INDIA v AUSTRALIA – TEST DAY 3: India Crushed as Healy Goes Out on a High

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Helen Maynard-Casely at the WACA

Australian captain Alyssa Healy contemplates the pitch decoration as she walks out to shake hands with the Indian team. Image credit Andy Casely

It took less than 100 minutes today for Australia to wrap up the Test with a bow. Even as they strode out to the middle the Indian batters knew that this was a tough day at the office. That said, returning batters Pratika Rawal and Sneh Rana set to business in the first 30 minutes, and Rawal turned her 43 overnight into a half century. The batters worked past the 125 run deficit from the first innings and began to build a lead. But they faced the spin of Ashleigh Gardner and Alana King, and with a WACA pitch starting to crack in after the high heat that was never going to end well.

Just as we were thinking of looking up the records for India 7th wicket partnerships, Gardner’s bowling beat Rana’s outside edge and she was wandering back to the sidelines. The nameless* Kashvee Gautam came and went for a duck – not able to replicate her heroic 34 runs from the first innings when Alyssa Healy plucked a ball in the slips from Alana King’s delivery. Soon after Sayali Satghare fell similarly to close fielding off King’s bowling. The Indian innings was dealt its final blow when Annabelle Sutherland made an insane amount of ground to take a diving catch sent sky high by Rawal off of Garner’s delivery. India were only 24 runs ahead.

The change of innings was rapid, and Australian openers Phoebe Litchfield and Georgia Voll were perhaps impatient to get into their ice baths. A small wobble of a LBW challenge on Voll hardly seemed to phase the pair, and in the 4th over the innings it was the Queenslander who swept a classy shot through the close field to the boundary to bring up the total, the match and the series.

Beth Mooney hugs Alyssa Healy, and we can only interpret quite how much went into that hug. From shared experiences, to the passing of the gloves, a tender moment to witness. Image credit Andy Casely

And so ended the 152nd Women’s Test, not perhaps a classic of the genre, but notable for Australia as they have now won three test matches in a row, well and truly reversing the spate of drawn Tests. Despite the team only playing on average one Test a year, they have found the tactics to force a win, and with this exerted dominance on the multi-format series that they have played.

One can use this juncture to wax lyrical on the departure of Alyssa Healy from both captaincy and the international game. On reflection it is not so much that she was an innovator of the women’s game, but she was the most stalwart of ambassadors. Having worked in the game through the advent of professionalism and overseeing the transition, she was the ultimate advocate in nudging space and visibility for the women’s game. This was of course coupled by her fierce determination to never be anyone’s niece, or wife, but very much a cricketer to excel in her very own right. We are glad we got to watch her play, and because of her impact many more will grace a similar stage.

*OK, this should be explained, the author is still rather fuming that ON INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY (of all occasions) the Indian cricket team can send a player into the TEST field without the dignity of including her name on her shirt (she literally had duct tape covering over another’s name on her shirt). Though such actions should never detract from the players themselves it is a reflection of how the administration that oversees them views them.

Helen (Crystallised Cricket) is a writer based in Dharug and Gundagarra country, and here is writing about a game played on Whadjuk country. She acknowledges the traditional owners of the lands that she writes from.

INDIA v AUSTRALIA – TEST DAY 2: Australian Heroes Journey Continues as Milestones Pass

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Helen Maynard-Casely at the WACA

Australia conducted the second day of the Test to near perfection, keeping India in the field through the heat of the day and batting at an aggressive rate – resulting in the tourists finding themselves batting in the dreaded twilight session. The loss of the top order without finding a lead has India needing something extremely special on the third day to remain competitive in this Test and the series.

The WACA scoreboard during the tea break.

It is probably returning on the second day where it really sinks in that you are playing Test cricket. Muscles are sore from the day previous, and you find yourself again in the field wearing whites (hopefully with your name on) and battling on. The game becomes more of a journey, and instead of one destination, there are virtual (and real) milestones to mark the progress.

As Ellyse Perry returned to the crease, after sitting on 43 overnight, she would have known that only 30 runs separated her from two auspicious markers. The first was to be only the second Australian Woman to reach 1000 test runs, and the second would be that she would only need three further runs to pass Karen Rolton’s career total of 1002 runs. Perry was not to allow the Indian bowlers to deprive her of this feat, and working with her overnight batting partner Annabelle Sutherland looked unruffled as the session progressed. Not only did they both seem unfazed by the 39 degree heat (running three effortlessly) they each used boundaries to glide past their half centuries. As a result of the momentum, Perry broke both 1000 runs and then became the highest test run scorer for Australia in a matter of balls.

But even as Perry reached this lofty position, there would have been mutterings in the crowd that it was unlikely that she would hold this record for the 16 years that Rolton did. As she stagnated just past the total, Sutherland accelerated to meet her score – and when Perry was dismissed LBW by Deepti Sharma it was perhaps a nuanced passing of the guard. Sutherland continued in her own hero’s journey, and by just after the tea break brought up her century with a whippy pull shot to backward point, reaching the milestone of the first Australian woman to score four test centuries at just 24 years old, and with many years ahead to pass Perry’s new Test runs mark. She batted on through the heat, with her Test average climbing with her live score, peaking at over 100 before she fell also to Sharma’s bowling – punching a ball too high and into the hands of Harmapreet Kaur.

Annabelle Sutherland returns to the dugout after scoring 129, an innings that cemented herself into the Australian Test records. Image Credit Mike Edelstein.

The Indian spinners worked through the heat of the day, and though giving Sutherland leeway, they had otherwise restricted the Australian middle order. Ashleigh Gardner only scored 1 run, Talia McGrath 13 runs and Beth Mooney just 19. But Australia had built a lead, and by the time India’s pace attack – headlined by debutant Sayali Satghare – finished the tail, late afternoon shadows had consumed the ground. Satghare finished the innings 4 wickets for 50 runs, when she forced Lucy Hamilton to push a ball into Sneh Rana’s hands (the latter redeeming herself after an awkward drop off Mooney’s second ball).

You have to wonder though, if this was the trap Australia had set. Throughout their batting innings each of the players had batted relatively aggressively (considering the few Test innings these players get) to the point that you had to wonder if this was the game plan. To get 100 or so ahead, and to put India back into bat in the twilight session. If so, it worked perfectly, Australia’s reply of 323 to the Indians’ first inning totals of 198 – meant that they had a 125 run cushion, with tricky pink ball batting conditions facing India.

Bowling pace under the lights, Australia had a dream start when Darcie Brown sent Smriti Mandhana’s leg stump tumbling, with the India opener only on 2 runs. Verma fell in short order, nicking Lucy Hamilton’s delivery to Beth Mooney. India’s batters struggled on, with only Pratika Rawal proving resilient. She had to watch helpless as four more of her batting partners fell to the Australian pace attack, Hamilton picking up the wickets of Deepti Sharma and Richa Ghosh in the 24th over. Sneh Rana joined Rawal and survived at the crease up to stumps, and India finished the day still 20 runs behind the Australian total with 4 wickets remaining.

An odyssey of a day in Test cricket at the WACA, but hard to go past the controlling tactics of the Australia team. They will return tomorrow likely to clinch the 4 points from the Test victory and the series win.

INDIA v AUSTRALIA – TEST DAY 1: Australian Smiles as India Struggle

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Helen Maynard-Casely at the WACA

Australia have the upper hand after the first day in their one off Test against India. India batted first and despite several batters getting good starts, the visitors struggled to 198 runs in their first innings. Today not only marked the start of the Test, but also the first game since the West Australian Cricket Association ground’s upgrades were completed. The players greeted not only new stands and manicured grass hills, but also the novelty of people spectating as they queue for a water slide that snakes down one of the light towers. (The opportunity to actually watch the cricket from within a swimming pool will definitely be indulged by this author at some point in the proceedings).

*As the floodlights started to dominate the WACA twilight, Australia contemplate how to finish off the Indian tail.*

The teams took on the WACA pitch and heat today in the 152nd Women’s test. To put that into context, the most experienced Test player competing today, Ellyse Perry, was contesting her 15th Test match. In the time since she made her Test debut in 2008, the Australian men’s side have played 196 Test matches.

So this rare contesting of the format inspires much joy, always coupled with a little trepidation. The joy was apparent with the awarding of a baggy green to Lucy Hamilton, and the trepidation evident in both sides batting form.

Harmapreet Kaur led a side changed somewhat from the ODI series, adjusting for injuries and looking for players to suit the conditions. Australian captain Alyssa Healy won the toss and put the visitors into bat, with Hamilton’s excitement extending to the first wicket of the match, when she took out Smitri Mandhana’s middle stump in the 5th over. Shafali Verma capitalised on a cautious start to her innings, but with 35 runs on the board, she nicked an Annabelle Sutherland delivery to the waiting gloves of keeper Beth Mooney. By the first break of the day India were on shaky ground at 4/99 with captain Kaur and Pratika Rawal also out.

Into the late afternoon diminutive Jemimah Rodrigues worked to push the looming Australian field out and away from her. With both Georgia Voll and Phoebe Litchfield fielding under the lids close in, she seemed surrounded and isolated from Deepti Sharma at the other end. They weathered this close field that accompanied Ash Gardner’s bowling waiting for their chances. As crowd favourite Alana King was brought in midway through the second session, Rodrigues took her chance – putting several boundaries away. This accelerated her towards her half century, bringing that up in the 57^th over – off 70 deliveries. But this was to be the only milestone reached by the Indian batters – with Sharma, Richa Ghosh then Rodrigues all sending shots into the waiting hands of the Australian fielders.

As shadows lengthened in the middle session of the day-night match, the Indian tail fought on, Kashvee Gautam in particular hitting a number of good boundaries. But this wasn’t to last, and as night fell so did the final Indian wickets, resulting in a first innings total of 198. Sutherland was the most successful of the Australian bowlers with 4 wickets for her 17 over, conceding only 46 runs; plus three wickets for debutant Lucy Hamilton.

Under lights the Australian openers Georgia Voll and Phoebe Litchfield strode out. Neither looked comfortable in the conditions, and seemed rattled early by India’s pace openers. Voll’s wicket, bowled for only 2 runs by Sayali Satghare, brought the sun-faded helmet of its owner Ellyse Perry to the crease. After weathering some attritional deliveries, Perry released tension by cracking an on drive to the boundary to the delight of the crowd. But the home team were not to find comfort for too long – a lightning quick diving effort from Rodrigues snatched a seemingly impossible catch to dismiss Litchfield.

Suddenly Healy and Pez were at the crease together, and as much as many of us hoped it would never end, the classic partnership was relatively short-lived with Healy getting dismissed by Sayali’s bowling forcing her to hit an uppish shot for an easy catch by Rodridges. The day was seen out at the crease by Pez and Pez 2.0 (aka Sutherland), with both settled under the floodlights and with Indian bowling in the last part of the day’s play. Australia will return tomorrow with two previous double centenarians wanting to build on what India may already be viewing as an ominous partnership.

WNCL: NSW Breakers Dodge Thunder to Secure Finals Spot

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By Helen Maynard-Casely

In the Southern Hemisphere the cricket season is getting to the pointy end. Those out of the running for finals are probably looking towards the off-season. It’s now round 6 (the penultimate) of the WNCL and it is down to only a few teams in the hunt for the two final spots. NSW Breakers, current table leaders by a margin, came into the round in pole position only needing one more win to secure their spot, but the chase for who will join them is on. WA have already continued their bid for this, with a double win over Victoria in this round. SA will be visiting ACT later in the round, needing two wins in Canberra to keep their final hopes alive. QLD Fire have a bye this round, so can only wait it out for now.

But eyes today were to NSW who were hosting Tasmania at Cricket Central. The Breakers, wanting to consolidate the top of the standing and punt towards hosting rights for the final; vs Tasmania, unfortunately not in the hunt for finals, but looking to regain form after a challenging middle part of the season.

Tasmanian ranks were bolstered by the return of both Lizelle Lee from the WPL and Kathryn Bryce from Scotland duties. NSW retained Alyssa Healy in the side, but Ellyse Perry’s spell for her state is over now, as she is with the Australian squad for the international series against India already in full swing. In her place NSW bought in young gun Lucy Finn for her first state cap – last seen with her heroic-but-unsuccessful 49 not out for Sydney Thunder in the WBBL, the tall pace bowler would add to the NSW attack.

Not only did the sides today have to battle each other, but the heat was oppressive especially in the first innings. Tasmania won the toss and put NSW in to bat in a humid 33 degrees Celsius, but with the humidity it felt more like 37 in the middle.

The Breakers had a good powerplay, getting 57 runs on the board and only losing Healy, who flighted the second delivery by Courtney Sippel to the short mid-wicket fielder. With Tahlia Wilson following her a few overs later, this brought together Katie Mack and Anika Learoyd at the crease. From here the two of them formed a partnership to anchor the innings, weathering spells of tricksy bowling from the Tasmanians. Spin in particular seemed to tie them both down, and during the middle overs runs were hard to come by. But they persisted, and by the time the partnership was broken as Learoyd played an ill-advised ramp shot in search of the boundary and her fifty, NSW were at a healthy 195 runs for three wickets in the 34th over.

Katie Mack continued, supported by both Claire Moore then Maitlan Brown, but she fell one run short of her century, caught by Emma Manix-Geeves off Bryce’s bowling as she pulled a shot over her shoulder. A clatter of wickets at the end had NSW all out as they completed their overs, posting 274 runs – which included 5 penalty runs incurred when the ball hit Lizelle Lee’s discarded helmet during the innings.

With 275 to chase down, Tasmania would have hoped that openers Lee and Rachel Treneman (currently the leading run scorer in the competition) would put a good dent in the total. That was not to be the case, with Breakers captain Lauren Cheatle bowling Trenaman in the opening over, the ball finding middle stump to send the bails flying. The second over saw Lizelle Lee caught amazingly by a sprawling Sam Bates at deep fine leg for a duck. With Elyse Villani and Ruth Johnston following them back to the pavilion soon after the Tasmanian innings was in disarray at 4/22 in only the 6th over. But like the NSW innings, Tasmanian batters Emma Manix-Geeve and Kartyn Bryce formed an anchor partnership to bring themselves back into contention for the game. Manix-Geeves took a while to get runs, but suddenly in the 10th over worked out Maitlan Brown’s bowling and got three boundaries off consecutive balls, frustrating Brown’s tight bowling spell.

Manix-Geeves reaches her century, but ultimately in vain as Tasmania had a hard day out against NSW

From there Manix-Geeves and Bryce built a good partnership, going toe-to-toe in run accumulation. NSW started to change up the bowling in an effort to remove one of the pair, bringing Bates, Sarah Coyte, Lucy Finn then Frankie Nicklin into the mix. Nicklin made the breakthrough, trapping Bryce LBW, and seeing off the 85-run partnership.

As the Tasmanian innings progressed the temperature eased, and the light started to change as sun was filtered through building storm clouds. To the West threatening clouds were bubbling, and conscious that a lightning strike within 10 km would see players off the park eyes started to dart to the DLS runs required. Tasmania were tantalisingly getting towards DLS par a number of times, with NSW taking wickets to keep this jumping ahead. Though thunder was heard in the 31st over, the storms never quite broke into the Sydney basin, and the game continued to its conclusion. Manix-Geeves was able to go one run better than Katie Mack and reach 100 runs, only to be caught the next ball as she tried to push the run rate. From here Tasmania’s batters slipped more and more behind which in turn forced them to try and push the runs. This, coupled with a series of good catches held by NSW fielders, meant that by the time the 10th wicket fell Tasmania were 44 runs short.

So, for the 26th time in the WNCL NSW Breakers are in the final, on the back of an all-round team effort in the season so far. They will be looking for the double win when they host Tasmania again on Monday, which would secure them a home final.

Helen (Crystallised Cricket) is a writer based in Dharug and Gundagarra country, and here is writing about a game played on Dharug country. She acknowledges the traditional owners of the lands that she writes from.

WNCL: A bright start for the Meteors at home in Canberra

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By Helen Maynard-Casely

We’re in the grip of a heat wave here in Australia and while the humidity rises at the coast, the heat never feels quite as oppressive in the drier air of the capital. The cicadas were in full song, clinging to the trees around Phillip Oval to herald Australian Capital Territory Meteors take to the field hosting Victoria in round three of the 2025/26 WNCL season.

This tie was probably the one least affected by losing players to the WPL, with only Meg Lanning and Millie Illingworth missing from the Victorian team sheet. Lanning has had limited impact on the WNCL this season so far, and Illingworth yet to have a run out – hence Victoria were probably very hopeful to break the spell of losses and get match points on the board.

ACT coaches had escaped the complications of those on WPL leave, though strike bowler Holly Ferling remains injured and in a moonboot after surgery. But overall ACT had great grounds to expect a win today, after showing good fight in a narrow loss away to last year’s finalists Queensland in the round before the long break in the season.

Player of the match Annie Wikman leads the successful ACT Meteors team from the side, flanked on the right by captain Carly Leeson.

It is a cliche, but the Meteors really did get off to a bright start to today’s match, with Nicole Fultum getting an inside edge that found the stumps off opening bowler Zoe Cooke first ball. This was followed a few deliveries later with Victorian captain Sophie Molineaux doing sinisterly the same thing. In the third over Cooke managed to trap Sophie Reid LBW, and the Victorian innings was in tatters at 3 down for only 6 runs.

Victoria saw some reprieve from total obliteration via a gritty 9^th wicket partnership of 53 by Rhys McKenna and Molly Strano. Mckenna, who went on to put on 62 at a run a ball, looked in solid form – bringing up her 50 with a 6 lofted down the ground. But the team will be smarting that it could have been more – Hasrat Gil was just getting settled when she was run out at the non-striker’s end, courtesy of Anesu Mushangwe getting fingers to the ball sent down the ground by McKenna. Veteran Strano had also looked in good touch, before punting a full toss from Amy Hunter to the waiting mitts of Georgia Elwiss at mid wicket.

The Victorian innings was brought to an end at the beginning of the 37th over – ACT captain Carly Leeson had brought herself in to bowl, and the change up caused McKenna to not angle her shot down enough, allowing Mushangwe to take a low catch at mid-wicket, all out for 161. Cooke and Amy Hunter were the pick of the ACT bowlers, both netting 3 wickets with steely economies.

Low totals, it is said, can be tricky to chase down, and ACT had a few stumbles along the way. A quickfire 50 off 51 balls from Leeson did much to steady the nerves, at times it looked like she was orchestrating the fielding placements more than Sophie Molineaux. As they shuffled the field in response to one Leeson shot, she would then place the next neatly in the hole just left, leaving Victorian fielders scuttling back. Leeson, however, was felled the next ball after achieving the half century – caught off of Tess Flintoff’s pacy full toss. This was the third in a series of wickets, Bowlder and Elwiss departing previously for only 4 runs scored, leaving two new batters (Grace Lyons and Annie Wikman) and still 86 runs to get. But this was only the 15th over, and the ACT batters used this to their advantage. Wikman in particular built a lovely innings, able to sit back and pick out the boundaries when suited her. This culminated in a stylish reverse sweep to the boundary the 34th over to finish off the chase, and left Wikman on 62 not out, rewarded as player of the match.

The Meteors will be very happy with their first home game of the WNCL season, picking up a win and a bonus point to boot. The one concern for Thursday’s match will be Grace Digham who had to retire hurt while supporting Wikman’s batting, she pulled up after stealing a single which looked like a hamstring issue. Victoria still are in negative points after five matches played, will be onto yet another plan to try and fashion a win.

Be Alert! More cricket incoming on Thursday, when the next match of the round takes place.

Helen (Crystallised Cricket) is a writer based in Dharug and Gundagarra country, and here is writing about a game played on Ngunnawal country. She acknowledges the traditional owners of the lands that she writes from.

WNCL: The season so far… and what to expect when it restarts on Sunday

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By Helen Maynard-Casely

After a long pause for the 20-over season, the Women’s National Cricket League (WNCL) – Australia’s professional 50-over competition – restarts on 4 January. Not the quietest period of the cricketing calendar, the upcoming third and fourth rounds will overlap with the Women’s Premier League (WPL) in India, critically drawing away some key players from their state sides. After the amuse bouche of rounds 1 and 2 back in September/October, the majority of the season is still to play. And, while some teams have raced ahead in match points, a few have stumbled and will be keen to get their season back on track.

Standings of the WNCL after two rounds

Team	Played	Won	Loss	Tied	N/R	NRR	Deductions	BP	Points
Queensland Fire	4	4	0	0	0	0.794	0	2	18
NSW Breakers	4	4	0	0	0	1.077	0	1	17
Tasmanian Tigers	4	3	1	0	0	1.528	0	3	15
South Australia	2	1	1	0	0	-0.494	0	0	4
ACT Meteors	2	0	2	0	0	-0.802	0	0	0
Western Australia	4	0	4	0	0	-1.165	0	0	0
Victoria	4	0	4	0	0	-1.595	1	0	-1

After only a few games, it is already looking tight at the top of the table – with teams that have snaffled batting bonuses (from achieving victory with a run rate 1.25 times that of the opposition) at a critical advantage in the chase for the two finals spots. In the bottom half of the table, yes you’ve read that correctly, poor Victoria are actually in negative points after receiving deductions for slow over rates in their match against Tasmania.

Round 3 will see NSW taking their bye for the season, Tasmania will be hosting Queensland at Bellerive, ACT taking on Victoria at EPC Solar Park (Phillip Oval) and West Australia v South Australia at the WACA.

Tasmania v Queensland is likely to be the most important of this round to watch for the overall standings: with more bonus points in the bag from their trip to Victoria, the Tasmanians could jump to the top of the table even with a one win/loss combo. However, they have a frighteningly strong run of form at home in Hobart. Since 2022, Tasmania’s Women have only lost 3 out of 21 matches played at Bellerive. To top this, numbers 1 and 2 on the season run chart are currently held by Tasmanian players Lizelle Lee (323) and Rachel Treneman (241), reflecting the formidability of their batting attack. Queensland, in contrast, will be without gun youngster Charli Knott, who has taken a call up to the WPL, and reliant on Lauren Winfield-Hill to get runs on the board.

After a successful start at home at Karen Rolton Oval back on 26 September, South Australia will be keen to add to wins away at the WACA. They will have a significant boost in having a certain Australian vice-captain Tahlia McGrath back in the side for the next couple of rounds. McGrath has decided to sit out the WPL, presumably with a mind to find form in Australian conditions in advance of the Australia vs India multi-format series coming up in February.

ACT, a team very much in a rebuilding phase, will be keen to go for a win at home against the flailing Victorian side. The Meteors very nearly pulled off quite the surprise win away to Queensland in October’s round 2, only stopped by the indomitable Winfield-Hill’s gutsy century. That said, Victoria are a side with much to make up, having lost the opening four matches – and may hope that some of their contracted Cricket Australia players may be up for taking to the field in Canberra next week to help pull them into the points.

Round 3 WNCL matches

All matches will be streamed via the Cricket Australia app.

Date	Day	Home	Away	Ground	Start (AEDT)	Start UTC
04/01	Sunday	TAS	QLD	Bellerive Oval, Hobart	10:30	23:30
06/01	Tuesday	ACT	VIC	EPC Solar Park, Canberra	10:00	23:00
06/01	Tuesday	TAS	QLD	Bellerive Oval, Hobart	10:30	23:30
08/01	Thursday	ACT	VIC	EPC Solar Park, Canberra	10:00	23:00
08/01	Thursday	WA	SA	WACA, Perth	17:00	06:00
10/01	Saturday	WA	SA	WACA, Perth	17:00	06:00

Helen (Crystallised Cricket) is a writer based in Dharug and Gundagarra country and acknowledges the traditional owners of the lands that she writes from.

WORLD CUP: England v Pakistan – A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall

Posted by Syd Egan

To be fair to the ICC, no one really “decided” to co-host a World Cup in Sri Lanka in October. Given the political situation between India and Pakistan, they needed somewhere in the vicinity of India, and there weren’t too many other options. (The UAE was one I guess, but the heat was almost too much for 20-over cricket during the T20 World Cup last year, so it would not have been a good one for 50-over games.)

Nonetheless, if you were going to pick a month not to host these matches in Colombo, this would have been it: Colombo gets an average of 19 rainy days during a typical October – more than any other month of the year. For comparison, Manchester typically gets 17 rainy days in October – we’d literally have had less chance of rain if we’d scheduled these games at Old Trafford!

After England’s match against Pakistan was rained off, we’ve now had 3 “No Results” from 7 games so far in Colombo in this World Cup. The “winners” on this occasion were England, who you’d imagine would almost certainly have gone on to lose a 50-over game, having been reduced to 79-7 – totally unable to cope with Pakistan’s military-medium-paced seamers keeping the stumps in play.

With England’s openers dismissed cheaply again (Tammy Beaumont didn’t play a shot, while Amy Jones might as well not have done, to balls that nipped back in) social media was alive with calls for one or both of them to be dropped / dropped down the order. But given what subsequently transpired, with all 7 of England’s top order batters dismissed bowled or LBW, I’m not sure shooting Jones and / or Beaumont really solves the problem.

From a Pakistan perspective, they were robbed blind. Their tactics were simple but effective – keep the seam and the stumps in play, and let the ball do the rest – and the high-fives the coaches were giving each other in the dugout as each wicket fell, were well deserved. I predicted… admittedly slightly mischievously… that Pakistan could actually be the “4th” side in the semi-finals at this World Cup – partly due to not having the punishing travel schedule everyone else has; but also because they can be an effective side in the right circumstances – they are well-drilled in the basics, and sometimes that’s all you need. They didn’t deserve to come out of today with just a single point.

Women's World Cup – Qualification Analysis 🏏

— CRICKETher (@crickether.com) 2025-10-15T16:40:32.129Z

As it stands now, England remain unbeaten and atop the table. The “Magic Number” for qualification is now 9 points (India and New Zealand are yet to play each other, so they can’t both get 9) meaning England need to win just one of their 3 remaining matches to guarantee a semi-final spot. They barely deserve it, but baby… that’s ~~show-business~~ cricket for you.

WORLD CUP: England v Sri Lanka – 7½ Out Of Ten

Posted by Syd Egan

A run-a-ball century – 117 off 117 balls – from Nat Sciver-Brunt was the difference between England and Sri Lanka in Colombo, putting England top of the table as we approach the halfway mark in the group stages of this World Cup.

Requiring 254, Sri Lanka lost the wicket of bright young hope Vishmi Gunaratne after Chamari Athapaththu had retired hurt; but Hasini Perera and Harshitha Samarawickrama made decent progress and at the 20-over mark, Sri Lanka had the edge on the WinHer Win Predictor, with a 61% chance of victory.

But the introduction of Sophie Ecclestone turned that equation on its head, with the spinner taking wickets in the 20th, 22nd and 24th overs, to put England in charge – turning a 61% chance of victory for Sri Lanka into an 83% chance for England, from which they never looked back.

Sophie added the cherry on top of the Eccles Cake with one more key wicket – that of the returning Athapaththu, as she bowled 10 overs straight through the middle phases.

The ball of the day however was reserved for Charlie Dean, with that early wicket of Gunaratne, who had no answer to one that pitched outside off before turning in between bat and pad to take the top of the leg bail.

With Linsey Smith finishing the day with an Economy Rate of 2.5 from 8 overs, plus the last wicket, it was a fantastic day for England’s specialist spinners, which is good news for everyone except possibly Em Arlott, who looks set to be the 2025 version of Beth Langston – one of only two members of England’s winning squad in 2017 to not get a single outing in the tournament. (Pop Quiz: Who was the other? Answer at the bottom!)

The one caveat with England’s bowling remains filling in those extra overs that Nat Sciver-Brunt can’t bowl. NSB bowled 5 overs today, briefly leaving the field after her first spell – we were officially told this was for a “bathroom break”, but the timing was “interesting” and if she accidentally bumped into the physio whilst she was back in the dressing room, I wouldn’t be surprised.

Alice Capsey again filled-in those additional overs, and did so competently, but if England really want her to be a proper, front-line spinning all-rounder, there is still work to do with the bowling coaches.

Earlier in the day, England had posted a decent total, but once again it was almost wholly reliant on a huge slice of luck, and one player – NSB on this occasion – taking advantage and going on to score almost half their runs. Sciver-Brunt was horribly dropped by Udeshika Prabodhani at midwicket when she was still in single-figures; and if that catch had been taken, the game could have turned out very differently, with no other England batter making more than Tammy Beaumont’s 32.

Beaumont and Amy Jones both looked unconvincing again. Jones was doubly-guilty for her own run out – ball watching as Beaumont called her through for a quick single, and then failing to dive in as she was run out by 6 inches; whilst Beaumont danced down the wicket and was far too early on a ball which she ended up toe-ending to extra cover.

With Heather Knight inexplicably pulling out a reverse sweep and oh-so-predictably being caught at short third, there was a lesson to be learned, and NSB learned it – keep it simple, and run hard.

NSB’s boundary percentage in international cricket has been falling for the past couple of years, and it was even lower than normal at just over 9% today; but it was what the situation demanded – efficiency was the watchword, and she watched it like a hawk. The 6 that brought up her century was typical – it wasn’t a Big Shot™ but it went far enough, safely enough, to get the job done.

As we’ve seen a few teams do in this tournament, England waited and waited before going big at the end, sacrificing wickets in the last 5 overs to put on 49 in that final push. They finished 9 down, but wickets at that point are worth very little compared to runs on the board. With Athapaththu having already said in her pre-game interview that she felt Sri Lanka could chase 230, the implication was that much more would be tough to get. And so it proved.

This was far from the perfect England performance – I’d give it 7½ out of 10. The bowling was solid; but England really need their batting line-up as a whole to find some form, and with just one “easier” game remaining – their next outing against Pakistan – there isn’t much time to do it.

The other member of the 2017 squad not to play a game? Georgia Elwiss.

CLUB OF THE MONTH: Rushden & Higham Town Under 11 Girls

Posted by Raf Nicholson

Congratulations to the Under 11 Girls of Rushden & Higham Town, whose first season has just concluded. It was certainly an eventful one, including helping provide a guard of honour at the Northamptonshire County Ground, growing from 4 members to 12, and winning their last game of the season (against Earls Barton CC) by a single run!

The girls’ section was formed by Ben and Lisa Hodges. Ben had been coaching the under-9s for a couple of seasons and volunteering as an All Stars Activator, and could see that more girls were coming through but could also see that they were sometimes intimidated by the loud and over-confident boys. It was clear that there were girls with talent, but they needed their own space to find it.

The girls play at Short Stocks in Rushden, featuring an astroturf wicket, an astroturf net and a nice bar – always appreciated by parents during the Friday night training sessions!

Ben and the girls threw themselves into the deep end by entering a league in their first season, playing in the Corby and District Youth U11 League (East). Sadly one of the teams dropped out and fixtures were a bit erratic this season, but they held their own.

“Music and dance play a big part in the team!” says coach Ben Hodges. “Cartwheels in the outfield between overs can often be seen. We are fortunate (or unfortunate sometimes when we are trying to get the girls to focus) that six of our girls all dance together at Starlight Dance in Rushden. So, whatever the latest song is that they are dancing to, you can guarantee that it will be heard and the six will be doing their best to teach the others the moves.“

“Special mention to Jennifer, who during one training session was practicing singing her part as Anne Boleyn for her school’s performance of the musical ‘Six’ while bowling at her teammates.”

They were fortunate to be mentored by the Northants County Cricket Club Steelbacks in the Community Team who assisted with putting on the fixtures, including providing some of their girls from the Young Leaders programme to act as scorers and umpires.

They were also lucky to be successful in bidding for a Metro Bank Girls in Cricket Fund award this season, which funded 20 hours of mentoring from community coaches from Steelbacks in the Community. A big thanks to Liam, Patricia, Beth and Louise.

Meanwhile Ben continues to coach and manage the team and has secured funding through Northamptonshire Sport to top up his coaching qualifications before next season.

Ben says that his season highlight was the team’s first victory, which came against Earls Barton when Jess Hambleton-Clark hit a six in the final over: “It was the last game of the season and the victory felt incredible. Seeing how chuffed the girls were and seeing how hard they had worked all season, and it was finally paying off.”

He also wants to give a shout out to the Committee at Rushden & Higham Town Cricket Club for supporting and embracing the girls team this season, and to all the parents for ferrying their daughters to matches, helping set up, and adding to a great family atmosphere at the club.

Aims for 2026 include developing a women’s softball team, doubling the number of girls playing, and perhaps playing some hardball cricket. Good luck to all involved!

If anyone is interested in joining the club, they should contact Ben Hodges on womenandgirls@rushdenhighamtowncc.com

ONE-DAY CUP SEMI-FINAL: Hampshire v Surrey – A Hampshire Heist

Posted by Raf Nicholson

Hampshire pulled off the heist of the decade, winning their semi-final against Surrey by four wickets despite being behind the DLS par score for the vast majority of the run-chase.

Battling driving rain, fading light, and a pitch which eventually resembled the Somme, Georgia Adams and Mary Taylor shared a winning 104-run partnership which propelled their team into Sunday’s final against Lancashire.

Adams’ unbeaten century will win all the plaudits, but the more remarkable effort was from Hampshire’s no.8 Taylor, who struck a maiden List A fifty (her previous highest List A score was just 21), driving, flicking and pulling.

Crucially, she achieved a strike rate of 100, ensuring that by the time she was hit on the elbow by a ball from Alice Monaghan which reared up at her, Hampshire were within touching distance of their target:

“The physio said, do you want any painkillers? I said no, let’s crack on,” she told CRICKETher. “I was in the zone and I didn’t want to disrupt that in any way. I probably would have batted with my arm falling off!”

Taylor had joined the fray with Hampshire six wickets down and still requiring 102 to win: Surrey would have felt they were into the Hampshire “tail”. But Adams and Taylor were able to gradually whittle down the required runs, first getting ahead of DLS and then – when it became apparent that the umpires were going to see this one through to its end, come what may – managing to overhaul their mammoth 288-run target.

Hypocaust points out that several other record run-chases have been achieved in 50-over women’s cricket this season:

Perhaps the key difference is that the other four record-breaking run chases of 2025 took place amid a baking hot summer which has now vanished. Today’s effort from Hampshire was achieved despite, not because of, the prevailing conditions.

“I was a bit cold [coming out to bat],” Taylor said. “Gads [Adams] said, ‘play straight and hit the sight screen, hit the gaps and we’ll try and run twos’. That proved quite difficult when the mud started clogging up our shoes.”

Surrey had opted to bat first after winning the toss, in spite of the weather forecast – a choice which surprised everyone, going against the general cricketing wisdom that if rain is forecast then it is always better to chase and know exactly what you need to do to stay ahead of DLS.

Today, however, that wisdom did not quite apply, due to a very unfortunate issue with the electronic scorecard, which flickered off in the first over of the Hampshire chase and never came back on. Energy company Utilita’s slogan “Life With Power”, which adorns the scoreboard, appeared a brilliant trolling exercise at the expense of the hosts.

Eventually, the club found a temporary solution in the form of the old-style scoreboard above the groundskeeper’s cubbyhole:

Ten overs in, Hampshire had reached 73-2 – exactly par with DLS. That was largely thanks to Freya Kemp, who brought up a 26-ball fifty in the 11th, after clobbering seven fours and two sixes – almost all between midwicket and long-on.

But when Kemp swung, missed and was bowled by Kalea Moore, the DLS par suddenly took a flying jump. It took another one when Abi Norgrove sent a catch straight into the hands of short midwicket; seconds later, the umpires were pulling the players off the field with Hampshire on 103-4, 20 runs behind DLS par.

It looked like it might all be over… but the shower was brief and 20 minutes later, the umpires brought the players back on.

Hampshire then lost Nancy Harman in the 20th over, leg-before to Phoebe Franklin, and seemed to be falling even further behind DLS – but, intriguingly, Win-Her saw the situation differently, putting Hampshire at a 63% chance of winning:

At this point I was so disillusioned with our Win Calculator that I suggested we might rename it Put-It-In-The-Bin-Her. How wrong I was!

As time ticked away and the chase went from unthinkable to possibly-reachable, nerves ratcheted up around the ground. Martin from Women’s Cricket Blog could be seen pacing up and down, Freya Kemp refused to move from her seat for 25 long minutes, while next-woman-in Freya Davies – whose metronomic bowling and three wickets at the death had been critical in preventing Surrey reaching 300 – had to wrap her bat in a towel as she sat for 45 long minutes waiting to see if she would be required.

The overwhelming feeling from everyone when Adams scored the winning runs, just two overs after bringing up her hundred, was therefore relief – as well as knowing that the real job isn’t yet done. “I’m trying to stay level because we’ve got to play the final yet,” Taylor admitted.

Whatever happens on Sunday, this semi-final will live long in the memory.