Rachel Candy starred as Surrey made it two from two this weekend, taking maximum bonus points to lead the Women’s County Championship.

It was Berkshire who got off to the more promising start, on a beautiful early-summer morning at North Maidenhead, as Immy Brown had Holly Knight bowled for 5 and then sent England’s Nat Sciver back to the pavilion, LBW for a golden duck. Susie Rowe (21) and Kirstie White (30) helped steady the ship a little, but with Surrey at 94/5, it was Berkshire who seemed to be on top when Candy entered the fray. But the New Zealander proceeded to smash an unbeaten 81 off 71 balls as Surrey finished on 217.

Berkshire’s reply began disastrously, as both Alex Rogers and Linsey Smith departed for ducks; but England Vice-Captain Heather Knight and experienced Aussie Corinne Hall both hit 50s as The Beavers reached 102/2 at drinks.

Knight was eventually out for 65, when a very, very thin edge was caught behind by Surrey glove-butler Kirsty White, off the bowling of Nat Sciver; but Berkshire were a little behind the rate still when Emily Gerke came in to clobber her way to a maiden championship 50, and take Berkshire within touching-distance of the win.

It wasn’t to be, however. Gerke was run out by Candy for 57, and although Berkshire needed just 11 runs off the last 4 overs, the pressure told, as Rachel Hardy was run out in a disastrous “rabbit in the headlights” moment with Immy Brown, who then handed a regulation catch to Holly Knight at gully to end the game with Berkshire an agonising 2 runs short.

Afterwards, Surrey captain Cecily Scutt told CRICKETher:

“We just tried to spread the field and keep control for as long as possible and then held our nerve at the end.”

Reflecting on a weekend that left Surrey at the top of the table, she praised her team, saying:

“It’s great – we had a few first-game nerves yesterday, but everything came together and we played really well.”

Surrey’s next matches are on the late-May Bank Holiday, at home to Middlesex and Warwickshire; while Berkshire face Notts and Yorkshire at Finchampstead.

Players and fans alike were left disappointed earlier today when one of the opening games of the 2015 Women’s County Championship – Middlesex v Berkshire at Edmonton Cricket Club – was abandoned without a ball being bowled.

While the rain had largely disappeared by the time play was due to begin at 11am, it was announced shortly afterwards that the pitch was unplayable after the overnight downpour seeped through holes in the covers.

Newly-appointed Middlesex captain Izzy Westbury, due to lead the Meatballs out for the first time today, said that she was disappointed with the abandonment and hoped to rearrange the fixture later in the season.

Fans who had travelled to watch the game – one from as far away as Ipswich – were equally frustrated.

Edmonton do not currently have fully-functioning covers as their last set were vandalised and they are still awaiting the arrival of new ones.

Berkshire have the chance to redeem their disappointing start to the championship tomorrow in their fixture against Surrey at North Maidenhead CC.

Lincolnshire batsman Beth Smith looks forward to her first season of county cricket.

As the season approaches, the Lincolnshire ladies set-up are relishing the fact that for the first time they are playing in the County Championship. For a minor county, where women’s and girl’s cricket only really got established 5 years ago, this is a major step forward to establishing themselves in the cricketing world.

The ladies team is still in its infancy under new coach/ manager Alan Ward who joined the Lincs coaching staff 2 years ago, but they are going from strength to strength.

Over the winter months the ladies have undergone a regular training programme in preparation for the coming season; and some of the stronger junior girls were also invited to attend the training sessions with the intention that they will be fighting for the chance to play in some of the ladies fixtures during the summer.

The first game for Lincs Ladies is this coming Sunday (3rd May) and they are sending out a strong team looking to make an impact in their first county champs fixture. Due to work and other commitments some of the senior players are unavailable, so a strong suit of U17s join the five experienced seniors in the match against Huntingdonshire & Cambridgeshire.

Some of the youngsters will be ones to watch in the coming season, both for their respective junior team but also within the ladies team.

Becki Brooker, India Freeman and Alexia Page-Graves all performed with the bat last season and will be required to put in similar performances to aid the senior batsmen – Beth Smith, Hayley Butts and Rachael Dyer.

Lucy Barnes (U17) will be assisting the bowling attack alongside debutant senior Sarah McDowell and returning left-armer Dani Jex.

The close fought matches in 2014 have given the Lincolnshire ladies a good platform to spring from in their inaugural season in the county championship. A match report will follow Sundays match; hopefully showing Lincs as victorious!

Come on You Imps!

Beth Smith

CRICKETher has learned that Berkshire captain (and England vice-captain) Heather Knight is set to miss the first day of the county season, after flying back from a training camp in Sri Lanka only the day before.

This is a major blow for The Beavers; and with their big-name overseas signing, Aussie Alex Blackwell, also yet to arrive, they are looking paper-thin for their opening match-up with Middlesex at Edmonton Cricket Club.

However, Middlesex are also expected to be without a key player – spinner Alex Hartley, who has impressed for the England Academy over the winter.

Knight is likely to play on Monday, against Surrey at North Maidenhead.

CRICKETher can confirm that Holly Colvin looks set to make her return to competitive cricket this weekend.

The former England star, who has over 150 international wickets, took an extended break from the game last year; but has been named in the Sussex squad to face Surrey on Sunday and Kent on Monday.

England’s Sarah Taylor is expected to captain Sussex in both games; but Georgia Elwiss, who isn’t due home from England’s training camp in Sri Lanka until Saturday, will be available for only the Kent game.

Kent have announced the signing of Kara Sutherland as their “Overseas” for the 2015 season.

The Australian left-armer bowls fast-medium and wields a big bat; but as part of a star-studded New South Wales Breakers team, she has had little opportunity to shine recently in the WNCL – batting down the order and bowling third or fourth change. In the Breakers recent WNCL Final victory, she didn’t bowl at all; and was listed to come in to bat at 11.

Sutherland does though offer one significant advantage over the likes of Berkshire’s big overseas signing Alex Blackwell and Sussex’s Erin Osborne, in that she will be available for the whole season. With Kent’s England stars likely to be absent for several matches during the Women’s Ashes, this could be vital as Kent seek to claim a record seventh county crown.

Kent kick off their season against Yorkshire and Sussex at Beckenham this Bank Holiday weekend. Entry is £5, but free for Kent Members, Canterbury Christ Church University students and under-16s.

England captain Charlotte Edwards has strongly hinted on twitter that she intends to retire in the wake of the 2017 World Cup.

In a tweet sent yesterday to current head of women’s cricket at the ECB, Clare Connor, regarding the London Marathon, Edwards stated: “Totally got this!! #2018”

It is unlikely that with her current commitments as captain – England Women were awarded professional contracts in February last year – Edwards would be able to consider taking part in the London Marathon until after she retires from international cricket.

Edwards, who is now aged 35, has previously stated that her aim is to keep playing for England until the 2017 World Cup, which is due to take place in England. This, though, is the strongest evidence yet that she intends to retire in the wake of the tournament.

It would certainly be a fitting way to end a career which began in 1996, when Edwards was just 16 and women’s international cricket was still being played in skirts. She has been a prolific run-scorer ever since, and remains a mainstay of England’s batting, having amassed (to date) 1645 runs in Tests, 5812 in ODIs and 2299 in T20s.

She took over the captaincy from Connor in 2006, and recently led England out for the 200th time, making her the most long-standing captain in the history of English cricket.

Former World Cup winner Haidee Tiffen has been appointed head coach and chief selector of New Zealand.

A batting all-rounder, Tiffen played over 100 ODIs between 1999 and her retirement in 2009, when she led New Zealand to the final of the World Cup in Australia, where they were eventual runners-up to England.

Averaging a touch over 30 in ODIs, Tiffen also has a Test batting average of more than 100… considerably helped by having finished Not Out in 3 of her 4 Test innings!

More recently she has pursued a career in teaching.

With so many international women’s teams now going down the route of busing-in coaches from The Other Game, such as Australia’s recent appointment of Matthew Mott, it is positive that at least one of the big sides will have a female coach.

But with New Zealand firmly entrenched in the bottom half of the Women’s International Championship table, Tiffen has a job on her hands, with the White Ferns next round of matches coming up soon in India.

WHAT?

The Women’s County Championship was instituted in 1997 to replace the old Area Championship, which was played over a long weekend at Cambridge.

It’s a 4-division domestic competition, run on a similar basis to the men’s county championship. There are, though, some key differences:

• The matches are all 50-over games. There is no multi-day domestic women’s cricket in England.

• It isn’t professional, or even semi-professional. All players (outside of the contracted 18 England squad) play simply for the love of the game. In most cases they are actually paying to play, because they have to fund kit and travel costs themselves.

• Thought Berkshire were a Minor County? Think again! In the women’s championship they play in Division 1. The men’s and women’s games developed separately historically; therefore counties don’t necessarily play at the same level in both games.

WHEN?

It’s played over six weekends between May and September. The full schedule is here.

WHO?

Division 1 – Berkshire, Kent, Lancashire, Middlesex, Nottinghamshire, Surrey, Sussex, Warwickshire, Yorkshire.

Division 2 – Devon, Durham, Essex, Ireland, Scotland, Somerset, Staffordshire, Wales, Worcestershire.

Division 3 – Cheshire, Derbyshire, Hampshire, Hertfordshire, Leicestershire, Netherlands, Northamptonshire, Oxfordshire, Suffolk.

Division 4 South & West – Buckinghamshire, Cornwall, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Shropshire, Wiltshire.

Division 4 North & East – Cambridgeshire, Cumbria, Lincolnshire, Norfolk, Northumberland.

WHERE?

Women’s county matches are rarely played at the men’s county grounds (though Kent, Sussex and Surrey are all playing at least once at their men’s grounds this season, as are many of the division 3 counties, including Northants, Derbyshire and Hampshire). They can sometimes be held in fairly obscure places, but the pitches are generally of good quality – and you can still watch right from the boundary edge.

Again, you can find full details on the full schedule, here.

HOW MUCH?

Women’s county matches are usually free to attend (though Kent are charging £5 entry this season for home games). The players will be paying more to play than you would to attend!

WHO WINS?

You’d think it would be the team with the most points, right? Not necessarily. There are a maximum of 18 points available per match (10 points for a win, and up to 8 bonus points). Then, at the end of the season, the number of points a team finishes with is averaged out, based on the number of games they have completed. (Matches are often cancelled and it can be difficult to rearrange them.) The winner is the team with the highest average.

This means that it is possible for a team to finish the season with a higher number of points but not top their division. For example, in 2014 Lancashire gained 109 points and Somerset gained 113 points in total. However, Lancashire topped Division 2 and were promoted because one of their matches was cancelled and they therefore finished with a higher average.

WHAT DO THEY WIN?

A cup.

WHO GETS RELEGATED?

Last season, there were play-off matches. This year the bottom two teams in Divisions 1 and 2 will be automatically relegated, and the top two teams in Divisions 2 and 3 promoted.

TEAMS TO WATCH?

Kent and Sussex have traditionally been the “Big Two” – no other team has won the championship since 2002. Kent have 5 contracted England players in their squad, and were last year’s winners.

WHAT ABOUT TWENTY20?

There is a separate women’s Twenty20 competition which is based on round-robin leagues.

The Twenty20 winners also get a cup. A different cup, though.

WHAT’S NEW FOR 2015?

This is the first year that teams will be playing with a white ball and coloured clothing, despite the fact that the women’s county championship has always been a one-day competition.

WHERE CAN I FIND MORE INFORMATION?

Some of the men’s county websites have information on their women’s sides, though this is a bit hit and miss! Your best bet is to follow CRICKETher throughout the season, as we will feature news and match reports. Both Martin Davies and Don Miles also cover women’s county cricket on their blogs, so do check those out as well.

The ICC have announced that in future their player rankings for women’s cricket will be combined across all three formats of the game – Test, ODI and T20.

This replaces the current system whereby separate rankings were produced for ODIs and T20s.

With fewer matches overall, and almost all leading players playing all formats, it was felt that a combined system made more sense; as well as adding more clarity to the system from a marketing perspective – there will now be just one “Number One” bowler and batsman in women’s cricket.

The new “Combined Number Ones” (not yet officially announced) are likely to be Meg Lanning (Batting) and West Indies’ Anisa Mohammed (Bowling).