On a beautifully sunny day at The Oval, Surrey easily beat London rivals Middlesex by 90 runs despite a run-a-ball 86 – her best score of the season – from Cordelia Griffith.

Surrey secured maximum batting bonus points by scoring 253 for 4 in their 50 overs, in a performance which was testament to the depth of their women’s squad – a rich return on the investment which the club have made in their players over the years.

By contrast Middlesex, who had two of their three Sunrisers professionals available, struggled to maintain momentum in their chase beyond the powerplay, and were eventually bowled out for 163 in the course of 41 overs.

The win puts Surrey in pole position to retain the London Championship title which they won in 2020. They need only to beat Essex in their final match (on 12 July), with 3 bonus points, to usurp Kent’s current position at the top of the table.

Surrey had been put in to bat by Middlesex and made hay after opener Chloe Brewer edged through the hands of Iqraa Hussain on 1*. Brewer added 17 more runs to her total before being trapped LBW by Naomi Dattani.

Opening partner Madeleine Blinkhorn-Jones, playing in only her seventh match for Surrey, took on the Middlesex seamers with aplomb as she repeatedly drove down the ground, taking Middlesex to 64 for 1 in the opening 10 overs and bringing up a maiden half-century for her county.

The introduction of spin helped dry up the runs once the powerplay concluded, but when stand-in Surrey captain Kirstie White (35) feather edged behind to Sonali Patel in the 24th over, Alice Capsey (26 from 24) added extra impetus to the Surrey innings, pulling Kate Coppack for a big six over the square leg boundary.

A mini-collapse of 3 wickets for 9 runs between overs 30 and 33 saw off both Blinkhorn-Jones and Capsey. But Surrey showed their depth as both Amy Gordon (39) and Rhianna Southby (30) repeatedly chipped the ball over the heads of the Middlesex infield, adding 73 runs for the sixth wicket and allowing Surrey to push on past 250, the highest total in the (admittedly short) history of the London Championship.

It was always going to be a big ask for Middlesex to chase down the required runs, but they started positively enough, with Cordelia Griffith pulling Beth Kerins twice over midwicket in the opening over. Some wayward bowling from Gordon handed easy runs to Middlesex, who finished the powerplay at 69 for 1.

Once again, it was pace off the ball which did the damage – leg-spinner Danielle Gregory bamboozling Tash Miles into playing onto her own stumps in the 15th, while Dattani swung and missed at a full toss from Claudie Cooper and was bowled in the 18th.

Griffith stroked a single to bring up a 47-ball half-century in the next over, but the run-out of Gayatri Gole shortly afterwards – firmly sent back by Griffith attempting a single that was never there – was the beginning of the end for Middlesex. Gregory and Capsey, bowling leg and off-spin in tandem, helped turn the screw, as did some astute field placement from the experienced White.

Griffith was ultimately left with too much to do, valiantly trying to farm the strike but running out of partners at the other end. Aware that the run rate was pushing up above 7, she was eventually caught by Capsey at extra cover in the 36th over trying to push the score along.

Eva Gray then finished the job, taking the final 3 wickets with full, straight balls which took out the stumps of Sonali Patel, Katie Wolfe and Emily Thorpe.

Though Middlesex’s London Championship hopes are now over, they will take some heart from the fact that Griffith batted with such fluency. The hope is that she will be able to go on and transform her form into the forthcoming matches for Sunrisers in the Lottie Cup and the RHF Trophy.

By Jake Perry

Carlton have been crowned Cricket Scotland Women’s Premier League champions after the final game of the season was concluded at Myreside on Sunday. West of Scotland’s 116-run defeat to Watsonians/Grange ensured that the Grange Loan team could not be overtaken at the top of the table they have led for all but a single week of the competition.

“We’re really delighted,” Carlton captain Annette Aitken-Drummond told The Cricket Scotland Podcast. “That was our main aim, to win the league this season. To win all but one of our games has been really impressive, and everyone’s worked really hard to achieve it.”

The evidence of that effort is clear to see. Carlton’s dominance with the bat saw them rack up over a thousand runs over the course of the campaign, with Charis Scott, who scored 209 runs at 52.25, and Annette herself, with 198 at 66.00, occupying the first two places in the batting averages. With 13 wickets at 12.31, Charis finished at the head of the bowling table, too, narrowly ahead of young prospect Maisie Maceira, who took 12 at an average of exactly 10.00.

“In our first game Charis was definitely the stand-out,” said Annette, “and she [continued to contribute] with the bat and the ball all season. In the last game she stood up when we were struggling, and that’s when you need players who are going to go in and do the job for you.”

“I’ve been really impressed with Maisie as well,” she continued. “She’s bowled really well and has taken a lot of wickets for us. And then Abbi [Aitken-Drummond] has hit quite a lot of runs, Sammy [Haggo] hit some runs [and] Hannah [Rainey] bowled really well without reaping the rewards, but having her open as a serious quick for us [has been] a great advantage. Young Ashley Robertson [with 5 wickets at 4.20] has impressed over the last couple of games with the ball, too.”

“But what’s impressed me most is how deep our squad can bat,” said Annette, “and I think where some of the WPL teams are perhaps reliant on one or two batters, the last game showed that we can bat pretty well into our squad and that we’ve got a lot of players willing to step up when we need them to.”

There have been several moments over the course of the season when just that has happened.

“Charis’s knock of 97 in the first game set us up for a really good start, and although I didn’t play in the second game against Stew-Mel, I know Sammy batted really well and we were quite unfortunate to lose,” Annette continued. “We had some good catches in the field against George Watson’s – Sarah Beith took a great double-mid-air catch which was quite incredible to watch – and Amelia [Beattie] has taken a few good ones as well. Maisie took a five-fer against Dumfries & Galloway, which was definitely an outstanding moment, and against West of Scotland Abbi’s batting was pretty awesome, too.”

“And then in the last game against Royal High Corstorphine we were definitely under the pump for a little bit at [34 for 4], so for Charis and Zaara [Dancu] to come in and steady the ship and then start scoring runs to give us something to defend, that was really good to watch.”

But perhaps most the pleasing aspect of Carlton’s victory is the ongoing story behind it. That the team has found a winning mix of internationals, up-and-coming young talent and truly dedicated club players is no accident: the structure of the club, and the focus it places upon the women’s game, has sown the seeds of its success.

“I remember when I first joined Carlton when I first moved to Edinburgh,” said Annette. “There were maybe five or six of us at the nets, I’d say. But the thing I remember is that after training somebody cooked, and we all sat and ate together, and that team and social atmosphere still continues to this day.”

“We’ve got a women’s committee at Carlton, and we’ve tried quite hard to make it fun, but [alongside that] we’ve got a really talented coach in Peter Ross who the girls and women are all learning from.”

“And the club have put the women’s section at the forefront of a lot of things. We’re the second team mentioned on social media, for example, and it’s tiny little things like that that make you feel important and a real part of the club.”

“We’re in the best place now that we’ve ever been – we’ve got about 25 women training regularly on a Friday night, and it’s going onwards and upwards.”

“It’s a brilliant club, but as a woman it’s a brilliant club to be a part of.”

—–

This week’s edition of The Cricket Scotland Podcast will include the full interview with Annette, as well as a report of the Watsonians/Grange v West of Scotland game. The podcast will also be providing full coverage of the upcoming Super Series, as well as the Beyond Boundaries Scottish Cup, which begins next month. Follow @ScotlandPod on Twitter for all the latest information.

And if you or your club has a story for us, please email jakeperrycricket@gmail.com and gary@gh-media.co.uk – we look forward to hearing from you!

This week:

• We look back at the England v India ODI series & ahead to the T20s
• Were we all wrong about Mithali Raj?
• High-profile Australian withdrawals from The Hundred in spite of ECB’s offer of £10,000 bonuses
• Equal pay in The Hundred

India got a win on the board at last, to keep this multi-format series alive, and it was all thanks to… no, not Mithali’s 75 off 86 balls; but Sneh Rana’s 22 off 24.

Of course Mithali will get the plaudits on so many levels – passing 50 for the 3rd time in the series, this time with a significantly improved Strike Rate – 87, compared with  67 and 64 in the 1st and 2nd ODIs – and in doing so, overtaking Charlotte Edwards as the leading international run-scorer of all time. Mithali was (rightly) named Player of the Match.

But let’s rewind to the dismissal of Deepti Sharma in the 40th over. India still needed 56 in 7 overs, at a run-rate of exactly 8, having gone at just over 4 across the innings. It didn’t look hopeful. Mithali herself was still on a Strike Rate of 69 at that point – not enough to win the game from there.

But Rana came to the crease and immediately injected a an extra yard of urgency into proceedings. Rana played fearless cricket, attacking the best England had to throw at her, and Mithali responded too, upping her Strike Rate to match Rana. By the time Rana was dismissed, for 22 off 24 balls, the edge had turned in India’s favour, with 6 required off the final over.

The decision to throw Katherine Brunt the ball for that final over was an “interesting” one – she can be expensive at the death – for example conceding 18 runs in her final over in the 2nd ODI at Taunton – and only Ecclestone was “bowled out”, so other options were available. But the truth is probably that it was over by that point anyway. With the experience of Mithali and Jhulan at the crease, India were firm favourites to make 6 off the last 6 balls, and in fact they only needed 3 balls to get over the line.

It was all a far cry from the equivalent fixture here 5 years ago, when England thrashed Pakistan by 212 runs, thanks to centuries from Lauren Winfield-Hill and Tammy Beaumont. England hit 50 boundaries that day, with the rope pulled in as tight as was permitted under the regulations. Today, on a larger outfield, they managed just 20, and at one point went 16 overs without finding the rope. But they ran hard between the wickets, as they always do, and denied the Indians a single maiden. It got them to 219 – almost enough… but not quite, thanks to La Princesa Rana.

Ahead of the final round of matches this weekend, Jake Perry looks back over what has been a fascinating Cricket Scotland Women’s Premier League.

The Cricket Scotland Women’s Premier League draws to a close this Sunday with the final round of matches in what has been an exhilarating season. After Carlton took a massive step towards the title last weekend, the remaining teams in the competition will all be looking for a strong finish before attention turns to the Beyond Boundaries Scottish Cup next month.

Royal High Corstorphine entertain a Stewart’s Melville side that stayed in contention to the very last. Defeat at Hamilton Crescent finally ended their hopes of three-in-a-row, but Catherine Holland’s team can still be proud of the challenge they mounted and the quality of the individual contributions within it. The young skipper, with four wickets to go with her 138 runs, has provided an excellent foil to opening partner Emma Walsingham, whose feats with the bat have left her with an opportunity to finish the campaign at the top of the averages. The consecutive ducks that followed her blistering century against George Watson’s College notwithstanding – the cricketing gods can be relied upon to keep the best of batters grounded – her 189 runs at an average of just under 38, often scored against international bowlers at the top of the innings, is a return to be proud of either way. Along with Katherine Fraser and the all-round powerhouse that is Katie McGill, Molly Paton has also shone with the ball, taking eight wickets at 5.25, while Jenny Ballantyne, Iona Lowry and Chloe Kiely are amongst those that have caught the eye too in what has been another balanced and well-coached Stew-Mel side.

For RHC, as well, it has been a case of so near, and yet so far. Table-toppers after Round Two, Megan Taylor’s team never quite got going again after losing to Dumfries & Galloway in Week Three, an agonisingly close loss to West of Scotland in Week Four compounding their dismay. They bowled themselves into a good position against Carlton last weekend, too, reducing them to 34 for 4, but wickets at crucial moments in the chase saw them fall 24 runs short at the end. With 55 in that game, opener Riti Patel joined Kitty Levenson and Ikra Farooq as one of the team’s three half-centurions, and with wickets shared amongst a good number of their bowlers – Taylor herself not least amongst them – RHC will be looking for a morale-boosting win to set up what is sure to be a determined cup campaign.

The most frustrating story of the last few weeks has been that of West of Scotland, forced to postpone their first two games by ongoing COVID restrictions in Glasgow. With the Super Series beginning next week, whether those missed matches can now be made up is unclear, but the Hamilton Crescent side has played some brilliant cricket nonetheless, not least in the win over RHC at New Williamfield. Nayma Shaikh starred in that particular encounter, while in Sophie Trickett, Neha Mahatma, Faatima Gardee and Anne Sturgess, the team has more exceptional young talent on which to draw. Scotland stars Ellen Watson and Abtaha Maqsood have shown their influence both on and off the field, while skipper Charlotte Dalton-Howells has led by example, exuding a calm authority. Whichever way the league season ends up, West is a first-rate outfit, and they will certainly be ones to watch in August. 

Their opponents at Myreside are Watsonians/Grange, who recovered from their opening-day mauling from Carlton to post wins against Stew-Mel and George Watson’s College. While the part played by Becky Glen, Megan McColl and Priyanaz Chatterji has been significant, Niamh Robertson-Jack and Catherine Edwards have both underlined their burgeoning talent, and the delight with which the whole team greeted its maiden win at Inverleith was a pleasure to see. It has been a good first season for this new collaboration – the hope for both clubs will be that they can field separate sides in the not-too-distant future. 

The final game of the round sees George Watson’s College take on Dumfries & Galloway, with the home side still looking for their first win of what has been a challenging campaign. The only team without any international players in its ranks, GWC has nevertheless produced some very good individual performances, underlining the production line of talent for which the school is rightly famous. It’s been a tough season for the division’s youngest side, but with Emily Tucker, Nina Whitaker, Cara Scott and others, they have plenty of cause for optimism for the future. 

Their final-day opponents will be looking for a top-half finish after a campaign which has brought them two wins and two losses so far. In Orla Montgomery and Niamh Muir, Dumfries & Galloway boast two of Scotland’s brightest young prospects, while Lorna Jack, Rosy Ryan and Sue Strachan have all stepped up when needed, too. There have been other highlights as well, Fiona Ramsay’s RHC-taming 4 for 10 and the down-to-the-wire nail-biter that went just the other way at Inverleith chief amongst them. But in the pace of the fit-again Montgomery, D&G has a definite ‘x’ factor – there won’t be many looking forward to facing her when club cricket resumes again. 

All told, it’s been a fascinating few weeks which have underlined both the talent and the spirit within the Scottish game. We’re now just a few weekends away from the start of the Beyond Boundaries Scottish Cup: if what we have seen in the Women’s Premier League is anything to go by, there will be plenty of teams that will fancy their chances. 

Women’s Premier League – 4 July 2021

George Watson’s College v Dumfries and Galloway (at Craiglockhart) 

Watsonians/Grange v West of Scotland (at Myreside) 

Royal High Corstorphine v Stewart’s Melville (at Barnton)

——

Jake Perry is the author of The Secret Game

Twitter: @jperry_cricket / Facebook: Jake Perry Cricket

The Cricket Scotland Podcast will include a round-up of the men’s and women’s league action from across the country every Tuesday, with player interviews from our featured games. Follow @ScotlandPod on Twitter for all the latest information.

Way back in July 2014, I was at Wokingham Cricket Club to watch my beloved Berkshire in the county T20 Cup. The game against Middlesex ought to have been a shoe-in – Heather Knight hit 72 off 60 balls, supported by Corrine Hall (who would go on to captain Hobart Hurricanes in the WBBL) who made 42 off 34, as Berkshire (chasing) made 142-3, which was a lot in them days!

But it wasn’t quite enough – Middlesex had earlier posted 145-6, thanks to a 16-year-old in her first full season of county cricket, who had hit 61 off 52 balls.

Her name: Sophia Dunkley.

Dunkley announced herself as a county cricketer that day; and over the following 6 seasons, she would go on to score over 1,600 runs for Middlesex; but some doubts persisted. She never really settled in the Kia Super League, spending a couple of seasons at Surrey Stars before moving to Lancashire Thunder; and although she made an England debut at the T20 World Cup in 2018, she didn’t get much opportunity to shine, and until this summer she remained on the periphery of England’s radar – one for the future perhaps, but not quite for now.

Until now.

In the space of a few weeks, Dunkley has officially been awarded a central contract (though in practice she’d effectively had one for several months), made her Test debut, scoring 74* in her only innings, and made her ODI debut, in which she did not bat.

Her performance in the Test was obviously impressive, but the moment she really became an “England player”… as opposed to a “player who’s played for England” occurred on the 4th ball of the 27th over of England’s innings in the 2nd ODI today.

England were actually in a wee bit of trouble – with Tammy Beaumont gone cheaply, they had collapsed slightly and were 125-4. Dunkley and Amy Jones – the last two recognised batters – had their work cut out, with almost 100 still required. Dunkley herself was on 10 off 11 balls, when Deepti Sharma gave her a bit of width outside off stump. Dunkley pounced, like a cat on a mouse, cutting confidently through extra cover for 4 runs.

This was the shot of a player who knew, at last, that she really belonged at this level.

A few overs later she splattered Shikha Pandey for 6 over long too… but that was just the confirmation.

Supported by Katherine Brunt, who more than made amends for what had looked like a potentially disastrous final over with the ball costing 18 runs, she closed out the game, finishing on 73* off 81 balls.

It created a real dilemma for Player of the Match too. Though Dunkley ultimately missed out to Kate Cross, who had earlier taken 5-34, for me Dunkley’s was the key performance – taking as much courage as skill, to stare down the barrel of an Indian attack who were looking in fearsome mood after their early breakthroughs. Jhulan in particular threw everything she had at her, but she battled through – proving herself against one of the greatest bowlers the game has ever known.

Dunks may have been handed her ODI cap last weekend, but she won it today – she’s an England player now… and will be for many years to come.

The Griffin Sports Ground in Dulwich Village, home to Dulwich CC, is set to become the first club cricket ground in the UK to give priority to women’s and girls’ players and teams.

The ground will be restored as a top-quality community facility for football and cricket, and will be run by a new charity established in partnership between Lambeth Tigers FC and Dulwich CC – the London Youth Sports Trust.

The Griffin will become home to Lambeth Tigers Football Club, which draws many of its players from communities where young people are denied access to good facilities, and to Dulwich Cricket Club’s women’s and girls’ teams, following the agreement of a new 30-year lease for the ground with the Dulwich Estate.

The Trust’s mission is to provide much-needed sports pitches for children and young people deprived of good facilities, for women’s and girls’ cricket and football, and for pupils at local state schools. The Trust will welcome partnerships with other clubs, residents and community groups that share its objectives, and is inviting these groups to suggest ideas for making full use of the ground. 

“The Griffin is going to transform the opportunities available in south London to two groups who are among those with most to gain from community sport: young people who growing with the extreme stress of living in high crime neighbourhoods but who deserve the best, and women and girls, who often take second place in sports grounds everywhere”, said Stephen Grey, chair of LYST and a parent at Lambeth Tigers. 

“We are hugely excited to take on this beautiful sports ground, and to develop it as a sporting hub for everyone from all communities and backgrounds. It will have lifelong benefits for the children and young people who play football and cricket there.”

Dulwich Cricket Club, established in 1867, has doubled the size of its women’s and girls’ section to more than 150 in the past 18 months, in line with cricket’s status as one of the fastest-growing female sports. The club currently has 10 girls, aged between 10 and 18, in Surrey’s performance programme.

The Griffin will become the home of the women’s and girls’ teams, who will have priority use of its facilities over men’s and boy’s teams. This is believed to be the first arrangement of its kind for a top-quality cricket ground in the UK.

The Griffin will enable the club to further expand its women’s and girls’ programme, which would otherwise be limited by a lack of access to pitches and practice facilities, and to provide more cricket opportunities to the Black community in South London. 

“Cricket is the fastest-growing sport for girls, and we’re experiencing a surge of interest – we’ve tripled our membership among primary school girls since March,” said Samantha Krafft, membership secretary of Dulwich Cricket Club. 

“We want to give girls exactly the same opportunities as boys to play cricket, and all that’s holding us back is a lack of places to play. There’s a shortage of good quality pitches in London, and many of those have long-standing use arrangements with men’s and boys’ teams. The Griffin will be the first cricket ground where women and girls come first – it’s what we need to achieve our dream.”

Kira Chathli, Dulwich CC’s Head Coach for Women & Girls, who represents South East Stars and Surrey, said: “When I started playing cricket at Dulwich, I was pretty much the only girl in the boys’ team. Now, I’m coaching well over a hundred players in girls-only sessions every week. The Griffin means we can keep growing – it’s going to change the game for women’s and girls’ cricket in South London.”

Lambeth Tigers, with support from Dulwich Cricket Club, is today launching a fundraising appeal to allow it to invest in improving the facilities at the Griffin, which need restoration, and to offer them affordably to its target users. Supporters are encouraged to donate online at https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/home4tigers.

Lambeth Tigers was formed in 1995 and re-founded 10 years ago in the Loughborough and Angeltown Estates in Brixton by two youth workers, David Marriott and Jamahl Jarrett. Both turned away from involvement in gangs after David’s brother was murdered, to focus on using football to transform lives.

The club has a proud track record both of developing outstanding football talent, and of providing life-enhancing opportunities for children and young people who might otherwise be vulnerable to the impact of crime or deprivation. Its development has been held back by a lack of access to pitches, and it has never had a permanent ground.

LYST and the Griffin project have been established with substantial help and support from Sport England, the England & Wales Cricket Board, the Surrey Cricket Foundation, the Arts and Culture Foundation, the London FA, Mentivity CIC, and with advice and support from Southwark and Lambeth Councils, Football Beyond Borders, Nike, Unity FC, Nasaa FC, and the London Schools Cricket Association.

Other partners in the initiative, who will use the Griffin’s facilities, include Girls United FA, a women and girls football club, Carnegie Cricket Club, a south London club with origins in the West Indian community, and several local state schools.

Tammy Beaumont’s brilliant run of form in ODIs continued, as England put India to the sword in Bristol. In four ODIs this year (three in New Zealand plus this one versus India) she has scored 318 runs at an average of… wait for it… 318! (She hasn’t been dismissed in an ODI since the 1st match in New Zealand.)

She was in imperious form today – she made 87 off 87 balls, and was only denied what looked like a certain century by Nat Sciver coming in and clattering 74 off 74 balls. As well as employing her trade-mark sweeps and ramps, Beaumont also rolled-back the years by bringing out the punched drive down the ground, that was her key productive shot earlier in her career.

There was some talk during the innings break about “low scoring games” but this never really looked like one of those. As Beaumont and Sciver showed, there were plenty of runs out there today – it was just that India didn’t really look like they wanted them until it was far too late.

As the Manhattans show, India can actually boast the most productive “phase” of the game, when they finally woke up in the last 10 overs and pulled 67 runs out of the hat – 6 more than England made in their initial powerplay. But the damage was already done. In the first 30 overs, they had scored at a Run Rate of just 3.0, and that’s simply not enough in any form of cricket these days.

Looking at the raw scorecard, you might think Mithali played the captain’s innings, but the truth is that she was actually the problem. Having come in during the 10th over, she reached the 30-over mark languishing on 23 off a whopping 63 balls – a Strike Rate of 37. Yes she caught up, to finish on 72 off 108 balls (a Strike Rate of 67) but she’d left her teammates (and herself) with far too much to do at the back-end of the innings. India’s final total of 201 was a good 50 under par; and though they probably still wouldn’t have won the game with 250, given Beaumont’s (and Sciver’s) form, they could at least have made England work for it!

It is difficult to avoid the conclusion that Mithali has been left behind by the modern era. While players like Tammy have adapted their games, she has stood still. She has two more ODIs in this series to turn things around, but if not… if India want a real shot at the World Cup in New Zealand next year, she needs to make way – she has been treading water for far too long; and the worry has to be that she is now no longer waving, but drowning.

This week:

• The 1st round of the Charlotte Edwards Cup
• Two young stars – Scrivens & Capsey
• Kari Carswell’s appointment by Middlesex/MCC
• No Wyatt in England’s ODI squad v India
• England’s XI – who makes the cut?

Jake Perry looks ahead to the penultimate round of the Cricket Scotland Women’s Premier League. 

Carlton bring their Cricket Scotland Women’s Premier League season to a close this weekend having cemented their position at the top of the table. Last Sunday’s victory over West of Scotland ensured that no team in the competition will finish it unbeaten, and with just one hurdle remaining, captain Annette Aitken-Drummond is delighted to still be out in front.

“We’re really pleased,” she said. “Our aim at the start was to win every single game, so to lose the second one [to Stewart’s Melville] was quite disappointing for us.”

“But I think it has boosted our performances since then, and it’s been really good to see how the girls have upped their game over the last couple of weeks or so. We’d like to finish the season off well if we can, too.” 

Carlton’s campaign has been built on some exceptional individual contributions. Sam Haggo, Charis Scott and Abbi Aitken-Drummond have all starred at various times with the bat, while Annette herself tops the averages with 191 runs at 95.5. But while the side’s Scotland contingent plays a central role, other members of the squad have also thrived in the opportunities they have been given.

“I think Maisie Maceira has been a real stand-out for us,” said Annette, “for her wickets but also her attitude as well. Being able to play alongside internationals like Hannah [Rainey] and Abbi and Sam and Charis [has really helped her game] – a lot of them are bowlers, so it’s been about getting her to think more about field placements, throwing in some variations, things that she might not have thought about had she not played alongside those players.”

“But whenever I’ve tossed her the ball and said go for it, she’s shown real heart. She’s hooping it in sometimes which is great to see, and her ability to perform under pressure has been really good as well. We got a team hat-trick last weekend, but I think she’s been on a hat-trick herself four times this season, which is absolutely nuts. And a lot of them have been bowled – Abbi in particular will say, bowl at the stumps, and that is the simple thing that Maisie does really well.” 

But Annette has also been excited by the standard of the division as a whole, including at West of Scotland, who put in another good performance after their heroics against Royal High Corstorphine in Round Four.

“They were really good,” she enthused. “I was really impressed with them and the way they were set up. They’ve got some Scotland players in Abtaha [Maqsood] and Ellen [Watson], but I was very impressed with their bowlers, who bowled a really consistent line and length which I was struggling to get away, to be honest.”

“Sophie Trickett played really well, too – she had no fear, just came in and absolutely biffed it. I love to see younger players who just come in and play a natural game. That’s what I try and say to the Carlton players, to just hit the ball, and she definitely came out and did that.”

“They got off to a really good start, and if I’m honest I was looking at the scoreboard and panicking a little bit, but we managed to rein them in, and then having Abbi open the batting and play in the way she did, it just took the pressure off the rest of the team.”

Chasing 147, Abbi’s 23-ball 49, which included two sixes and six fours, set Carlton on their way to an eight-wicket win, with Annette scoring her second fifty of the summer and Hannah Rainey chipping in with a quickfire 37. A strong Royal High Corstorphine eleven is still to be overcome, however, with Annette expecting another tough challenge at Barnton.

“RHC have put in some impressive performances,” said the former Scotland international. “Ikra [Farooq] has been scoring quite a few runs and they’ve got a few more big hitters in the team as well.”

“They should be well rested, too, after not playing last weekend, so it’ll be a real test for us.”

“But we won’t be thinking too much about what they are doing. We’ll focus on what we do well, and hopefully we can carry on the form we’ve shown and finish the season off with a win.”

Elsewhere, fifth-placed Dumfries & Galloway entertain the in-form Watsonians/Grange, while second-placed Stewart’s Melville travel to Hamilton Crescent on the back of a hard-fought victory over D&G last weekend. With West of Scotland still hoping to rearrange their COVID-delayed fixtures the game is a must-win for both sides, each of whom, like Carlton, have been beaten only once this season. After this weekend only one full round of fixtures remains – the title race, though, is still very much alive.

Women’s Premier League – 27 June 2021 

Dumfries & Galloway v Watsonians/Grange (at Gatehouse) 

Royal High Corstorphine v Carlton (at Barnton) 

West of Scotland v Stewart’s Melville (at Hamilton Crescent)

——

Jake Perry is the author of The Secret Game

Twitter: @jperry_cricket / Facebook: Jake Perry Cricket

The Cricket Scotland Podcast will include a round-up of the men’s and women’s league action from across the country every Tuesday, with player interviews from our featured games. Follow @ScotlandPod on Twitter for all the latest information.