On a melting hot day at North Maidenhead CC in Berkshire, Lancashire came away with two wins, whilst last year’s champions Kent left empty-handed.

Berkshire v Kent

In the first encounter of the day, a 64-run partnership between Anna Harris and Carla Rudd carried Berkshire to victory over Kent in a low-scoring thriller which went down to the final over.

The day couldn’t have began any worse for Kent as Emily Thompson swished at a wide first ball loosener from Lauren Bell, only to edge it to Carla Rudd behind the stumps.

Thereafter Kent never quite got going, with only Alice Davidson-Richards (16) and Tash Farrant (20) making it to double-figures as wickets fell throughout – 3 apiece to Emma Walker and Lissy Macleod, and 2 to Lauren Bell; with Kent eventually bowled out for 84 in the final over.

It wasn’t the total Kent might have wanted to defend on a perfect day for batting; but they made early inroads as both openers departed for ducks. Coming in at 5-2, Carla Rudd on nought nudged some straightforward catching practice to Alice Davidson Richards at slip; but ADR fumbled it, giving Rudd a life, and throwing Berkshire a lifeline.

Rudd didn’t look back after that, as she and Harris dug in to take the home side to within sight of the target. Harris was eventually run out for 29; but Lauren Bell gave Rudd the backup she needed to drag Berkshire over the line, smashing a final 4 through midwicket to bring up the Beavers’ first win of the season with 2 balls to spare.

Kent v Lancashire

The second match of the day was rather more one-sided than the first, with Lancashire showing just how far they have come over the past couple of years – dominating Kent with both bat and ball in a 72-run victory.

Having won the toss and elected to bat, Lancashire accumulated a formidable total across their 20 overs – 143-4 – building on a strong foundation, with 81 up on the scoreboard before the first wicket went down. Openers Emma Lamb (33) and Eve Jones (40) both batted beautifully – Jones sending a delivery of Megan Belt’s flying high over the square leg boundary for the only six of the game.

It was Belt who eventually got the breakthrough, having Jones caught at mid-wicket in the 13th over – but number 3 Kate Cross simply carried on the good work, finishing with 30 runs to her name. Ellie Threlkeld also chipped in with consecutive boundaries off the last two balls of the innings, ending with a somewhat ridiculous strike rate of 400!

Kent’s reply was distinctly unconvincing – from the time their first wicket fell in the 4th over they barely managed to stem the flow of batsmen making their way back to the cool of the North Maidenhead pavilion. Ultimately it was Extras (28) who top-scored by a long way, as only one of the Kent batsmen, Grace Gibbs (11), made it into double figures. Up-and-coming stars Sophie Ecclestone and Lamb both took advantage, finishing with figures of 3-6 and 4-15 respectively, as the game wended its way to a slow and inevitable conclusion.

— Raf Nicholson

Berkshire v Lancashire

In the day’s final game, Berkshire made things a little harder for Lancashire, but ultimately not hard enough, as the Red Roses cruised to a second victory by 28 runs.

Having won another toss, Lancashire again chose to bat, with Eve Jones (17) and Emma Lamb (14) once again hitting the ground running, before both were out in quick succession. With Kate Cross dismissed cheaply after coming in at 3, it was left to the middle-order to make their mark, which they did thanks to Natalie Brown (26) and Jess Couser (21). The Berkshire bowlers continued to put up a good fight, aided by some fine work in the field, to leave Lancashire 9-down when they closed on 130.

Berkshire once again lost early wickets – Lauren Bell and Carla Rudd the ducks on this occasion, whilst Lissy Macleod bashed her way to 22 off 17 balls. Once she was dismissed though, followed by two further ducks, things started to slip away from Berkshire. and although Mia Rogers (18) and Ashleigh Muttitt (also 18) had some fun at the end, the game was realistically already out of reach by that stage, with Berkshire eventually all out for 102 – Emma Lamb again the pick of the bowlers with 2-11.

Afterwards, Lancashire captain Meg Fairclough told CRICKETher:

“It was a long journey down, setting off at 7 o’clock this morning, but definitely worth it – the girls did great in both games.”

“This team has been together for 4 or 5 years now – a lot of the girls are in the England Academy; and then we’ve got these great players coming in – Sophie Ecclestone from Cheshire and Eve Jones from Staffordshire –  and so we’ve come on really strong this year.”

With Warwickshire having won both their matches, versus Somerset and Surrey, by huge margins, Lancashire are unlikely to be in 1st place when the table is calculated after this round; but they have set down a marker for this season, and perhaps many seasons to come, that this is now a team to be reckoned with at the highest levels of the women’s domestic game.

Photo copyright Ruth Conchie

It took Sophie Devine a mere 4 days to adjust to English conditions. She flew in from New Zealand last Wednesday; by Sunday she was out in the middle tonking the Berkshire bowlers all around the park in her trademark hard-hitting fashion. On Monday she did exactly the same to the Middlesex attack, smacking 122 in 78 balls.

When we spoke to her she was relishing being out in the middle again: “It’s nice to be outside – and in the English summer, which apparently I’ve brought with me!”

Explaining her decision to sign for the Bears, she said: “I’ve had a long injury lay off [she missed the Rose Bowl series against Australia back in February due to a dislocated thumb] so for me, coming over here, it was about getting game time. I seriously considered staying at home but the opportunity to come over here and play outside was a big factor for me.”

Strategically it may also prove to be a significant decision ahead of what looks set to be the biggest World Cup in the history of the women’s game. Devine is in fact the latest in a series of Kiwi recruits to the County Championship, joining her skipper Suzie Bates (at Hampshire), Holly Huddleston (Middlesex), Amy Satterthwaite (Lancashire), Lea Tahuhu (Surrey) and Rachel Priest (Berkshire). New Zealand, it seems, are putting faith in the fact that their top players are likely to benefit far more from time over here adjusting to English conditions than an indoor training camp back home.

Devine agrees. “Playing cricket’s always going to be of help. The girls back at home are training hard, but it’s always different when you’re training indoors on artificial surfaces, so it’s massive for us. A lot of the Kiwi girls have been here for a good period of time as well, so they’ll be well acclimatised.”

What does she make of New Zealand’s World Cup chances? She shrugs off the suggestion that they are favourites this time around. “I don’t think so! Australia have to go in as favourites, seeing as they’ve been so dominant since they won the last one 4 years ago. England at home too – it’s always a massive advantage to be playing at home.”

“But anyone on their day can win it. With the format how everyone has to play everyone it opens a lot up, and puts pressure on every single game. It’s going to be tough.”

For the moment, she is enjoying being welcomed into a winning side (Warwickshire remain the only Div 1 side unbeaten so far this season), and one which she says contains “a lot of talent”:

“I haven’t even had a proper chance to train with the team, but they’ve been lovely. They’ve welcomed me in – and I haven’t been given too much rib about my accent!”

Devine may not see New Zealand as favourites in the forthcoming World Cup, but there’s no doubt that a team with her in their top order is going to be tough to beat. Here at CRICKETher we’re pretty certain that we’ll be seeing her walking out to bat at Lords come July 23.

In a hard-fought game at North Maidenhead it was Nottinghamshire who ran out the eventual winners against Berkshire, as they successfully chased down the 106 runs required with 5 wickets remaining.

Top-scorer of the day was Berkshire’s Rachel Priest (51) but even she could not save the Beavers from defeat, as Notts finished the weekend with 2 wins under their belt. It was a disappointing end to stalwart John Dickinson’s long reign as manager.

Notts had started the chase slowly, reaching 41-1 in the first 17 overs, but when the second wicket fell in the 18th – Megan Burton succumbing to the pace of Ashley Muttitt – it brought Jodie Dibble to the crease. Alongside fellow former England international Sonia Odedra the two began to bat with real intent – Odedra later admitting that the gloomy skies and imminent possibility of rain had pushed them to force the run rate upwards.

They put on a quickfire 34-run partnership in 5 overs before Odedra holed out to substitute fielder Izzy Clayton at mid on, 8 runs short of her half-century. Dibble (22) went two overs later, plumb LBW to Lissy Macleod, but Notts already had 85 runs on the board at that point and the long experience of Jane Smit (19*) saw them home without much cause for concern.

The game had earlier been reduced to 48 overs a side thanks to a short shower, and Nottinghamshire made the most of the favourable bowling conditions – damp and overcast throughout the morning – after winning the toss and putting Berkshire in to bat. Sophie Munro, fresh from her five-fer on debut yesterday, left the Beavers reeling at 0-2, having sent back both Annabel Flack and Carla Rudd without scoring.

It was left to Priest and Macleod to rebuild and, after Berkshire eventually got off the mark in the fourth over of the day, the pair put on 69 for the third wicket – including a huge one-bounce four from Priest over midwicket – before Macleod was unluckily adjudged LBW to Dibble for 18.

Priest pushed on and just about made it to her half-century (dropped on 49* by Yvonne Graves at square leg), but was out bowled trying to sweep Dibble shortly afterwards, leaving Berkshire 4 down with 78 runs on the board.

From there it was an uphill struggle for the remaining Berkshire batsmen, who crawled along for a while, between them managing to push Berkshire’s total up to above 100 before Munro (4-28) and Lucy Higham (3-9) eventually cleaned up for Notts in the space of 39 overs. Ultimately 105 was a respectable but not quite competitive total.

Notts captain Sonia Odedra told CRICKETher after close of play that she was extremely happy with her side’s performance this weekend:

“2 out of 2 is perfect for us. It was important for us to win these 2 games to give us a chance to stay in this division. I’m really proud of the team and what they’ve achieved so far.”

“It got a little bit close in the end when we lost a few wickets, but I had confidence, we’ve got a long batting order and the important thing is we got over the line.”

Warwickshire kept their County Championship dream on track with a stonking win over Berkshire at North Maidenhead CC, as Amy Jones led them romping to victory after the Beavers had been bowled out for 73.

Jones hit 34 off 14 balls, finishing things off with two sixes in the final over, somewhat eclipsing New Zealand superstar Sophie Devine at the other end, who finished on 20* at a Strike Rate of “only” 200!

The toss was won by Berkshire, who opted to bat; but it was downhill from there for the home side, as Annabel Flack was bowled for a golden duck by Laura Crofts in the second over, with Crofts’ opening spell of 3-12 also accounting for Carla Rudd and Anna Harris, whilst at the other end Sophie Devine sent Rachel Priest and Sherissa Gumbs packing – all for single-figures – leaving Berkshire in horrible trouble at 26-5.

Berkshire recovered a smidgen of respectability via Lauren Bell (14) and Lissy Macleod (24) who took them past the 50 mark; but after Bell sliced a slower ball from Jenny Gunn to Kathryn Bryce in the gully, Berkshire collapsed again to 73 all out in 28.1 overs.

With bonus points a potential factor in deciding the Championship, Warwickshire went out determined to chase the required runs down quickly. They had 18.5 overs to do it in… but they needed just 7 to walk away with 18 points, ensuring that they sit in first place at the season’s half-way mark, regardless of Yorkshire’s result against Sussex.

Afterwards, Warwickshire captain Marie Kelly told CRICKETher:

“We wanted to bat first and show everyone the score that we could get – get the top six in and all score runs; but sometimes that doesn’t happen. We lost the toss; but we knew that we could get 10 wickets – it was just about how quickly we got them – making sure we were ruthless and didn’t give anyone a chance to settle and get in – and we showed that by bowling them out for 73.”

“Crofty [Laura Crofts] bowled so well – I was at mid off so I got to see the lines and areas she was bowling and some of those balls were just unplayable.”

“Then it was so good to see Amy Jones and Sophie Devine doing their thing – it is a pleasure being able to watch them both.”

Warwickshire travel to Middlesex tomorrow, where they will be targeting another win; whilst Berkshire must pick themselves up, coming back to North Maidenhead to face Notts.

Sarah Taylor has been named in England’s 15-strong World Cup squad announced today. Taylor has only played one competitive match in over a year, scoring 61 for Sussex v Kent last weekend, but has continued to train with England throughout most of that period. If England ultimately decide she unable to play, they will be able to name an injury replacement.

Missing out are Tash Farrant, Kate Cross and Amy Jones – but all will presumably be on standby in case of injuries.

Full Squad:

• Heather Knight (Berkshire)
• Tammy Beaumont (Kent)
• Katherine Brunt (Yorkshire)
• Georgia Elwiss (Sussex)
• Jenny Gunn (Warwickshire)
• Alex Hartley (Lancashire)
• Danielle Hazell (Yorkshire)
• Beth Langston (Yorkshire)
• Laura Marsh (Kent)
• Anya Shrubsole (Somerset)
• Nat Sciver (Surrey)
• Sarah Taylor (Sussex)
• Fran Wilson (Middlesex)
• Lauren Winfield (Yorkshire)
• Danni Wyatt (Sussex)

UPDATE (18/05/2017) – We’ve now seen some fuller details: 8 KSL matches will be part of the FTA package, plus 1 women’s T20 international – so basically… it is all good news – no but!!!

Today’s exclusive by Elizabeth Ammon in The Times – that the KSL Final will be broadcast free-to-air from 2020 – is welcome news for the women’s game.

The KSL Final will be one element in a package of matches, including two men’s T20 internationals, which the ECB will require whoever wins the next broadcasting contract to make available free-to-air.

It is worth noting that this doesn’t necessarily mean these games will be shown on traditional “TV” – for example, BT Sport will this year fulfil similar contractual requirements for men’s football by partnering with YouTube.

Nevertheless, it’s good news… right?

It is… but there’s a but!

By continuing the policy of folding the women’s broadcast deal in with the men’s, it seems that this one match will be the only women’s cricket which will be shown free-to-air – Pay TV (be it Sky or BT Sport) will therefore likely retain exclusivity for England women’s internationals and the rest of the Super League; dashing hopes that a stand-alone women’s free-to-air TV deal might have become the driver for a surge in interest in the sport, as we’ve seen with both women’s football in England and women’s cricket in Australia.

With all the good news we’ve had recently, from All Stars Cricket (which anecdotally really does seem to have hit a sweet spot) to live-streaming of the Women’s World Cup, there’s no doubt that we do seem to be moving in the right direction – but it will take more than one game on free-to-air to change the landscape.