CRICKETher has always maintained a healthy degree of scepticism about the ECB’s participation figures for women’s and girl’s cricket. Some of the larger numbers thrown about by the board count girls who have participated in a single Chance To Shine Kwik Cricket session at school… which is great, but probably stretching the definition of “participation” a little far when the figure is quoted without context to the mainstream media.

However, anecdotally things at the grassroots really do seem to be looking quite rosy in 2015. We’ve spoken to parents in two different parts of the country* recently with daughters playing recreationally in the 11-15 year-old age-bands, and they’ve got plenty of good things to say about cricket: their girls get regular net sessions, a positive team environment, great coaching and lots of “proper” matches – up to 20 games a season in the Essex girl’s leagues.

At the women’s recreational level things are on the up too, with new clubs forming to play friendly games or locally-based leagues. The ECB’s long-term investment strategies seem to be paying-off here, with a particular driver being the graduation of last year’s girls into this year’s women’s teams.

At the elite level however, it is a different story. The “Premier League” clubs which have been the bedrock of women’s cricket since its inception as an organised sport in the 1920s are really suffering. 2nd XIs find themselves unable to put a regular team out, and even 1st XIs struggle. Wokingham Ridgeway (home when they are available of Heather Knight and Charlotte Edwards) have taken to the field with just 8 players in a Premier League match on one occasion this season, and on another with only 10.

Starting next season, the ECB are adding another elite tier to the women’s game: the Women’s Cricket Super League, which is supposed to function alongside the County Championship and the Premier League, relying on many of the same players. That’s a lot of (cricket) balls for the ECB (not to mention the players) to keep juggling – probably one too many, if we are honest. Something will most-certainly have to give… but it remains to be seen what.

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* Admittedly, both in the south – Essex and Berkshire.

The “Average Points” system used to decide the Women’s County Championship looks like descending into farce again, as 2nd-placed Yorkshire appear to have been able to essentially forfeit their match against 3rd-placed Sussex, without suffering any penalty… and indeed may go on to win the Championship as a result, as detailed over on Women’s Cricket Blog.

Last year’s Championship ended in similar circumstances, with Kent actually being handed the trophy despite having theoretically two more games to play, which if they had lost would have handed the title to Surrey. (And bearing in mind that Kent would have been without their England players for the replays, there is every possibility that this is exactly what would have happened.)

2012 saw an even more bizarre situation, as Essex made it through to the “Grand Final” despite having won only two games… because they were the only completed games they played; though at least on that occasion poetic justice was served as Kent deservedly went on to take the title by winning the final.

The Average Point system was intended to even-out the vagaries of the English weather, which inevitably causes cancellations, the impact of which are magnified by such a short (8 game) season.

But like some sort of Alan Ayckbourn script writ-large, it has instead become the cause of a litany of ever more ridiculous outcomes; which inevitably look all the more laughable because of the complexities of such a system, when compared to JUST ADDING UP THE POINTS!

It must be hoped that when the Women’s Cricket Super League is introduced in 2016/17, this is one feature of the Women’s County Championship that is politely (or if necessary, impolitely) told it is no longer welcome around these parts!

The Australians have recently headed back home with the Women’s Ashes trophy back in their grasp, presumably soon to be added to the silverware on display in their trophy cabinet.

There’s just one little problem: the trophy contains a glaring error.

CRICKETher’s editor Raf Nicholson spotted the mistake during the recent series, when the trophy was being displayed prior to the beginning of the Test match at Canterbury.

The discs on the base of the trophy contain the dates and results of the 21 women’s England-Australia series’ played to date (with space to show all results until 2030). The third series listed appears on the trophy as “1949/50 – Australia”. But… the series concerned actually took place during the 1948/9 season – with the three Tests (of which one was won by the Aussies, and two ended in draws) occurring in January and February 1949, at Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney.

Detail of the Women’s Ashes Trophy

The Women’s “Ashes” – which are the remains of a miniature bat signed by both teams burned prior to the 1998 series – were originally housed within a timber cricket ball, but a new version of the trophy, which now surrounds the ball with nine golden stumps, was jointly commissioned by the ECB and Cricket Australia prior to the 2013 series. A company based in Kyneton, Victoria – Flynn Silver – was responsible for its production. Apparently the error on this new version of the trophy had until now gone unnoticed by either board.

While the correct series dates are on both the Cricket Archive and ESPNcricinfo databases, Wikipedia for some unknown reason has the same (incorrect) dates as the trophy. Perhaps the trophy’s engravers checked the wrong source before they did their job?!

CRICKETher did bring the gaffe to the attention of the ECB during the recent series, so it may be that something will be done to amend the error before the next Ashes encounter Down Under in 2017/18.

For now, though, there’s just one word to sum up the situation…

Oops!

As Australia’s (fairly) long-standing domestic structure based around 7 state* teams, morphs into the 8-team, city-based WBBL, there are signs of looming recruitment difficulties for at least one of the teams.

News coming out of the Subcontinent suggests that the Melbourne Stars attempts to enlist two of India’s biggest names – captain Mithali Raj and bowling all-rounder Jhulan Goswami – have fallen flat.

Whether Mitali and Jhulan made up their own minds not to play for the Stars, or had them made up for them by the BCCI, is unclear; though the latter would be no surprise, given that the Indian Board has been very reluctant to allow their players to participate in any of the men’s T20 competitions outside India.

But CRICKETher can reveal that the Stars also made enquiries about a senior England player which were politely rebuffed by the player herself, not the ECB.

Overall, the Stars appear to have made only 4 domestic signings so far – albeit one being the Megastar herself, Meg Lanning – and have filled none of the 3 “overseas” spots on their roster.

With less than 90 days to go until WBBL bats-off on December 5th, the sense of excitement is building; but Cricket Australia will be crossing their fingers that the drama builds to a climax… not a crisis!

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* Yes… we know ACT isn’t technically a state!

The ICC have confirmed the schedule for the World T20 Qualifiers in Thailand this November so CRICKETher sat down with Scotland captain Abbi Aitken to talk about the challenge ahead:

“We are really excited to head out to Thailand.” she says. “We have Bangladesh, Papua New Guinea and Thailand in our group. We’ve played Papua New Guinea and Thailand before. We’ve never played Bangladesh, but we are well aware of the skill and the depth that they have.”

The tournament is structured around two groups of four, with the top two teams in each group going through to semis and a final; but only the two finalists qualify for the World T20 “proper” in India next year. Scotland’s first challenge is to make it through the group stages, and for Aitken that is the main goal:

“We back ourselves to finish in the top 2 of our group and that is going to be our aim.”

Asked if they can go one better and book themselves a ticket to India, Aitken dials-down expectations: “We’ll see how the tournament goes!” she replies with a smile.

These qualifiers represent a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Scotland:

“Last time we competed in a World Cup qualifier was in South Africa in 2008. That was an eye-opener for myself – I was really young – going out there and actually experiencing international cricket outwith Europe is an experience and it will be interesting for the girls.”

But excitement within the camp is tempered by nerves:

“There’s a massive competition going on at the moment for places – we’ve got 14 people that we can take and we’ve realistically got 19/20 girls pushing for those places. It is difficult to then select a team to go, and there are going be a few disappointed faces, but it is good for us at the end of the day to have that competition.”

For Aitken, who remains a “full time amateur”, balancing work and cricket can be demanding, no more so than when you are heading off to an international tournament:

“I’ve just got a new job and I’m already facing challenges with having to ask for holidays before I’ve even started. It’s not always easy.”

At the end of the day though, pulling on that Scotland jersey is its own reward:

“Any time you wear the shirt you wear it with pride!” she says. “It is a juggle, but we do it because we love it.”

Whilst Ellyse Perry was rightly awarded overall Player of the Series in the 2015 Women’s Ashes, England fans have had their say, voting for batsman and superstar fielder Lydia Greenway as their England Player of the Series.

Greenway hasn’t had the easiest of times recently, after a run of indifferent scores led to her being dropped for the final Women’s International Championship ODI of England’s winter tour to New Zealand in February.

But she has come roaring back in the Women’s Ashes this summer, starting off with a half-century in the 1st ODI at Taunton, and going on to top the list of England’s run-scorers in the series, with 202 at an average of 34.

This summer has seen a renewed determination from Greenway to defend her wicket. Having largely pared back her game to a big, solid forward defensive and of course her trademark sweeps, her Strike Rate has been down somewhat on her career overall; but at a time when England’s middle-order has needed backbone more than anything else, the new Greenway’s presence has been a welcome one.

Meanwhile her sharpness in the field continues to be worth an extra 10-20 runs in every game she plays; not to mention her 4 catches and 3 run-outs in the series.

The head of women’s cricket in Scotland, Kari Carswell, has told CRICKETher that Scotland’s international future hangs in the balance, due to ECB plans to exclude them from the Women’s County Championship as part of the reorganisation of domestic cricket in England following the establishment of the Women’s Cricket Super League in 2016/17.

As well as being ICC Associate Nations, Scotland along with Ireland and the Netherlands, play as “counties” in England’s domestic competitions – the 50-over Women’s County Championship and the T20 Cup. (Scotland are currently in Division 2 of the County Championship, along with Ireland, whilst the Netherlands lie in Division 3. In the T20 format, Ireland are in Division 1, while Scotland and the Netherlands compete in Division 3.)

However, back in June the ECB announced that 2016/17 would see the introduction of a new Super League; and that whilst the County Championship would continue, the three Associate Nations would be excluded from it.

Scotland boss Kari Carswell described her reaction to the news:

“I have no doubt that women’s cricket in Scotland will continue to move forward regardless,” she told CRICKETher, “but it is a concern to us.”

Carswell stressed that she is sympathetic to what the ECB are trying to do with the Super League:

“It is obviously something needed. You can see that by the recent Ashes series that the step between County Championship to the next level is obviously quite big. So it’s the right thing for them to do.”

And she told us that it would be “absolutely awesome” if any Scotland players were to play Super League, mentioning in particular their highly rated young left-arm orthodox, Kirstie Gordon; and former “Wildcat” Leigh Kasperek, who recently made her New Zealand début:

“Kirstie is part of the development program with the ECB just now. We’ve never held anybody back – Leigh played at Essex and is now playing for New Zealand – so if there’s girls that want to go and play, absolutely!”

But whilst being supportive of Super League, Carswell is very worried for the future of Scotland as an international cricketing nation if they are excluded from the Women’s County Championship, arguing that the opportunity to play regularly as a team is vital:

“Replicating a competitive fixture list of 16 games will be difficult, and is something that we will have to look at. We have absolutely loved being part of the County Championship and I would like to think that we have added something to the program. As an Associate you are trying to get better and trying to do all the right things; but at the end of the day you need to play quality cricket to measure yourself.”

Scotland’s only other option for competitive cricket comes from the European Championship, but Carswell believes this isn’t enough of a foundation upon which to build a national team:

“If we only go back to only playing the European Championship once every 2 or 3 years, it will be a step backwards in my opinion.”

Pointing out that Scotland don’t currently receive any ECB funding, and play all their matches “away” to minimize the travel costs for other counties, she continued:

“We would like to think that we would still easily fit in to a regional set up – a north group would be perfect!”

All hope isn’t lost for Scotland – but Carswell’s pleas betray what a knife-edge this is on:

“We have had conversations with the ECB about trying to stay in – trying to convince them that we can still be part of a regional program. There needs to be a bit more dialogue between us and the ECB; because we would love to stay in it!”

Richard Clark Reports

It may have escaped your attention amidst “Ashes Fever”, but history was made at a slightly moist New Road, Worcester, on Sunday 30th August, as Worcestershire Ladies took to the hallowed turf for the first time ever against Devon.

Ostensibly staged as part of the County’s 150th Anniversary Celebrations, the occasion was enough of a success, not least due to the quality of the match provided by the two teams, to hope that it will be repeated more often in the future.

A little context here – my daughter plays for Worcestershire under 13s, but this was my first experience of watching any Women’s County Cricket. As such, I was a little unsure what to expect in terms of standards from a Second Division clash. I need not have worried.

Batting first, Worcs got off to a steady start, with openers Naomi Heywood and Jo Cull putting on 127 together before both departed almost immediately after passing 50. A spot of “ticking over” followed, but a steady 37 not out from Claire Boycott (no relation, and sans either pinny or stick of rhubarb!), and a bludgeoned 29 off 16 balls from Rachel Baldwin meant that Devon were set 237 to win, a target that was probably about 20 beyond par.

From 40-2, and with star name Jodie Dibble (5) back in the hutch, Worcs were in the driving seat, but opener Amara Carr (68) and Cait O’Keefe (42) calmly put on 94, and then Sophie Mackenzie added a purposeful 28 off 26, including the only six of the afternoon, to leave the game evenly poised as Devon wanted 67 off 10 overs with seven wickets in hand.

However, both O’Keefe and Mackenzie fell in short order and the Devonian tail could not emulate Baldwin’s earlier fireworks, leaving them adrift on 201-8 as Worcs won by 35 runs. The added pressure of those extra 20 runs…

For the home side, fittingly on the day, it was a real team effort. Not one player shone higher than any other, although Thea Brookes quietly played a key role in the field with 10 overs for 34 to keep control whilst Devon were in the ascendency, including the key wicket of the well-set Carr, and then a fine steepling catch to dismiss Mackenzie as she looked to cut loose.

As for Devon, perhaps it was telling that three of their players played in un-numbered, un-named shirts, maybe pointing to difficulties raising a full team for the game? Certainly, once the top five had been dismissed there suddenly appeared an imbalance between the teams in those last 10 overs that had not been evident at any stage up to then, and was a pity after the first 90 had been so closely fought.

Off the field, a healthy crowd of around 200 watched on. Admission and parking was free, which should not necessarily be taken for granted at a County ground, so perhaps it was disappointing that more did not venture along.

If I wanted to be critical, more could have been done in terms of marketing the game – Worcestershire CCC’s own website, for instance, carried no mention of the match other than one news piece a mere 24 hours ahead of the game, and my father who is a long-standing County member, was not aware of it until I told him a few days beforehand. Given that they were paying staff to man the bar/catering and to steward the match, one would have thought it would be in their best interests to attract as many people as possible.

All that being said, this was a dipping of a toe in the water, and in that context the day has to be seen as a resounding success. If there is a next time, which there bloomin’ well should be, then the groundwork will have been done and the glitches can be ironed out.