With Round 2 now complete, Australia remain on top, whilst New Zealand have climbed off the bottom, leaving India at the foot of the table.
| Points | |
|---|---|
| Australia | 12 |
| South Africa | 7 |
| England | 7 |
| West Indies | 6 |
| Pakistan | 6 |
| New Zealand | 4 |
| Sri Lanka | 3 |
| India | 3 |
(N.R.R. applied but not shown.)
Round 3 Fixtures:
Raf Nicholson & Syd Egan look forward to England’s tour to New Zealand.
England and New Zealand have announced their squads for England’s forthcoming tour of New Zealand.
England:
New Zealand:
The crucial Women’s International Championship ODI series begins in New Zealand on 11 February; with a T20 series also being played concurrently.
England and India have shared the honours across their Test and ODI series, with India winning the one-off Test, before England came back to take the 3-match ODI rubber 2-0.
At the Test, unfancied India upset the apple-cart by bowling England out for just 92 on the first day, having won a vital toss to put the home side in in overcast conditions. It was a position England were unable to find their way back from, despite a Man-of-the-Match performance from all-rounder Jenny Gunn, who took five wickets in India’s first innings and scored a half-century in England’s second.knock. Needing 62 runs to win on the final day, India were guided home by captain Mithali Raj, and impressive débutante Shikha Pandey.
With the ODIs forming part of the new Women’s International Championship, England knew they had to perform better as the teams headed to Scarborough for two matches in cold and blustery North Yorkshire. And perform better they did, winning the first match by 42 runs (D/L) with Heather Knight taking 3 wickets and scoring a fifty; and the second by 13 runs, as captain Charlotte Edwards carried her bat for a record-breaking 9th ODI hundred. The final match of the series – scheduled at Lords – was disappointingly washed-out; handing England the Royal London One Day trophy and 5 crucial International Championship points to India’s 1.
England have announced their squads for this summer’s series against India and South Africa.
The campaign begins with a one-off Test and 3 ODIs against India – one of the traditional “Big 4” of women’s cricket; followed by 3 T20s versus up-coming young-guns, South Africa.
The big surprise in the Test squad is the inclusion of uncapped ‘journeyman pro’ Sonia Odedra – an aggressive fast-medium pace bowler from Nottinghamshire.
Fast bowler Katherine Brunt is named in Odedra’s place for the ODIs, as she looks to return from a lengthy injury lay-off; with Odedra presumably remaining on standby should Brunt’s return to fitness prove ephemeral.
Finally, the squad for the T20s is then augmented by young seamer Natasha Farrant, who is also recovering from injury; but who England consider one of their brightest prospects for the future.
Full squads:
The ICC Women’s Championship really is a bit of a “game-changer” for international women’s cricket.
Not only does it act as a ‘Future Tours Program’ for women’s cricket, ensuring that everybody plays everybody else over a two-and-a-bit year cycle; but it also adds an extra competitive edge by acting as a qualifying tournament for the 2017 World Cup in England.
Just four of the eight teams involved in the Women’s Championship will qualify directly for the World Cup; though there are two caveats here:
Nevertheless, direct qualification is still a major incentive; and it is clear we are seeing the impact of this in the news coming out of New Zealand.
First, the board have (for the time-being) sorted-out their stand-off with the players over contracts. You may recall that in April 2013, four leading players were offered coaching jobs; but a year later, captain Suzie Bates quit, saying that the demands of the role were too onerous, leaving no room for training or recuperation.
The situation has been resolved by granting 10 players an annual stipend in addition to their match fees and expenses. It isn’t a huge amount of money; but it is an improvement on the previous situation; and leaves the 10 leading players in a much healthier situation.
Second, New Zealand cricket have reacted to the challenge of the Women’s Championship by appointing two big names – Jacob Oram and Matthew Bell – to the women’s coaching staff for the period leading up to their crucial tour to the West Indies this September. With those automatic qualification spots up for grabs, this series matters to New Zealand like never before, and West Indies are one of their key competitors in the fight.
Oram and Bell bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to the New Zealand women’s setup – and they are going to need it, because the competition is getting fierce as England, Australia, India, West Indies, New Zealand and South Africa all scrap it out; with Pakistan and Sri Lanka also in the mix with the potential to cause an upset at any time.
It’s going to be an exciting couple of years for international women’s cricket; and CRICKETher is looking forward to following it with you.
India have announced their squad to face England in a one-off Test and three ODIs in August 2014.
Although India haven’t played a Test since 2006, when they beat England at Taunton, this is a strong side and a fiercely contested series is expected.
Indian captain Mithali Raj is one of the all-time greats, having scored more than 6,500 runs in a 12-year career.
Meanwhile, fast bowler Jhulan Goswami, with over 200 career international wickets, will be the big threat to England’s batsmen.
Full squad:
CRICKETher 