fluent 31 from Alice Davidson-Richards, who Edwards described as “one of Kent’s standout performers [of the season]”. Ultimately, too, the 33-run 9th-wicket partnership between 18-year-olds Emily Thompson (21*) and Phoebe Franklin (10) proved crucial.

After play, Charlotte Edwards reflected on Kent’s successful season, telling CRICKETher:

“It’s been a brilliant summer with a brilliant group of people, and the win today was a really pleasing way to finish the season.”

“It’s always a cliche, people say it’s been a team performance, but it really has been for Kent. We have got England players and we’ve got some of the best players in the world in our team, but everyone’s performed at different points throughout the season for our team.”

“I just love playing for Kent, I always have done. I’m looking forward to the winter and then coming back next season.”

A few English clubs seem to have been contacted overnight by email regarding a “Women’s Premier League” in India:

“We are proud to announce that Knights Sports and Events Private Limited is organizing India’s 1st T20 Cricket League exclusively for Women by the name of Women’s Premier League.”

The email concludes:

“We would like to take this opportunity to extend an invitation to your club to participate in this tournament. As mentioned, this is a by invitation tournament and all expenses once your team arrives in India shall be taken care off ranging from Playing Kits, Hotel, Food, and Transport.”

Having spoken to contacts in India, we are fairly confident that this is at best totally unofficial and at worst a scam.

(We will updated this post if any other evidence emerges to the contrary!)

In Division 2 of the Women’s County Championship, with 2 teams to be promoted to Div 1, and 2 to be relegated to Div 3, there is everything to play for going into the final weekend of fixtures.

Only one team already know where they will play next year – everyone else is in the mix for promotion or relegation, and indeed one side could still be either promoted or relegated!

[1] Worst = The lowest points total possible for this team.
[2] Best = The highest points total possible.

At the bottom of the table, Essex are the one county who already know their fate – the best they can finish on is 6.4, and the worst Worcestershire can get is 7.5, so Essex are relegated whatever.

The key relegation scrap then is between Worcestershire and Leicestershire – they are closer than they look, because Leicestershire have had 2 abandonments to Worcestershire’s one, meaning on average each point is worth more to Leicestershire at this stage, so it might well come down to bonus points between them.

In the promotion battle, Lancashire, Nottinghamshire and Wales all have their fate in their own hands. Lancashire and Wales play each other, but it isn’t quite as simple as “winner takes it all” – Wales need to get a bag of bonus points on the board, or they will still be relying on others to slip up.

Meanwhile, Hampshire need to get a win with near-maximum bonus points and hope others don’t; but Hampshire’s advantage is that they play Essex – the only side in the division without a win this season.

The most interesting case is Devon – they could be relegated if they lose badly to Leicestershire, and Worcestershire also get a big win… but they could also theoretically be promoted if lots of other results fall in their favour.

UPDATE: For Devon to be promoted requires them to get 18 at least 17 points, both Lancashire and Nottinghamshire to lose with zero bonus points and Hampshire to lose with 4 or fewer bonus points. (Lancs and Notts both getting zero bonus points is the unlikely bit – they only need to get 75 runs or take 3 wickets for a BP!)

This is the somewhat complicated situation as we think it stands for the bottom 4 – Middlesex, Surrey, Staffs and Somerset – 3 of whom go down.

(NB Berkshire have already accrued enough bonus points that they are definitely safe, even if they take no points at all from their final match with Kent.)

Middlesex have to play Staffs, and will stay up if they win, or even if they lose providing they get 5 bonus points.

Surrey are already down because they can no longer overtake Middlesex under any circumstances – even if they win their remaining match (v Sussex) with maximum bonus points, they will finish on just 8.0 points, but the least Middlesex can finish on is 8.3 points.

Staffs have their destiny (mostly – see below) in their own hands – if they beat Middlesex with full bonus points and keep Middlesex to a maximum of 4 bonus points, they will have 9 points, and therefore overtake Middlesex, who would have c. 8.3-8.9 points, depending on exactly how many bonus points they actually got.

Somerset meanwhile first need Staffs to beat Middlesex, but without Staffs getting the maximum bonus points and with Middlesex getting 4 or fewer bonus points, leaving both Middlesex and Staffs on 8-point-something points. If Somerset then beat Warwickshire with full bonus points, they will have the 9 points they need to overtake both Middlesex and Staffs to survive.

There is also one other potentially interesting scenario – if both Staffs and Somerset end up with 9 points, we go to the match between them… which was abandoned… so it then goes to Net Run Rate, which is currently in Staff’s favour, by 0.77 r/o!

Got that? (Good… ‘cos we’re not sure we have!!)

Although the table on Play Cricket is definitely wrong at the time of writing (the bonus points aren’t right) it looks like results yesterday mean that Kent have won the Women’s County Championship for the 7th time.

(Update: The correct table is here on Cricket Archive, which confirms that our numbers below are right.)

Kent had the day off yesterday, but both their closest challengers lost – Sussex to Berkshire and Warwickshire to Middlesex – meaning Kent’s lead is now unassailable.

This means a One Day and T20 “double” for Kent, and a unique “triple” for Charlotte Edwards, Suzie Bates, Lydia Greenway and Tash Farrant, who also won the Kia Super League with the Southern Vipers.

So it will be “trebles all round” and another trip to Buckingham Palace for Edwards and co… though it will be interesting to see if it is with the Vipers or with Kent, now that the County Champs is probably no longer considered the “premier” women’s domestic competition.

Mathsy stuff follows…

(We have double checked it, and we think it is correct!!)

Kent currently have 116 points from 7 completed games, with one to play, meaning the worst average they can finish with is 14.5 ^[1].

Warwickshire have 62* points from 5 games with one to play, so the best they can finish with is 13.3 ^[2].

Sussex have 63* points from 5 games with two to play, meaning the best they can end up with is 14.1 ^[3].

—————-

* Including the bonus points which we think are missing on Play Cricket! (Update: Cricket Archive agrees with us.)

[1] 116 + 0 = 116 / 8 = 14.5

[2] 62 + 18 = 80 / 6 = 13.3

[3] 63 + 18 + 18 = 99 / 7 = 14.1