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.

T20 BLAST: Lancashire v The Blaze – Bryce One!

Posted by Raf Nicholson

Saturday proved to be a good day for batting at Old Trafford, as Lancashire racked up a respectable 169 for four in their first home fixture of the T20 Blast – only for it to be bettered by visitors The Blaze, who finished up winners by six wickets, despite a nervous run-chase.

After over a decade of reporting on the women’s game, this was CRICKETher’s first outing at Old Trafford (as well as our first experience of the new-look Women’s T20 Blast). In a match which went down to the final over, the cricket didn’t disappoint – it rarely does – and Lancashire had clearly made an effort: when we arrived half an hour before play there was music blaring, food stands open, bar staff aplenty and a ton of children’s activities.

Perhaps the only downbeat note was the crowd. The “official” number for the women’s game, we’re told, was 2,600 – as compared to 4,378 spectators at the Utilita Bowl yesterday.

Rare are the days in Manchester when you don’t need a mac. Meteorologically, this was one of them – an uncommonly sunny day in a place which has a reputation has England’s rainiest city (although apparently this is very unfair).

But while the crowd might have been making more use of sunhat than raincoats, on the pitch Lancashire were relying on their own Mack – one with the first name Katie!

Aussie overseas Mack top-scored with 59 from 37 balls after Lancashire were put in to bat by The Blaze. Mack might not have the fireworks of the Harris sisters – down in Birmingham, Laura Harris was practically setting the ground on fire – but she does have stickability. She’s already scored two half-centuries for Lancashire this summer in the One-Day Cup and this one, her third, was just as solid.

The 20-year-old left-hander Tilly Kesteven, fresh from her breakthrough innings of 77 in Monday’s County Cup final, also looked in good touch here. Sarah Glenn, having hot-footed it up from Derby last night in order to play in this fixture, had a bit of a shock after being bunted for 12 from her first over by the youngster. The only disappointment is that Lancashire still haven’t managed to get a named shirt sorted out for the player who won them their first silverware in eight years – I’d be sorting that out pronto if I were them!

Glenn did take an excellent catch at point to see off Mack, jumping to her right to snatch the ball out of the air in the 13th over – and that was where the problems started for Lancashire. Mack and Kesteven had laid a platform of 81 for one after 10 overs – but after Mack departed, a couple of slower overs prevented the hosts from quite fulfilling their early potential, and they finished on 169 for four.

In reply, The Blaze proved just how good conditions really were at Old Trafford, finishing the powerplay with 63 runs on the board – admittedly helped out by Tara Norris sending down some American Pies (~~blame Syd~~ thanks to Syd for the Dad Joke).

Blaze’s opening pair in the one-day comp have been outrageously poached by Charlotte Edwards (and between them had a pretty decent outing yesterday), but Marie Kelly and Georgia Elwiss together put on 100 in the first 11.1 overs as The Blaze looked to be racing to victory.

But the pair were dismissed in consecutive overs – both caught trying to power the ball down the ground – and when Sarah Bryce fell miscuing Mahika Gaur to cover in the 17th over, 37 runs were still needed off 23 balls. Had The Blaze choked?

Mack could have been the all-round hero for Lancashire if she’d managed to clutch onto the catch proffered up by Kathryn Bryce in the 18th over – instead, running in from deep midwicket, her dive left her with nothing but a bruised knee to show for it.

Faced with a choice of two left-arm spin options, Lancashire captain Ellie Threlkeld then opted to save Sophie Ecclestone for the 20th over, and instead hand the ball to the 21-year-old Sophie Morris. It proved a costly mistake: Bryce struck back-to-back boundaries, while overseas Maddy Green topped it off with a six struck sweetly down the ground.

By the time Ecclestone came on to bowl the 20th, just two runs were needed, and the result was a formality. Lancashire will need to regroup quickly ahead of tomorrow’s match against Durham up at Chester-le-Street.

We’ll be there, on the third and final day of our Epic CRICKETher Northern Roadtrip! (Watch out for our travelogue video, coming later in the week on our YouTube channel.)

THE HUNDRED: Spirit v Fire – “If she’s going to lose her shoes but bat like that, who cares?”

Posted by Raf Nicholson

Welsh Fire beat London Spirit by wrapping up the fourth highest run-chase in the history of The Hundred, reaching their target of 151 with five balls to spare in what was, largely, a one-woman undertaking:

Hayley Matthews smashing it at Lord’s. pic.twitter.com/deaBN8FoVu
— CRICKETher 🏏 (@crickether) August 1, 2024

Battling erratic shoelaces, and at one point a shoe which actually flew off as she hared down the pitch, Hayley Matthews finished on 78 not out from 46 balls – Sarah Bryce’s 21 being the next highest contribution.

More importantly, Matthews was there at the end to propel Fire’s chase over the line, turning an unlikely-looking 50 runs off 25 balls into 26 off 15, 16 off 10, and finally a nice-and-relaxing 10 off the last 9, after just clearing the long-on boundary off the 91st ball – the first of Deepti Sharma’s final set.

“If she’s going to lose her shoes but bat like that, who cares? Maybe I’ll try it!” captain Tammy Beaumont said afterwards.

“I’ll teach her how to!” Matthews joked back.

Matthews did get lucky a couple of times – most notably when she pulled a catch to Eva Gray at deep midwicket on 35*; Gray couldn’t quite hang on and ended up parrying it over the rope. But, largely, it was an intelligent innings under pressure, with exactly the right balance between taking enough risks to keep up with the hefty rate, and then dialling it down when that was no longer necessary:

Hayl to the Hayley!

Absolutely brilliant from Matthews. That 6… so many other players would have tried to hit the next one out of the ground too, but she had the presence of mind to realise she didn't have to – played the safe shots that were enough to win the game.
— CRICKETher 🏏 (@crickether) August 1, 2024

Matthews knows how to manage run-chases single-handedly under extreme pressure – she’s been doing it for West Indies for about a decade – so for Fire it was a case of cometh the hour, cometh the woman.

London Spirit clearly realised she was the key wicket – hence why Georgia Redmayne refused the easy run-out of Phoebe Franklin off the 90th ball, instead opting to attempt to throw down the stumps at the bowler’s end (it was too wayward to have any effect).

A word, too, for Freya Davies’s efforts with the ball, which ensured that Fire did not feel the absence of Shabnim Ismail through injury too acutely. After a tight opening set in which Meg Lanning managed to score just one run from five deliveries, Beaumont’s decision to bring Davies back to bowl balls 41 to 45 proved inspired:

“She’s such a utility bowler, she can bowl at any phase brilliantly,” Beaumont said. “I felt like we let them get away from us a little bit – I wouldn’t normally bring Freya back as early and I just had that gut feel and I had to do it then. For her to come off then so brilliantly really shifted the game.”

Davies removed Heather Knight and Meg Lanning within the space of three balls, and a total which could have been catastrophic proved within reach… just. No doubt there was a certain amount of karmic satisfaction for Davies, who was not just bowling at her former teammates but against the captain who was responsible for her being dropped from England last summer.

Spirit return to Lord’s on Sunday for their top-of-the-table clash against Oval Invincibles: time to see if they can bounce back from what might be a difficult loss to take.

Women’s Ashes Test Day 3 Preview – What England Have To Do On Day 3

Posted by Syd Egan

Forget Yesterday

Wednesday was pretty grim but today is a bright new day. (Well… a new day at least!) And while England’s management need to reflect at some point upon an abject first innings performance; right now the players need to put it behind them and look to the job in hand.

I was feeling very, very pessimistic last night (sorry!) but this Test match is actually far from lost if England…

Bowl Like Daemons

England’s strength is their bowling and they have already taken 9 cheap Australian wickets in this Test – now they need to just go one better in this second innings and take 10! Moreover, if the weather on Tuesday suited England’s bowlers, today should be a pearler – it’s forecast to the warmest, muggiest day in history*! Megan Schutt was swinging it all over the shop yesterday – Shrubsole and Brunt should be relishing the possibilities today.

The Aussies said yesterday evening they would be looking to set England a target of around 300; and on current form I agree that would be a big ask on the last day, so England need to knock them over some way short of that. Once the Southern Stars get past 150 it starts to look increasingly unlikely that England would get those runs, so that’s the target for England today – 10 wickets for less than 150 runs – easy-peasy… right?

——–
* Warning: May include traces of exaggeration for dramatic effect!