Raf Nicholson & Syd Egan discuss England’s squad for the 2015 Women’s Ashes.
England Women’s Ashes Squad
The ECB have announced England’s squad for the Women’s Ashes ODIs, beginning in Taunton on Tuesday 21st July. There are 14 names on the list, and the big news is the recall of Sussex’s Georgia Elwiss. Elwiss was one of only two players to come out of this winter with her reputation enhanced – the other being Middlesex’s Alex Hartley. Both Elwiss and Hartley shone for “The Academy”, England Women’s equivalent of the men’s Lions, the former with the bat and the latter with the ball. It is with the bat that England have struggled more of late, which explains Elwiss’ inclusion in this squad; though Hartley could yet get her shot later, more likely in the T20s than the Test.
Another point of note is the inclusion of Becky Grundy ahead of England’s World Number One Ranked T20 bowler, Dani Hazell. Grundy was set to play a big part in England’s plans last summer, when injury cruelly intervened to rob her of that opportunity, but the selectors clearly rate her, and now she has her chance once again to prove why.
Full ODI Squad:
- Charlotte Edwards (C)
- Heather Knight (VC)
- Katherine Brunt
- Kate Cross
- Georgia Elwiss
- Lydia Greenway
- Rebecca Grundy
- Jenny Gunn
- Amy Jones
- Laura Marsh
- Nat Sciver
- Anya Shrubsole
- Sarah Taylor
- Lauren Winfield
ANALYSIS: How Australia’s Top Batsmen Get Out
Australia’s leading batsmen – Jess Cameron, Meg Lanning, Ellyse Perry, Alex Blackwell, Alyssa Healy and Elyse Villani- have collectively been dismissed over 400 times in limited overs internationals*. We run the numbers showing how Anya Shrubsole and the rest of England’s bowling attack will be looking to get them out in this summer’s Women’s Ashes.
| Player | Caught | Bowled | LBW | Run Out | Stumped |
| Blackwell | 38% | 17% | 15% | 23% | 7% |
| Cameron | 57% | 20% | 8% | 9% | 7% |
| Healy | 54% | 17% | 10% | 13% | 6% |
| Lanning | 60% | 16% | 9% | 13% | 3% |
| Perry | 52% | 14% | 5% | 23% | 7% |
| Villani | 63% | 25% | 8% | 4% | 0% |
| TOTAL | 51% | 17% | 11% | 16% | 6% |
As with England (and as we would expect) the most common mode of dismissal is caught. For individual players the statistically significant figures are highlighted in red.
Jess Cameron and Alyssa Healy (like England’s Heather Knight) have fairly average profiles, and are not particularly susceptible to getting out in one way any more than another.
In contrast, Southern Stars captain Meg Lanning and opener Elyse Villani get caught a lot! (Although Villani hasn’t played that many matches, her % Caught is well beyond any doubts regarding its statistical significance.)
Like England’s Sarah Taylor (who also gets caught more than average) both players like to play their shots; but their style is very different to Taylor’s. Where Taylor tries to go elegantly over the infield, Lanning and Villani are looking to smash it to – and often over – the boundary rope. Tellingly, Taylor’s boundary rate is much lower – 10% of balls faced, while Villani’s and Lanning’s are at 14% and 15% respectively.
The other side of Villani’s game is that she doesn’t get Run Out very often at all – just 4% of her dismissals; probably because… who needs to run when you are hitting it to the rope?
By contrast, Australia’s vice-captain Alex Blackwell is significantly susceptible to being Run Out. Stylistically, she is quite a careful, conservative and unflashy player, at both domestic and international level, so in a way she is the antithesis of Villani, and she just doesn’t play the kind of shots that get Villani caught.
Also, she bats at a similar position in the order to England’s Lydia Greenway, who suffers the same Run Out problem; and so part of the explanation may well be the same too – coming in later on, when the pressure is on to take all the singles that might be on offer, however tight; and more often than not batting with less experienced tail-enders.
Ellyse Perry’s stats look pretty standard at first glance, but hidden behind the numbers shown above is actually something very interesting – compared to her peers, Ellyse Perry doesn’t get out – not very often, anyway! In fact, of all the world’s leading batsmen, she has far and away the highest Not Out % – 40% of her innings ending undefeated.
The underperformance of Australia’s top batsmen was a key reason for their downfall in the 2013 Ashes series in England; it’ll be interesting to see how they fare this time around.
ANALYSIS: Ellyse Perry & Not Outs
Last week we looked at how some of England’s leading batsmen get out. While researching a similar article on Australia’s top order, we noticed something else interesting: Ellyse Perry – the word’s number 12 ranked ODI batsman – doesn’t get out… or not very often anyway! A staggering 40% of her (limited overs) innings end Not Out.
Intrigued, we ran the numbers for the rest of the Top 20 ranked ODI batsmen, plus threw in some other leading names for good measure. Across the group, the Not Out average is 18%. Meg Lanning (admittedly coming in earlier in the order) ends just 9% of her innings Not Out; and even for more comparable players, the numbers max out in the high 20s. Dane van Niekerk, often batting at a similar spot in the order, is 2nd in the list, and her N.O. is 29% – way, way behind Perry.
This raises the question of whether Perry’s cross-format limited overs average of 30 is distorted by this? To an extent it is. If her N.O. was the same as van Niekerk’s (29%) Perry’s average would fall to a somewhat less impressive 25. So if we are using the average as an indication of how many runs Perry might score, it is distorted. But that doesn’t mean to say it isn’t a fair indication of her value to the Southern Stars – after all, you only have one wicket, and giving it away as little as Perry does is clearly a big part of what makes her one of the world’s most extraordinary players.
The Not Out List
| Name | N.O. % |
| Perry | 40% |
| van Niekerk | 29% |
| Priest | 29% |
| Raj | 28% |
| Sciver | 27% |
| Greenway | 27% |
| Kapp | 26% |
| Gunn | 25% |
| Knight | 20% |
| Blackwell | 19% |
| du Preez | 18% |
| Cameron | 17% |
| Maroof | 16% |
| Dottin | 16% |
| Kaur | 16% |
| Taylor, SR | 15% |
| Devine | 14% |
| Edwards | 14% |
| Taylor, SJ | 13% |
| McGlashan | 12% |
| Kahn | 12% |
| Lanning | 9% |
| Satterthwaite | 9% |
| Bates | 6% |
| Atapattu | 1% |
ANALYSIS: How England’s Batsmen Get Out
England’s 4 leading batsmen – Charlotte Edwards, Heather Knight, Sarah Taylor and Lydia Greenway – have collectively been dismissed over 500 times in limited overs internationals*. We take a look at the numbers showing how they got out.
| Player | Caught | Bowled | LBW | Run Out | Stumped |
| Edwards | 49% | 19% | 19% | 9% | 5% |
| Greenway | 45% | 16% | 13% | 17% | 9% |
| Knight | 47% | 20% | 12% | 16% | 6% |
| Taylor | 56% | 17% | 10% | 11% | 6% |
| TOTAL | 49% | 18% | 15% | 12% | 6% |
With the usual caveats about lies, damned lies and statistics, what does this tell us?
Collectively, the most common mode of dismissal is Caught. This is the case throughout all international cricket, men’s and women’s – though the men tend to be caught behind rather more often than the women.
For individual players, the statistically significant numbers (see An Aside on Statistical Significance below) are highlighted in RED.
Sarah Taylor tends to get caught rather more than her peers. She likes to go over the infield, with lofted drives particularly over mid on. It is a tactic which has brought her enormous success, but it isn’t without its risks if she doesn’t actually clear the fielder.
Charlotte Edwards is particularly susceptible to being out Leg Before Wicket; and although the frequency of LBWs has fallen slightly, from 20% earlier in her career to 18% more recently, it remains significant. Is it because she opens the batting? In doing so, she faces the best bowlers at their freshest, swinging it in at pace towards her legs; and if they’ve done their homework, they are probably looking for that decision too! Maybe the England captain also suffers slightly from the man at the other end not having got his eye in yet? (Perhaps that’s the reason for those trade-mark looks of withering disbelief as the ump’s finger is raised!)
Lydia Greenway gets Run Out a lot. Is this because, batting a bit further down the order, England are more likely to be under pressure and chasing every run when she comes to the crease; and so Lydia finds herself taking more risks than her peers? Or perhaps it’s because she finds herself batting more often with all-rounders and tail-enders? Either way, it’s a particular concern this summer given that the fielding of the Aussies is top-notch, and won’t leave much room for confusion between the wickets.
Finally, Heather Knight is… Heather Knight – balanced in dismissals, as she is in life. While it is true that 16% of her dismissals are Run Outs, compared with a group average of just 12%, this is not statistically significant! Why? Well, read on…
An Aside On Statistical Significance
Statistical significance is a complex science, but Heather’s dismissals are actually an interesting case here, helping to explain it in simple terms. As we’ve seen, 16% of her dismissals are Run Out – shown in PURPLE above. This looks like a lot compared with the average of 12%, but actually she has only been Run Out 8 times. Had she been run out just 2 times fewer, her percentage would fall right down to 12% – i.e. the average for the group. So her 16% Run Outs are not considered statistically significant.
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* ODI + T20I
MATCH REPORT: MCC Women – 74-Year-Old Enid Bakewell Slices Felsted Middle Order
Andy Lynch reports from Felsted School
Ironically in a regular fixture that has started to so successfully promote girls’ cricket in this part of Essex, it was the bowling performance of England Women’s cricket legend and septuagenarian Enid Bakewell that caught the eye as a strong MCC Women’s side defeated the Felsted School Girls’ team by 40 runs in June.
Picturesque Felsted School
In last year’s inaugural match, it was decided to ‘mix and match’ the teams to ensure parity, a policy that worked well despite some early glitches that saw MCC Captain Beth Wild return from winning the toss to realise that she had done so against her own opening batsman. A close finish resulted however, and so it was decided to follow the same policy this year, all conducted in an open and friendly way without the need for lining players against the playground wall (an ordeal which some readers may have endured in their younger days – as did this writer).
Winning the toss, the MCC Women combination XI chose to bat, but suffered an early reverse when Essex Girls’ Nancy Hebron played across the line and was bowled. Some early innings tremors were steadied however by a 3rd wicket partnership of 64 between Georgia Hennessey (Worcestershire) and Lucy Stuchfield (Oxford University). At 71-2 off 11 overs, MCC looked set fair for a sizeable total, but a tidy spell of 3-17 off 5 overs from Dani Lavender put the brakes on somewhat, coupled with the retirement of Hennessy after making a well-compiled 51 off 47 balls. It was left to Beth Wild and New Zealand international Rachel Candy to take the MCC to an impressive, but not unbeatable, 154-8 off their 25 overs, with Alex Straker-Nesbit tidying up the tail to finish with 4-20.
The Felsted combination XI needed a strong start, but the early loss of Berkshire’s Carla Rudd during an impressive spell from the School’s Kieri Samaranayake was a blow. Nevertheless, at 41-2 off 11 overs, a target of a further 114 off 14 overs was tough but still possible.
Enid Bakewell
Then Enid Bakewell got to work. Bowling slow left arm with impressive flight, two wickets followed in her first over as several of the School’s girls found themselves beaten by Enid’s guile. Some hushed conversations were overheard on the boundary’s edge as several returning batsmen expressed surprise at the slowness and loop of the bowling – to which of course could be added ‘straightness’. A third wicket followed with a smart catch by Beth Wild at point, and although there were some late flurries from Felsted’s captain for the day Salliann Briggs, and Beth Absolon of Suffolk, who finished with an impressive unbeaten 44 off 46 balls (including 10 boundaries), MCC eased to a 40 run victory as the School closed on 114-8.
An enjoyable afternoon’s cricket, but no doubt who the star turn of the day was (in my opinion anyway). Pausing to thank the officials, Enid reminded us of her age before making her way to the changing room. Well played indeed – if I’m still scoring after 50+ years in the game (let alone playing) then I’ll be more than happy.
SPECTATOR HINT – for those visiting the School (and it’s a lovely venue, used by Essex Women on occasions) then we can recommend the sausage baguettes in the local tea rooms. I accept that’s not a useful pre-match tip for players however.
OPINION: Ancient Rivalries Threaten Super League Prospects
In the immortal words of the Aussie soap theme, “Everybody needs good neighbours!” But in sport (as in Ramsay Street) it is often the BAD neighbours that make the biggest stories – think the Mets v the Yankees in Major League Baseball; Carlton v Collingwood in Aussie Rules; or Celtic v Rangers in Scottish football.
And women’s cricket is no exception – Kent and Sussex are neighbours… but GOOD neighbours? Hardly!
So if Sussex were to be contemplating a franchise bid, it is a pretty safe bet that it won’t be a joint bid with Kent! Ditto Middlesex and Surrey; not to mention that oldest and fiercest of great cricketing rivalries, Lancashire and Yorkshire.
Yet with only 6 franchises to share around in the proposed Women’s Cricket Super League, this could well be a major sticking-point.
The counties listed above are probably six of the most likely franchise candidates, especially when you factor-in financial viability; but it would mean 4 of the 6 franchises within 60 miles of London, and the other two based either side of the Pennines – leaving huge swathes of the country, from the Midlands to the south west, without a sniff of top-level women’s cricket.
And this DOES matter – perhaps not commercially, but certainly from the perspective of building England’s next generation around localised “Centres of Excellence” for coaching and development.
Is there a way to cut through this? It won’t be easy.
A “South East” franchise that somehow combined Sussex and Kent would still need to be based somewhere; and there aren’t too many options once you start to consider the minimum standards being mandated for facilities – it is going to be either Brighton or Canterbury*, which means it will be Sussex or Kent in all but name. (And likely in name too, because that would be the obvious way of marketing it to the existing (men’s) fan-base.)
The other option for the ECB is to “pick one” – one of Kent or Sussex; one of Middlesex or Surrey. But how do you do that fairly and transparently? (And how big is your budget for legal fees when the “loser” sues?)
One thing is for certain – Clare Connor and her team at the ECB are going to need to walk on political water to make this one work! Can they do it? Yes! (But it ain’t gonna be easy!)
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* Or possibly Beckenham… but that doesn’t buck the point!
MATCH REPORT: Disappointment for Lincolnshire but Mini Imps Lead the Way
Beth Smith reports from Fulbeck CC
Sunday saw two Lincs v Norfolk games, with the ladies’ teams and U15 teams both facing each other. The Mini Imps set the visitors a target of 147, with prominent bat Ellie Stanley gaining 78 of Lincolnshire’s runs. The strength of the U15 bowling attack shone through as Norfolk were bowled out for 50 inside 22 overs. The Mini Imps were fortunate as three of the regular Norfolk U15 players had been called up to the ladies squad to face the Lincs Ladies.
Imps captain, Hayley Butts, lost the toss and the hosts were put into field with only 10 players present. With one less player on the field the Imps needed to bowl and field tightly to restrict a strong Norfolk bating team. They did just that. At drinks the Imps had managed to get Norfolk 80-4, a score board which pleased Lincs coach/ manager Alan Ward, and showed promise for the rest of the game if the Imps could continue to be as tight in the field.
For this to be plausible the Imps needed to get rid of opening bat, Tirimanna, which was skilfully done shortly after drinks when India Freeman got her stumped off Amy Halloran. Norfolk ended up all out for 182 with wickets coming for Rachael Dyer (3-38), Becki Brooker (2-24), Beth Smith (2-28), Sarah McDowell (2-27) and Amy Halloran (1-36).
Lincs began not worrying too much about the run rate, just looking to keep wickets in hand. Unfortunately Smith (17) was run-out early on, and McDowell (8) got caught out to a ball that popped widely off the pitch shortly afterwards. India Freeman and Halloran looked to steady the ship and were in the process of building a partnership when Freeman (27) attempted to go over the top and got caught leaving Lincs 73-3. Halloran (13) fell caught behind 8 runs later, and Butts and Brooker added a small partnership of 19 before a direct hit from Hemp dismissed Brooker (13) and left the Imps 102-5.
Wickets fell steadily after that with Butts, Dyer, Coggan, debutant Knapton and Barnes all failing to reach double figures. The extras score kept the Imps total ticking over but it was a landslide away from what they needed, and they were eventually all out for 126. The pick of Norfolk’s bowling and fielding came from Hogg (3-9), Reay (2-8), Cornelius (2-29), and Hemp (1-23), who also ran out Smith and Brooker.
So ended a glorious day for the Mini imps, but a disappointing one for the ladies, who for the team to succeed need one of their top 6 to achieve a big score, like the one that Tirimanna got for the travelling team. The Imps have two months to learn from the game before their next county champs fixture; in the meantime, they head to Ellesmere in a fortnight, where they will open their T20 campaign after last week’s scheduled game ended in a washout.
A full scorecard can be found here.
MATCH REPORT: Gloucestershire Maintain Winning Record
Steve Dent reports from Bridgnorth CC
Gloucestershire maintained their winning record in the county championship this weekend, with a hard-fought 36-run win against Shropshire at Bridgnorth CC.
After winning the toss and batting, openers Abby Evans and Charlie Walker built a large opening stand based on positive strokeplay and determination to lead from the front. Both were quick to despatch anything loose and their stand of 92 provided a great platform for the rest of the innings. Abby reached 50 from 64 balls with 6 boundaries before she was bowled by Lara Jones. With the score on 108 Charlie was given out LBW sweeping for a measured 36 from 66 balls.
Abby Evans Celebrates Her 50
Gloucestershire then lost two quick wickets before Bethan Moorcraft and Eve Alder produced a positive partnership to give the innings impetus. Bethan played with a clear purpose, ran positively and hit 7 boundaries in her innings of 50 from 62 balls. Eve played a valuable supporting role and the pair put on 55 in 13 overs before Eve was run out for 17 and, shortly after reaching her 50, Bethan was bowled, with the score on 174.
Bethan Moorcraft Celebrates Her 50
However, Laura Marshall (10*), Danika Dyer and Chloe Davis ensured that the score passed 200, and Gloucestershire finished on 205 – 9 from their 50 overs.
Things didn’t go to plan for Gloucestershire once Shropshire’s innings got underway, as Robyn Mathews played very positively right from the start. She shared in partnerships of 41 with Lara Jones and 62 with Millie Home to give Shropshire a real chance of chasing down their target.
The introduction of Danika Dyer brought about the change Gloucestershire were after, and she took the wickets of Jones and Home, both LBW. Her mid-innings spell of 2 – 22 from 10 overs was crucial. While Mathews carried on, passing 50, Dyer and Mollie Robbins started to turn the screw with some tight bowling.
The game looked to be heading for a tight finish with 8 overs to go and Shropshire wanting 51 with 6 wickets left, but a brilliant stumping by Laura Marshall off Mollie Robbins dismissed Mathews for a superb 80 and from that point onwards Gloucestershire dominated.
Robbins picked up two further wickets to finish with 3 – 27 from her 10 overs. A late wicket from Sidra Khan put the seal on the victory as Shropshire ended their 50 overs on 169 – 8.
Afterwards, coach Steve Dent described the win as “hard-fought”. “Shropshire looked likely winners at more than one stage. However the team stayed patient and positive and got their just rewards in the end, to record our 2nd win in the competition. There were excellent contributions all round, and it’s good to see confidence and belief high.”
Gloucestershire are next in action in the County T20 competition against Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire on 5th July.
MATCH REPORT: Brunt and Winfield end Middlesex’s winning streak
Georgia Isaac reports from Harrogate CC
Yorkshire’s tight bowling and aggressive batting at Harrogate CC put an end to Middlesex’s unbeaten run this season, as the Meatballs suffered a 9-wicket defeat.
Yorkshire won the toss and, in overcast conditions, it was a good one to win. There was rain around, but it was good to see no overs were lost.
Middlesex were once again without Cath Dalton, who remains injured after hurting her ankle on the eve of the T20s last weekend. Sophia Dunkley and Natasha Miles opened for the visitors, but there was no repeat of last week’s heroics. With Katherine Brunt and Laura Spragg opening the bowling, Spragg took the first wicket in the 4th over as Dunkley was bowled for 7, unable to add many to her unbeaten tally of 91 runs from the previous two games.
Spragg and Brunt bowled six and seven overs respectively in their opening spells, with Brunt’s penultimate over being a wicket-maiden which saw the end of Tash Miles for l4.
Fran Wilson, who was in good form following her 55 in the recent EWA game against Loughborough MCCU, played fluently, sharing a partnership of 29 with Beth Morgan. Morgan also shared a solid stand of 39 runs with Izzy Westbury (33).
But wickets fell regularly, with Katie Levick (3-21) and Brunt (3-23) finishing with three wickets apiece, and Middlesex were all out for 176 after 40 overs – 10 short of the allotted number. On a good deck, this was some way short of a competitive total.
If Middlesex were to even entertain an away win they had to take early wickets. Danni Warren and Ria Raval opened the attack against the threatening right-hand/left-hand combination of Winfield and wicketkeeper Beth Mooney. After 10 overs Yorkshire were a sound 46-0, and Westbury was ringing the bowling changes in an attempt to find that elusive wicket.
Yorkshire gave no chances as both Winfield and Mooney reached half-centuries. They found the boundary with ease, including one six from Mooney, and continued to attack the bowling as they closed in on their target of 177. This resulted in the one positive for Middlesex from the innings: Alex Hartley’s dismissal of Mooney for 69, as she tried to secure another boundary but was caught on the fence by Anna Nicholls.
Winfield continued her fine form as she finished on 99 not out, having been unable to hit the required six to reach her century. This saw Yorkshire to a convincing 9-wicket win after just 30.4 overs.
After the match, Winfield – who averages well over 50 this season – said that she felt her innings was significant in the lead-up to the Ashes next month. “Today was important for me to go on past fifty and spend as much time at the crease as I can, and turn those starts into big scores. It’s important building up to the Ashes that we’re feeling confident.”
However, she stressed that “winning games for Yorkshire is very much what is important for me right now”.
From Middlesex’s perspective, it was a disappointing loss, made worse by the fact that Ria Raval had to leave the field after tearing her hamstring as she leaped for the ball. She is expected to be out for several weeks.
Georgia blogs about cricket regularly at https://georgiacricket.wordpress.com.
