THE HUNDRED: Brave v Fire – Hail To The Hayley

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65 runs from the bat of Hayley Matthews saw Fire get their Hundred campaign-proper off to a winning start, after their opening match was rained off without a ball bowled on Wednesday.

After her heroics with the bat, Matthews then took the ball for the final death over set, with Brave needing 9 from 5 balls, holding her nerve to restrict Brave to 4 for the loss of 2 wickets, with Chloe Tryon stumped off a wide from the first delivery and Freya Kemp meaninglessly run out off the last.

Matthews has been a feature of English franchise cricket since the first Kia Super League season in 2016, when she appeared for Loughborough Lightning, and has remained a consistent if unspectacular performer ever since; and her outing today was very much that. Her 65 wasn’t one that will live long in the memory – the fans in the stands will probably take home Laura Harris’ 7-ball 20 and Danni Wyatt’s typically swashbuckling 67 – but it did the job, ensuring that Welsh Fire already have more points on the board than they achieved in the entire 2022 Hundred season.

Fire made a decent enough start, with Tammy Beaumont contributing 26 off 17, continuing to show that she remains a very useful batter in domestic short-form cricket, but it was the early middle phase that did the damage as Matthews got into her running, and Harris did what she was brought in to do – play the odds and smash some boundaries.

This put Fire in such a strong position that even a 15 ball slump between balls 55 and 70, where they could barely get the ball off the square, proved survivable; and with Georgia Elwiss getting the better of Vipers teammate Anya Shrubsole in the final set which went for 13, Fire posted a total well above par for this competition – just 1 short of Brave’s own record highest first innings score.

Danni Wyatt might be getting on in years – she is 32 now – but she isn’t showing any sign of slowing down, and she looked the business out in the middle, hitting 67 at a strike rate of 181. At the other end, Smriti Mandhana didn’t look to be quite middling it early on – at the fall of Wyatt’s wicket she was on 27 off 21, at a strike rate of 129; but she then took the initiative, hitting the next 21 balls she faced for 43, at a strike rate of over 200.

Could Smriti have managed the strike better? Possibly – she faced exactly half the deliveries which remained after Wyatt was dismissed, so given her strike rate another 3 balls faced could have won the game for the Brave; but it seems harsh to blame her for the loss when (for example) Chloe Tryon managed to chew-up 10 balls without finding the boundary once.

Sometimes it feels like The Hundred is more about the cricket and the individual performances than it is about the teams, who still feel a little bit “plastic” even in this third season, partly because the draft meant so many big-name moves. In that sense, the fans got their money’s worth this afternoon… even the ones that had come out in green hoping for a different outcome.

WOMEN’S ASHES REVIEW: Finding A Way

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By Richard Clark

England are 119 for 6, and there are five overs to go.  Danni Wyatt has a dilemma…

The opening salvos of this Ashes series saw business – kind of – as usual.  England had their moments, but when push came to shove Australia found a way.

By general consensus the Test Match was close, a game England could have won, perhaps even should have won.  For what it’s worth, I’m not sure I necessarily agree.

There were points in proceedings where things were on the brink of turning England’s way, for sure.  The visitors were 238 for 6 in their first innings and had they been dismissed for below 300, with England having the best of the conditions to bat…

In reply England were closing in on 400 with only four wickets down.  Had they gone on to gain a lead of 50 or more…

Second time around Australia were teetering at 198 for 7, a lead barely the right side of 200.  Had England picked up those last three wickets cheaply…

But we know what Australia do.  They ‘find a way’, it’s what it says on their tin.  And they found ways in all three of those moments. 

Buoyed by the advantage those four points gave them, Alyssa Healy’s team produced arguably their only really convincing performance of the series in the first T20 at Edgbaston.  Sophia Dunkley and Amy Jones gave them a bit to think about with the bat, and there was something of a wobble as the chase came down to the pointy end, but ultimately it was as emphatic as a win with one ball to spare could be.

Six-nil, job almost done, thanks for coming.  See you at the Oval.

So here we are.  England are 119 for 6, and there are five overs to go.  Danni Wyatt has a dilemma…

Convention, with the tail for company, is that you eke out a respectable score.  Something in the region of 155 to 160 would be grand.  It’s something for the bowlers to defend.  Going for broke is too risky, it brings into play the possibility of being bowled out for 140 or less, and Australia will chase that down in their sleep.  The flaw with that thinking is that this is Australia.  They’ll chase down 155 to 160 in their sleep just as easily.  Finders of ways, remember?

Wyatt instinctively knows this.

Forgive a little detour here.  During the closing stages of the 1981 Headingley Men’s Test – the Botham’s Ashes series – Dennis Lillee flipped a bouncer from Bob Willis over the slips for four.  On commentary, Christopher Martin-Jenkins described Lillee as “a most canny cricketer.”  It’s funny the phrases that stay with you – I often think of Martin-Jenkins’ words when I’m watching Wyatt bat. 

Healy turns to Miss Reliable, Megan Schutt, and the next six, no seven, no eight balls will define the series.

The first is a long hop, an awful ball, and Wyatt climbs into it.  Frankly it would have been rude not to.  Better still, umpire Russell Warren has his arm outstretched.  The shot that follows, from the free hit, is one only Wyatt among this England squad could play.  Schutt spears it in at leg stump, but Wyatt has anticipated that and taken two steps back towards square leg already.  The stroke looks effortless, languid, and yet the ball arrows almost for six over backward point.  It’s an outrageous piece of batting, and it’s the shot that changes the Ashes.

The next two balls go for boundaries as well, and Schutt chucks in a wide that evades Healy for good measure.  25 runs from the over in total, 62 from that plus the three that follow.  Wyatt doesn’t last much longer, but she has set a tone that Sophie Ecclestone in particular gleefully emulates.  England rattle along, Australia are just rattled.  Only a quiet final over yielding just five tempers the giddiness of it all. 

And yet, Australia almost chase it down, falling a mere three runs short.  No matter.  The important thing is that England, from the most unpromising of positions, have found a way.

Up until that one over, Australia had won all the key moments, found all the ways.  From that point on the vast, vast majority of ways were found by England, most notably at Bristol and at Taunton when the Aussies looked like wrestling victories from see-saw contests.

Healy’s post-match comment yesterday that “I have actually never been a believer in the gap. The gap’s not necessarily been [there],” was… interesting.  The facts don’t bear that out in any way.  England’s only points across the last two series had come from washouts, drawn and rain-spoiled Tests, and a dead rubber T20.  A lot was made of the near-victory in the Canberra Test 18 months ago but in reality that opportunity was handed to them by Meg Lanning’s ‘sporting’ declaration.  Wise heads insisted this summer would be no different.

In that context, it’s really difficult to think of a key moment when it has mattered in recent series where England have come out on top.  The Canberra T20 in 2017 (another Danni Wyatt masterclass) which drew that series is probably the last time it happened, and also the last time Australia lost any white ball series.

And it’s important to remember this is not just ‘an England thing.’  Australia had won 41 out of 42 ODIs ahead of this summer.  That’s an awfully large percentage of moments won and ways found.

Is this the end of an era?  Has the aura been destroyed?  Probably not, but at the same time it really ought to be the case now that England should never be cowed by this opposition again.  Fire has been fought with fire, toes have gone to toes.

Ways have been found.

WOMEN’S ASHES 3rd ODI – Nat-ional Treasure

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It was 4th time lucky for Nat Sciver-Brunt – having scored a record third hundred in a losing cause against Australia in the 2nd ODI, our National Treasure finally hit one to set up an England win at Taunton.

The result means of course that England win the ODIs, having also won the T20s, to tie the multi-format series… but still had to watch Australia presented with the Women’s Ashes trophy.

As I am writing this, the players are milling around on the boundary ahead of the ceremonies, and to be fair neither side look too chuffed – Australia have lost 4 out of 6 white ball games; England have “lost” the Ashes – the faces on both sides say it all.

England’s mission this summer was to “inspire and entertain” and they certainly did that today, delighting a sellout crowd in deepest, darkest Somerset.

England got off to a shaky start, losing two quick wickets, but a huge partnership of 147 between Heather Knight and Sciver-Brunt took them from 12-2 to 159. The Australians must have been ruing allowing Knight to bat herself back into form at Bristol – she played the most assured innings she has in a while for England; whilst Sciver-Brunt just did what she does, giving the Australian bowlers nothing through the middle overs.

The job wasn’t quite done though. At 40 overs England were 198-4 and heading for around 250, which didn’t feel like it would quite be enough. It needed a brilliant 43 off 25 balls from Danni Wyatt to push England’s total to a much more imposing 285.

Wyatt did that damage in the 40-45 over phase, achieving a run-rate of over 10 in that 5-over period; and although the rate slowed again after she got out, crucially England’s tail still managed to bat at over 6/ over in the final 5 overs, despite losing wickets.

In the chase, Australia also lost early wickets – Lauren Bell will be particularly pleased with finding the edge of the left-handed Phoebe Litchfield’s bat, with Sophie Ecclestone taking a good catch at slip; whilst Cross got one to wobble through Alyssa Healy, who has had, it is fair to say, a mixed few weeks – she has averaged just 15 on this tour, but on the other hand she has captained Australia to an Ashes “win”, which can’t be too bad as consolations go.

Australia’s 3 and 4 – Ellyse Perry and Tahlia McGrath – threatened to do what Knight and Sciver-Brunt had done, but a moment of wicket-keeping magic from Amy Jones did for McGrath and gave England a glimmer of hope. Jones with the bat this series has fared little better than her Australian counterpart, averaging 17; but with the gloves she has once again shown there is no doubt who is the best in the world; and whilst she maintains that level, you can see why England aren’t even thinking about any other options.

After a break for rain, and a slightly adjusted DLS total, Australia came out fighting again, with Ash Gardner looking dangerous, but her run out for 41 was the start of a collapse which saw Australia subside to 199 all out, with the crowd really getting behind the team as they finished the job.

In the press conference after the game, Heather Knight admitted that it was a “disappointment” not to have regained the Ashes; but they have massively outperformed expectations – mine more than any. I feared Australia taking home a 16-0 whitewash; so 8-8 and two series wins for England is a huge achievement.

Whether this is just a blip for Australia, or we’re looking at a team past their peak, will emerge in the coming months and years. But when England next face them… perhaps in the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh next autumn… they will at last know that this is a team they can beat. And if they do, this will have been where it started.

WOMEN’S ASHES 2nd ODI – Requiem for an Ashes Dream

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At 4:06pm this afternoon, the Surrey Cricket twitter account posted what was I’m guessing was a scheduled tweet that said:

Happy Birthday to South East Stars and England opener Sophia Dunkley 🥳 Have a great day 🎉🎂

Reader, I have to tell you now that she did not have a great day.

She wasn’t the only one to be fair – she wasn’t responsible for England losing this match; but given the fine margins – Australia winning by just 3 runs – it’s hard not to look back on an innings of 13 off 30 balls and think: “If only…”

Whilst Dunkley was at the crease, Tammy Beaumont at the other end scored 47 off 39. It was a fifty opening partnership that was a partnership in name only, and meant that England didn’t get off to the big start that had allowed them to pre-empt Australia’s big finish in the way they had in winning the 1st ODI at Bristol.

Australia nearly didn’t do enough themselves – their innings suffering a little bit of a dip in the middle, like a bad sponge on Bake Off. They started at a good pace; but having lost a couple of early wickets, it was left to Ellyse Perry and Beth Mooney to rebuild, which they did by plodding along at little more than 4 runs-an-over. England fielded with admirable commitment, diving around aggressively like little spaniels; but there were more dropped catches, and again the fine margins came into play.

Perry top-scored with 91, but despite how close she came to the big 1-0-0 it somehow didn’t feel like a “match-winning” innings. That was left to Georgia Wareham, whose 37 off 14 balls turned the par score Australia were headed for into a decent one – one that England couldn’t quite overhaul.

In the process, Wareham handed Lauren Bell back a record she had briefly held last summer against India, until Freya Kemp eclipsed it in the same match – the most expensive bowling figures for England in ODIs – 3-85 – 26 of them in that fateful final over. Bell didn’t do a lot wrong, to be fair – Wareham was in the mood to nail anyone, going one better (well… technically… 18 better) than her 19 off 11 balls at the Oval in the T20 last week.

In reply, England were actually ahead of Australia for much of the middle-overs, as Nat Sciver-Brunt built towards another ODI century in vain – she is now the only woman to have scored a century in a losing cause 3 times – all against Australia.

But there was always the nagging feeling that England’s tail-enders, handy as they are on their days, weren’t going to have the firepower to match Australia’s up-tick at the end. Perhaps one of the issues is that England were punished by their own camaraderie – they believe in each other. Hence Nat Sciver-Brunt had a little bit too much faith in Sarah Glenn, taking singles early in a couple of overs which left Glenn playing out dots which cost England in the end, as their death phase proved their death.

So England’s Ashes dream is over. Thanks to the format being loaded in favour of the holders, effectively giving the holders a one-point lead coming into the series because of something their predecessors achieved 18 months ago, Australia “retain” the Ashes, even if England win the final ODI on Tuesday.

There is of course a distinction between “retain” and “win” for the cricket geeks, but let’s be honest – in the wider narrative, there is no such subtlety. England set out to “win” the Ashes, and they didn’t achieve that. Squaring the points on Tuesday, and winning both white-ball series in the process, will be an achievement, but there won’t be any chapters written about it in the history books.

As for Australia, they are back where… if we are honest… we all know in our heart of hearts they belong – on top of the world. It has been almost 10 years since they last lost 4 matches in a row, in a run spanning the 2013 and 2013-14 Ashes. One day someone will knock them over a 4th time; but it wasn’t to be England today. Congratulations Australia – enjoy the plaudits – you deserve them.

WOMEN’S ASHES 1st ODI – England Cross The Ashicon

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Won, won, won, won, won, won, won, won, won, won, won, won, won, won, won. That was Australia’s recent form in 15 ODIs leading up to this match. They hadn’t lost an ODI since India successfully chased-down 264 in September 2021 – almost two years ago.

The writing was on the wall though, as early as the toss – that match against India was the last time Australia won the toss in an ODI and elected to bat. Six tosses won since, and six times Australia chose to bowl – winning every time; and yet today Alyssa Healy cited “the data” to justify batting. I don’t know what data she’s looking at, but I suspect it isn’t the data on Women’s ODIs.

England opted to be fairly conservative in their selections – there were no new caps for Lauren Filer or Dani Gibson, and veteran Kate Cross was preferred over young-gun Issy Wong.

Having made that choice to bat, Healy came out looking to make a statement against Cross, and in a similar vein to so many of her recent performances, looked fantastic – bashing two 4s either side of the wicket from Cross’s first three deliveries. But it was Cross who had the last laugh, reviewing an LBW appeal off the following ball to send Healy back to the sheds.

Phoebe Litchfield, brought back in to open the batting after missing out to the big hitters in the T20s, played nicely for her 37, including an absolutely gorgeous whipped drive through midwicket which was probably the shot of the series. It took doubtless the catch of the series to dismiss her – Sophie Ecclestone leaping back gymnastically to take a one-handed screamer.

Litchfield aside, Australia’s batters didn’t look quite themselves though. Perry and Mooney both outscored the teenager, but England’s bowlers made them work awfully hard for their runs. Alice Capsey, bowling in an ODI for the first time, sent down 9 overs straight for only 37 – an Economy Rate of 4.1 – whilst Lauren Bell produced one of those magic balls that she can occasionally conjure-up to bowl Annabel Sutherland. Both are encouraging signs, for now and for the future. England’s fielding coaches will definitely have something to say about the dropped catches, but England’s commitment in the field at least didn’t waver, unlike… well… more on that below!

Australia produced a bit of an up-tick at the end of their innings to take them to 263-8 – pretty-much a par 1st-innings score in ODIs between the top sides in recent years.

Without a massive total to bowl at, Australia needed to be frugal with the ball; but their openers served up a Premier Inn All You Can’t Eat Breakfast Buffet of bad bowling to allow England to get off to a flyer, getting 100 on the board in the 12th over.

Darcie Brown’s bowling is in some ways Australia’s equivalent of Alice Capsey’s batting – you know she is going to give away a few extras bowling a few wides and no-balls, just like you know Capsey is going to get caught on the boundary. But in both cases the hope is that they’ll smash some stumps/ sixes to make up for it. Brown didn’t today, delivering just 4 overs before Healy decided to swipe-left. Capsey on the other hand had a good day, following up her heroics at Lord’s with another rocket-propelled 40. With Tammy Beaumont also making 47 at a strike rate of over 100, England were in the box seat when Heather Knight and Nat Sciver-Brunt came together at 121-3. Needing just 4 an over from there, the only thing they had to do was keep wickets in hand and the result would come.

By the 30th over, Australia seemed to have given up, despite having taken the prize wicket of Sciver-Brunt in the meantime. Beth Mooney and Tahlia McGrath both declined to dive on the boundary for balls that could have been saved.

In the middle, Heather Knight was slowly but surely batting her way back into form, after a little-bit of a lean patch in white-ball cricket. (Though of course she did score a 50 in the Test.) Knight scored just a single boundary from her first 50 balls faced, but began to accelerate later to finish with a strike rate of 87 for her 75 runs.

Wickets continued to fall at the other end, with Knight visibly rolling her eyes to the sky after Ecclestone got out playing a completely unnecessary slog-sweep. This is why Ecclestone remains a tail-ender – a very good tail-ender, but a tail-ender nonetheless – she only really has one gear, and when she needed to keep a lid on it, she couldn’t help herself. (Perhaps a Speed Awareness Course is in order?)

It was left to Kate Cross to save England from what really would have been snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, sweeping and ramping her way to 19 to take England level, before Knight hit the winning runs with 11 balls to spare.

So that’s 3 defeats in a row now for Australia – unprecedented territory for this team, and they really do seem genuinely rattled. The old superstars can still deliver a professional show, but they aren’t hitting the high notes quite the way they once did, whilst the young guns are not yet churning out the hits. Perhaps… dare I say it, Issy Wong was right? England have done what nobody thought they could do – brought the series back to level-pegging. A river has been crossed, and though they still need to win both of the remaining matches to win back the Ashes, they might just be looking like favourites for the first time in a long time against the self-proclaimed (and… to be fair… quite a lot of other people proclaimed) greatest team in history.