With the bottom three sides all registering at least one win over the weekend, the chase for the semi-finals is still on – all 8 teams have a chance of qualification and none are yet certain.

Top-of-the-league Sydney Thunder had the opportunity to seal qualification against the Melbourne Renegades, but for once their batting let them down, and they were bowled out for 103 chasing 139, with Molly Strano and Sophie Molineux taking 3-apiece for the Renegades.

At the other end of the table – last going into the weekend – the Sydney Sixers won four on the bounce. They kept their hopes more-than alive by beating the Adelaide Strikers (twice) and the Renegades (twice) as Ellyse Perry finally fired with the bat, making 57, 65, 46 and 67*.

This left the Strikers needing a win against the Melbourne Stars to save their season, and they got it as Sarah Coyte hit 71 off 54 balls before New Zealand’s Sophie Devine came in at the end and delivered 47* off just 15 balls – a Strike Rate of over 300 – to set the Stars a massive target of 170.

The Strikers then followed the tried-and-trusted formula for beating the Stars – get Meg Lanning out – bowled by Amanda Wellington for 16 – the Strikers winning in the end by 50 runs.

So with Sky announcing they will show the final in the UK, who will we get to see? Well below is how it’s looking going into the final furlong, with the top 4 qualifying for the semi-finals.

Even the bottom-of-the-table Renegades could still yet qualify if they win all their games and the four sides above them lose all theirs; but only the current top-4 have their destiny in their own hands.

It’s exciting stuff, and a dream come true for Cricket Australia, with crowds and TV audiences exceeding all expectations… and it ain’t over yet!

Following the announcement of the England squad to travel to South Africa next month, CRICKETher editor Raf Nicholson caught up with new Head Coach Mark Robinson.

TB or not TB? That was the question facing Mark Robinson when he came to select his squad for the tour to South Africa – Tammy Beaumont… or not Tammy Beaumont.

Robinson confides it wasn’t an easy choice, partly because he hasn’t had the opportunity to work with the stars currently playing WBBL in Australia; but after seeing Beaumont on the recent Sri Lanka training camp and talking it through with his captain, his mind was made up:

“Tammy impressed me with how she can hit the ball and how potentially destructive she can be – it’s the style of cricket we want to play.”

“What made it quite hard was there were quite a lot of players I hadn’t seen yet… but having spoken to Charlotte Edwards who plays with her at Kent, I know she’s very talented… somebody that you would want in your team.”

The inclusion of Beaumont means Middlesex’s Fran Wilson misses the cut, just weeks after being first awarded a central contract; and Robinson admits that even though England play 3 crucial 50-over games in South Africa, this decision was partly driven with an eye on the World T20 in March:

“We’ve got a Twenty20 competition coming up, and Fran’s possibly better suited at 50-over cricket than she is at Twenty20. With back-to-back tours there’s less time to swap players in and out than what we might like.”

“I just spoke to Fran this morning, and obviously she’s disappointed… but we’ve got 4 tours this year and the new Super League, so there’s lots of opportunity for her to play cricket and make a claim for her place.”

Another to be omitted was Kent’s Laura Marsh, who Robinson acknowledges was unlucky:

“Somebody was going to have to miss out. Dani Hazell is the number 1 Twenty20 spinner in the world… and you’ve got Heather Knight now bowling quite effective off-spin as well, which gives you an option. So Laura was unlucky… but it was a very, very close call.”

The only other contracted player not travelling to South Africa is Tash Farrant, who hasn’t played for England since the contracts were first announced, but who is clearly desperate to turn that around:

“She was aggrieved that she wasn’t in. And that’s what you want – you want people to be disappointed to be left out, because they’ll put in performances, and that’s how we’ll get better, by having competition for spots… But I was very impressed with her in Sri Lanka – she knocked over a lot of batsmen!”

Finally, asked what his ambitions were for the tour, Robinson was introspective:

“We want to make sure we come together as a group and a unit, and unite, and bond, and play the type of cricket that we like to play. That’ll give us the best chance of winning those ODIs, then moving onto the Twenty20s, as part of our preparation for the World Cup.”

England have announced the squad for their tour to South Africa in February.

Kent’s Tammy Beaumont is back, though listed as “T20s Only”; but there is no room for Middlesex’s Fran Wilson, despite the fact that she was added to the list of contracted players only last month.

Also “out” is Laura Marsh – currently playing WBBL in Australia for the under-performing Sydney Sixers.

The full squad is:

• Charlotte Edwards
• Tammy Beaumont (T20Is Only)
• Katherine Brunt
• Kate Cross (ODIs Only)
• Georgia Elwiss
• Lydia Greenway
• Becky Grundy
• Jenny Gunn
• Dani Hazell
• Amy Jones
• Heather Knight
• Nat Sciver
• Anya Shrubsole
• Sarah Taylor
• Lauren Winfield
• Danni Wyatt

A five-game winning streak over the holiday period has put the Sydney Thunder in pole position in the WBBL.

The Thunder – the only team without an English overseas – beat the much-fancied Scorchers (twice), the (then) table-topping Hurricanes (also twice) and the Brisbane Heat to go top, with 16 points from 10 games, virtually assuring themselves of semi-final qualification.

Heather Knight’s now second-placed Hurricanes also look set for a semi. Despite losing 3 on the bounce, they still have 14 points with 3 games left, two of which are against the Sydney Sixers – this year’s punchbags, with just one win from 7.

The mid-table remains hard to read, with the third-placed Heat having just one game left, while the Strikers in sixth have 7 matches remaining.

It does however look like curtains already for Charlotte Edward’s Scorchers. Though the England skipper has been in fine form, scoring 366 runs at a strike rate of 107, they have a losing record with just two games left and seem most unlikely to make the cut.

Going forwards the Strikers v Stars games on 8th/ 9th January look critical for both teams. Thus far, the Stars have been very dependent on Meg Lanning – when she scores big, they win; and when she doesn’t, they don’t – so if the Strikers can just keep her quiet, they could book themselves a spot in the semis at the Stars’ expense, but if they can’t, it could be all over for them by this time next week.

The Aussie media had predicted Captain Carnage as the Lanning-Led Melbourne Stars took on the Scorchers at the WACA in Perth; but in the end it was England captain Charlotte Edwards who served it up… whilst The Megastar™ just got served.

Having called the toss correctly and chosen to bat; Lanning herself faced the first over from Katherine Brunt. It began “dot, dot, dot” and it ended “dot, dot, dot”… and we wouldn’t be surprised if the two were punctuated by a “dash, dash, dash” from the strikers end, as Brunt nailed Lanning to her crease for an opening maiden.

Brunt finished with figures of 4 overs, 1 maiden, 1 for 11. Lanning never really got going, making 27 from 31; whilst South African skipper Mignon du Preez, playing her first game for the Stars after flying-in from her tropical-island honeymoon, probably wished she was back there, struggling to 10 off 21.

With the Stars closing on 102-6, the Scorchers needed 103. What they didn’t need was their much-touted debutante – Deandra Dottin – making a four-ball duck, quickly followed back to the pavilion by Nicole Bolton (2) and Heather Graham (3).

But despite being slightly behind the curve at 58-4 after 13 overs, the Scorcher’s trump cards were their English imports – Charlotte Edwards, still at the crease having opened the batting, and joined then by Katherine Brunt.

Brunt played a very-much supporting role as Edwards accelerated towards the target, reaching it with 4 balls to spare, finishing on 61* off 56 balls and a Man of the Match award to show the Aussie media there’s more than one megastar in this game!

Star Sports, the “host” broadcaster for the up-coming World T20 in India, has confirmed that it will be televising 10 of the 23 matches which make up the women’s tournament, which runs concurrently with the men’s event in March/ April next year.

Star will show the semi-finals, final and 7 selected “group” matches – four of which you’d imagine will be those involving India.

Because of the nature of the broadcast deal between Star and the ICC, CRICKETher understands that it is highly unlikely that Sky would be able to show any matches in the UK other than those being televised by Star, so our chances of seeing all of England’s games would appear to be minimal. (And ditto for fans in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, etc.)

Nevertheless, this is still a substantial improvement over the 2014 WWT20 in Bangladesh, when only the semis and final were shown live.

At the end of another busy weekend in the WBBL, Sarah Taylor and Danni Wyatt made the headlines, as the Renegades and the Strikers recorded their first wins… but it’s Heather Knight’s Hobart Hurricanes who still head things up at the half-way stage.

Danni Wyatt put in a true all-rounder’s performance – taking 4-13 as the Renegades bowled-out the Heat for just 110; and then following up with 28* off 21 balls as her Melbourne side crossed the line in the 17th over.

Meanwhile, Sarah Taylor’s Adelaide Strikers found themselves staring down the barrel of a 5th straight defeat, after a Sydney Thunder team effort saw them post 148-6 – Nicola Stalenberg top-scoring with 39. But coming in at the top of the order, Taylor smashed 71* off 47 balls to lead the Strikers home with 6 balls to spare.

Hitting the road to Sydney, after 4 home matches last weekend, the Hurricanes “Cane Train” shared the spoils in their home-and-away double-header with the Perth Scorchers. (Yes… the concept of Home and Away is a bit all-over-the-place in WBBL!)

In the first game, Heather Knight hit 74 off 59 balls, as the Hurricanes sneaked yet another close victory by just 1 run. But the Scorchers got their revenge in the afternoon, as Crinny Hall’s 53 wasn’t quite enough to rescue the Hurricanes after an early collapse, and they went down by 4 wickets.

But then the Hurricanes showed the world how to beat the Melbourne Stars – put runs (144 of them) on the board… and then get Meg Lanning out early – The Megastar “failed” for once, scoring just 20, and the Stars subsequently collapsed to 114 all out; meaning the Hurricanes once again finish the weekend at Number 1!

So, here’s where we stand at the half way point in the league. Bearing in mind that the top 4 qualify for the semi-finals, it could still be anyone’s championship; but the Hurricanes look pretty well-placed as do the Heat; while the Sixers in particular have a big ask to turn things around after Christmas.

The sad death of Jimmy Hill, described by the BBC as “one of English football’s most influential figures”, was announced today.

Hill will no doubt be remembered for his football punditry, especially on Match of the Day, as well as his reign as chairman of the Professional Footballers’ Association.

Not many will remember him for his relationship with women’s cricket. But I will.

Hill was born in 1928 in Balham. In one interview in 1985, he recalled his days growing up in the 1930s in south London:

“We were a cricketing family. My father often took me to see Fulham. My stepbrother, Wally, played football and cricket… My step-sister, Irene, played cricket for England. They were quite a bit older than me and they dragged me around to watch them.

The first time I went on a train was when Wally took me to see the Redoubtables play cricket at Beddington. It was only three stops down the line but to me going on a train was as exciting as today’s kids would feel about travelling on Concorde.”

Irene Panton never actually played a Test for England, but she certainly played at the highest level in the early organised years of the sport – the Women’s Cricket Association was set up in 1926, five years after Irene’s club, Redoubtables, formed. Sadly she was killed in a motorcycle accident in the late 1930s.

When I heard the news of Hill’s death, it took me back to the time several years ago when, going through the archives of the Surrey-based women’s club Redoubtables WCC as part of my PhD – the club still exists, and now play at Purley CC – I stumbled upon the most amazing series of correspondence between Molly Gilbert, then club secretary, and Hill himself:

October, 1985:

“Dear Mr Hill,

I was so delighted and surprised to read your ‘potted’ autobiography in the ‘Roots’ article in the Sunday Express Magazine. It was great to think that you remembered our Club name and were kind enough to mention it. We are still a club of keen players…When you came with Irene I was Match Secretary. I remember her so well, she was a lovely girl and a great player. Her early death was such a tragedy…

I also remember her friend Joyce Wawman… ‘Panton’ and ‘Wawman’ used to bring a small boy to our matches who may have been the brother of either of them, ie you.

I have a small snapshot of some of our members at that time accompanied by a small boy (Irene Panton is in the picture). We would be most interested to find out if we have a famous portrait or not. I think Irene and Joyce joined us in 1932 and we have five ‘old girls’ still interested in the Club, one as President (Miss S Swinburne OBE for Services to Women’s Cricket), two as vice-presidents, myself as Secretary (since 1935!!) and one other and we all remember Irene well.”

December, 1985:

“Dear Molly,

Thank you for your letter following ‘Roots’. Forgive my late reply… I’m certain I was the young boy in the photograph. Joyce Wawman was a kind of cousin who lived with us and who continued to take me around even after Irene’s death.

I remember your name well and Sylvia Swinburne too… Thank you for writing and do have a very happy new year.

Your sincerely, Jimmy (Hill).”

January, 1986:

“Dear Mr Hill,

Thank you so much for your letter… the Women’s Cricket Association is 60 years old this year and they are arranging a celebration match between two teams made up of first class players from all over the country. The match to take place at Bramley Cricket Club on Sunday 8^th June, afternoon… We are hoping to have several famous people at the match (to draw the crowds) and I do hope you still have enough love of the game to come along and meet present day players. If you can possibly spare the time, we should all be delighted to meet you.”

February, 1986:

“Molly,

I’m afraid I shall be in Mexico in the World Cup on June 8^th, otherwise I would have been delighted to have come along. Perhaps there will be an opportunity on another occasion. Do please keep me informed if there is another match that I might attend after August.”

Sadly the correspondence ended there. I like to think that perhaps Hill did, though, attend another Redoubtables match or two after his trip down memory lane.

So there you have it. Jimmy Hill, 1928-2015: football pundit, player, chairman, manager and analyser…and friend of women’s cricket.

Middlesex’s Fran Wilson has been awarded a central contract by the ECB, joining the otherwise unchanged list of 18 (now 19) players.

The 24-year-old Wilson last played for England in 2011, and recently moved from Division 2 Somerset to Division 1 Middlesex, with the aim of winning back her England place.

She was the only non-contracted player selected in a squad for last summer’s Women’s Ashes; but was restricted to a “12th Man” appearance in the field at Canterbury during the Test.

However, her rich form in domestic cricket – she was one of only 3 women to score a County Championship Division 1 century last season – has now been rewarded by England and it would seem highly likely that she will subsequently be a part of the squad to face South Africa in February.

Although we are a quarter-way through the WBBL, the lopsided nature of the schedule means it is difficult to really know where we are, with Brisbane Heat having played six matches and Sydney Thunder just one. Nevertheless, one thing is clear: the bookies who had Heather Knight’s Hobart Hurricanes at 16/1 are now starting to look rather nervously at their wallets!

The Hurricanes played four games over the weekend and came away with 4 wins – two apiece against Danni Wyatt’s Melbourne Renegades and Sarah Taylor’s Adelaide Strikers – Knight leading the way with two Man of the Match awards.

Standout performance of the weekend however … and very possibly of the entire tournament… goes to Brisbane Heat’s Grace Harris, who smashed 103 off just 55 balls, with 14 4s and 4 6s, as the Heat dumped Laura Marsh’s Sydney Sixers firmly to the bottom of the table – played four, won none.