Month: July 2023

All Time XIs – The Jameses

An all time XI of players who all have James as one of their given names and a large photo gallery.

Today’s post honours two cricketers who are very different stages of their careers and happen to have the first name James. Both of course are in the starting XI.

THE XI IN BATTING ORDER

  1. James Burke (Australia, right handed opening batter). Usually known by the diminutive Jim, he was a dour opener with a respectable test record and a good first class one. I have not mentioned his off spin, as a) I don’t see it getting much use in this XI and b) to quote a spectator at one of his matches “bowl him one for a change Burkie – you’ll surprise him”.
  2. James Aylward (Hambledon, left handed batter). Anyone good enough to have scored 167 in a big match on the kind of pitches that existed in 1777, as he did, must have been an excellent batter, and I am pleased to honour him here.
  3. James Langridge (Sussex, England, left handed batter, left arm orthodox spinner). He was often called on to act as sheet anchor for Sussex, which is why I feel confident using him to fill what would otherwise be a tough slot. Even at test level his averages were the right way round, while at FC level he averaged 35 with the bat and 21 with the ball.
  4. *James Hildreth (Somerset, right handed batter, occasional right arm medium pacer). Very unlucky never to have to have played test cricket, he was one of the most prolific middle order batters of his era. I have also named him as captain of this side.
  5. James H Parks (Sussex, England, right handed batter, right arm slow medium bowler). The only player ever to score 3,000 FC runs and take 100 FC wickets in the same season.
  6. James Rew (Somerset, left handed batter, occasional wicket keeper). At the age of 19 he already has six first class hundreds with an HS of 221, with an average of 52.80 at that level. Elevation to the test ranks looks assured. He is the first of the two guys to inspire this post.
  7. +James Foster (Essex, England, wicket keeper, right handed batter). One of the finest wicket keepers ever to play the game, and enough of a batter to score 13,000 FC runs at an average of 37.
  8. Cedric Ivan James ‘big Jim’ Smith (Middlesex, England, right arm fast bowler, right handed very aggressive lower order batter). Took his FC wickets at 19 a piece. Among his many absurdly fast innings is the quickest 50 ever scored against genuine (as opposed to declaration) bowling – he reached the landmark in 11 minutes on that occasion!
  9. James Charles Laker (Surrey, Essex, England, off spinner, right handed lower order batter). Possibly the greatest of all conventional off spinners (Murali is in a category of his own), and good enough with the bat to have amassed two first class hundreds.
  10. James Bridges (Somerset, right arm fast medium bowler, right handed lower order batter). A fine new ball bowler for Somerset, and has the distinction of coming closer to having an FC century than anyone else who failed to score one – his HS at that level being 99 not out.
  11. James Anderson (Lancashire, England). He turned 41 yesterday, and he is guaranteed to remain England’s all time leading test wicket taker for some time to come, as his closest rival Stuart Broad has announced that the current test match will be his last. Anderson has not yet retired, and although he is unlikely feature much if at all in India this winter, he may be eyeing Sri Lanka at his him ground of Old Trafford next year as a potential sign off match.

This side has a solid batting line up, with most of the bowlers capable of weighing in as well, and a great bowling attack – Anderson, Smith, Bridges, Laker and Langridge, with James H Parks as sixth bowling option.

HONOURABLE MENTIONS

James Pattinson (Australia) is the biggest miss by far, but I wasn’t prepared to drop any of my chosen specialist seamers to make way for him. James M Parks, son of James H, was a good middle order batter and some might have picked him ahead of his father. James Hallows of Lancashire would have given me a left arm pace option, but he was more batter than bowler, and his record in that department does not stack up. James Morton Sims of Middlesex was the best leg spinner to qualify for consideration, but I preferred three seamers and two spinners to really stacking the spin options. James Seymour of Kent was a good county pro in his day. Finally, James Lillywhite junior who could not be accommodated in this side deserves a mention for his historical significance – he captained England in the first two test matches ever played, and also helped to arrange a number of the early tours.

PHOTOGRAPHS

On this day last year I published my all time XI of players whose surnames begin with J. Now it is time for my usual sign off…

A Composite #MAshes 2023 XI

A special butterfly picture, a composie #MAshes2023 XI with 12th man, and a splendid photo gallery.

What has been a superb Men’s Ashes (#MAshes for social media users) approaches its conclusion. The centrepiece of this post picks a composite XI from that series. However, I have plenty of other stuff to share, and before the centrepiece I have a photograph that given its significance and quality deserves special treatment (it has already generated interest on Mastodon)…

A HOLLY BLUE

I was out walking this morning when I spotted a butterfly that was new to me. I was able to get a very good photograph of the wonderful little creature, and Mastodon provided the answer to my inquiries – it was the Holly Blue, a species recognized as endangered (see this Guardian article):

A Holly Blue butterfly on a nettle leaf, King’s Lynn, Norfolk, 30/07/2023

A COMPOSITE #MASHES 2023 XI

Before I list my CXI in batting order let me emphasize that I am picking on the basis of THIS SERIES and this series only.

  1. Usman Khawaja (Australia, left handed opening batter). He has been Australia’s stand out batter of this series by a mile.
  2. Zak Crawley (England, right handed opening batter). Some, familiar with my opinions of him, will be surprised by this selection, but I am picking based on this series, and Warner has been negligible and Duckett patchy, whereas Crawley has had a fine series. It will take more than one fine series, even against the oldest enemy, to convince me that Crawley is the real deal as a test match opener, but denying plain facts is not my style, and the plain facts are that based on this series Crawley gets the slot.
  3. Marnus Labuschagne (Australia right handed batter). By his own stratospheric standards not a great series for him, but he gets the slot by default – since Pope’s injury England have struggled massively with this slot, experimenting with Brook for one innings, and then relying on Ali until his injury this match, with Stokes stepping up in their final innings.
  4. Joe Root (England, right handed batter, occasional off spinner). Only one century, but a couple of near misses as well, and the odd moment with his spin, plus some excellent catches. His opposite number, Smith, has had a decidedly quiet series.
  5. Harry Brook (England, right handed batter, occasional medium pacer). A very good series for him, though no century to show for it. It was ill advised to use him as an ersatz number three, an experiment that lasted one innings, but he played some fine knocks in his regular slot, especially at Headingley, Old Trafford and the first innings of this match at The Oval.
  6. *Ben Stokes (England, left handed batter, right arm fast medium bowler, captain). Knee problems have reduced his bowling to a virtual side show (he is allegedly practicing spin bowling in an attempt to prolong his ability to describe himself as an all rounder), but he has played at least one crucial innings, and his captaincy, not withstanding the short stuff at the Aussie tail on Friday, has been a cut above that of Cummins.
  7. +Alex Carey (Australia, wicket keeper, left handed batter). Massively the better of the two keepers on show this series, and Bairstow’s runs in the last couple of matches do not in anyway compensate for his clumsiness behind the stumps, which has cost England hundreds of runs through the series.
  8. Mitchell Starc (Australia, left arm fast bowler, left handed lower order batter). He gets smacked, but he also picks up wickets, and he provides something that no one else in the series does, in terms of the left arm angle.
  9. Mark Wood (England, right arm fast bowler, right handed lower order batter). The quickest bowler on either side, and he has had a good series.
  10. Stuart Broad (England, right arm fast medium bowler, left handed lower order batter). He has announced that the current test match will be has last match as a competitive cricketer, but this is not a sentimental pick – he has also taken over 20 wickets in the series, the fifth time he has done that against Australia, and taken his Ashes tally past 150, putting him alone among England bowlers but behind Lillee, McGrath and Warne overall.
  11. Todd Murphy (off spinner, left handed lower order batter). I didn’t want to name a side without a front line spinner, and with Leach injured before the series started and Lyon injured early in the series there was really only one option – Ali has been as ineffective as one might expect of a 36 year old with little interest in red ball cricket and a moderate prior record to be.
  12. Chris Woakes (England, right arm fast medium bowler, right handed batter). I am naming a 12th man because the veteran Warwickshire all rounder has done well, proving once again that he is formidable in England, and while I couldn’t fit him in the XI I wanted to honour him.

The starting XI has a strong batting line up, a fine keeper and a strong and balance bowling attack, and the designated 12th man could cover any vacancy other than Carey or Murphy without crippling the side.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

The Oval and Other Stuff

A mention of goings on at The Oval, A mention of James and Sons recent auctions and a mention of leafleting for the Green Party, plus large numbers of photos.

As I type this England and Australia men’s teams are doing battle at The Oval in the last match of a superb Ashes summer. This post starts with a brief look at what is going on there.

‘BAZBALL’ V ‘BOYCSBALL’

Yesterday England were put into bat, and managed 283 from 54 overs, Brook leading the way with 85. Australia by the close were 61-1. This morning saw an utterly craven batting effort from the Australians, with lady luck saving them on several occasions. Labuschagne in particular seemed to be digging in for a draw even though it was only the second morning! His dismissal for 9 off 82 balls brightened things up a little, but not much. Fortunately the afternoon session has seen Australia being punished for their wilfully slow scoring. Three wickets have fallen since the interval, two to Broad and one to Anderson. This leaves Australia currently 153-5, 130 runs behind England. If Australia, as is currently more than possible, end up behind on first innings they will have only themselves to blame.

A BANKNOTE AUCTION

James and Sons auctioneers, my employers, had a two day sale this week. Day one was stamps and postal history and seems to have gone well. Day two was banknotes (a huge lifetime collection from all around the world), and went superbly. I will be writing more about this later, but I touch on it briefly today as I secured two lots along the way: Antarctica and Djibouti (the latter containing an item of railwayana). Here are the images (to view an image at full size just click on it) that people got to see during the auction:

Here are some more images taken since I took possession of these notes…

LEAFLETING FOR THE GREEN PARTY

This morning I went to South Wootton to collect some leaflets for Michael de Whalley’s campaign to be elected for the vacant Freebridge seat on Norfolk County Council. I have started delivering them, doing one side of Low Road and all of Old Manor Close on my way home. Here are images of the leaflet:

PHOTOGRAPHS

These photographs come from three sources – my morning walk before work yesterday, my walk home in the evening having alighted at Gaywood and while I was out and about today…

While I was preparing this post for publication Alex Carey became the sixth Aussie to be dismissed this innings, holing out to cover off Root. They are still over 100 adrfit.

Surrey in Control at Taunton

A look at developments between Somerset and Surrey in the current round of championship fixtures, a revisit to and modest revision of the all time XI of players whose surnames begin with H and a large photo gallery.

Another round of county championship fixtures got underway yesterday, and in so far as circumstances allow (yesterday and tomorrow are work days) I am following Somerset v Surrey.

YESTERDAY

While I was at work yesterday Somerset were all out for 170 in the first innings. Surrey last four wickets in response, before Latham and Jacks steadied the ship. Surrey were still in arrears by the close, but had every chance of a substantial lead given their great batting depth (any side with Gus Atkinson at number nine have a lot of batting depth).

TODAY

Latham and Jacks continued to bat well, though each just missed out on a ton, both falling for 99. Gus Atkinson showed that he is better than a regular number nine, and Daniel Worrall played a classic tail enders cameo, swinging hard at pretty much everything and connecting a few times. Matt Henry took 6-80, while Craig Overton, with 0-106 had the misfortune of registering the only individual three figure tally of the innings. Surrey were all out for 368, a lead on first innings of 198. At present that is how it remains, rain preventing the start of the Somerset second innings. However, it is still only day two, meaning that it would be asking a lot for the rain to save Somerset.

ONE FROM THE ARCHIVES AND PHOTOGRAPHS

On this day last year I created my all time XI of players who have surnames beginning with H. I have concluded since creating that XI that I have to bolster the bowling, even though it means dropping an ATG batter to do so. I regard Hutton, Hobbs, George Headley, Hammond and the left handed Hussey as indispensable, so Patsy Hendren, the third leading scorer of FC runs and second leading scorer of FC centuries in history misses out, having to settle for an honourable mention, and the number six slot goes instead to George Hirst, a right handed batter, left arm fast medium bowler and brilliant fielder. This means that the frontline attack now comprises Holding, Hadlee and Hirst to bowl pace/ seam/ swing and Harmer and Herath to bowl spin, with Hammond now more realistically positioned as fourth seamer should such be required. The revised XI in full: JB Hobbs, *L Hutton, GA Headley, WR Hammond, MEK Hussey, GH Hirst, +IA Healy, RJ Hadlee, SR Harmer, MA Holding, R Herath. Now it is time for my usual sign off…

All Time XIs – The Letter F

I originally produced this post OTD last year, and now reproduce it. I add an honourable mention that I missed first time round. Ken Farnes does not quite displace Jack Ferris or George Freeman from the XI, but I should have mentioned his brief career, terminated by WWII, in which conflict he lost his life.

aspiblog

I continue my exploration of the all time XI theme with a look at players whose surnames begin with the letter F.

THE XI IN BATTING ORDER

  1. Roy Fredericks (West Indies). Somewhat overshadowed by the later deeds of the greatest opening combo WI have ever produced, Greenidge and Haynes, Fredericks was nevertheless a player of the highest class. His most famous test knock was an innings of 169 against Australia at the WACA in Perth, not generally a happy hunting ground for visiting players. He was also only the second player to score a century in a men’s ODI after Dennis Amiss.
  2. Charles Burgess Fry (Sussex, England). His mastery of the art of batting is all the more astonishing given that cricket was just one area in which he excelled. He once scored a six successive first class centuries, a feat equalled by Bradman and Procter but unsurpassed to this…

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All Time XIs: Alliterative

An alliterative all time XI and a large photo gallery.

This variation on a favourite theme of mine features an XI all of whom have alliterative names. I have applied all my usual criteria for selecting a side of class and balance, and the biggest omissions will be explained after I have presented the XI.

THE XI IN BATTING ORDER

  1. William Woodfull (right handed opening batter). An accumulator whose speciality was batting for long periods of time. He will combine well with the other opener.
  2. Gordon Greenidge (right handed opening batter). The Barbadian was a stroke maker by inclination but was also capable of batting for long periods when needed.
  3. Richie Richardson (right handed batter). A test average of 45 maintained over a long career gets him in.
  4. Steven Smith (right handed batter, occasional leg spinner). The best test batter of the modern era.
  5. Saud Shakeel (left handed batter, occasional leg spinner). Currently establishing himself at the highest level, having very recently scored a test double century.
  6. Mulvantrai ‘Vinoo’ Mankad (right handed batter, left arm orthodox spinner). A very fine all rounder, he reached the test double of 1,000 runs and 100 wickets in 23 matches, a record beaten only by Ian Botham (21 matches).
  7. *Frank Foster (right handed batter, left arm fast medium bowler, captain). His test averages were the right way round – 23 with the bat, 20 with the ball, and if the former figure looks on the low side for a number seven, he was also the first Warwickshire player ever to score a triple century. I have named him as captain because he also skippered Warwickshire to their maiden county championship title in 1911. The vice-captaincy would be a toss up between Woodfull and Richardson, with Smith ruled out of any sort of leadership position given how his tenure as Aussie skipper ended.
  8. +Ben Barnett (wicket keeper, left handed batter). In the era in which he played precisely one regular keeper had a test average better than his 27 – Leslie Ames of Kent and England who averaged 40 with the bat in test cricket.
  9. Malcolm Marshall (right arm fast bowler, right handed batter). One of the greatest fast bowlers ever to play the game and a useful lower order batter to boot.
  10. George Geary (right arm medium-fast bowler, right handed batter). Two Ashes winning moments on his CV and the second cheapest all-ten in FC history (10-18 for Leciestershire v Glamorgan) as well.
  11. Muthiah Muralidaran (off spinner, right handed tail end batter). 800 test wickets, and for those who point to Zimbabwe and Bangladesh among his victims, 624 of his 800 wickets came against teams other than these, and he paid 24 a piece for those wickets – his average against all teams other than Bangladesh and Zimbabwe was better than Warne’s against all comers.

This side has a powerful top five, great all rounders at six and seven, a keeper who could bat, and three great bowlers, two of whom could contribute with the bat to round out the order. Malcolm Marshall and Frank Foster with the new ball, Geary as third seamer and Muralidaran and Mankad as front line spin options is an attack that should take 20 wickets on almost any surface.

HONOURABLE MENTIONS

Colin Cowdrey is the biggest name among qualifiers that I have left out, but I wanted at least one of my front line batters to be left handed, and Shakeel was the obvious solution. Gautam Gambhir might have had an opening slot in place of Woodfull. William Mervyn Wallace of New Zealand did well in the few tests that he got to play, but he always went by ‘Merv’, a shortening of his second given name. Deandra Dottin of West Indies Women could not be accommodated in the XI, but merits an honourable mention. Ben Brown and Chris Cooke both have good county records as keeper batters, but have never been picked at the highest level, while Richie Robinson of Australia was not the keeper that his compatriot Barnett had been, though he was a finer batter – as regular readers know I prioritise keeping, and a side with Geary due to come in at 10 cannot be described as short of batting. George Giffen was a great all rounder, but given his bowling style had I picked him instead of Mankad I would have had to pick Bishan Bedi instead of Muralidaran and my contention is that Murali and Mankad would be a better spin pairing than Bedi and Giffen. George Garton, a left arm fast bowler, might have his advocates, but Foster was proven at the highest level which Garton isn’t, and also I wanted Foster as captain. Picking legendary 19th century speedster John ‘Foghorn’ Jackson over Geary would have increased the pace of the attack, but he benefitted from bowling on pitches that were often so rough that he didn’t have to do more than bowl fast and straight (he played in the era immediately before WG). Two county fast mediums deserve a mention but not a place in the XI: Brian Brain and Tim Tremlett (father of Chris, son of Maurice). Paul Parker’s batting does not justify picking him, but he would be this XIs designated fielding sub.

DISQUALIFICATIONS

Two players who would otherwise have merited consideration were disqualified for going on rebel tours of apartheid South Africa: Graham Gooch and Colin Croft.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

Early Music Day at the Lynn Festival

A look back at yesterdays Early Music Day concerts at the Lynn Festival, a link from this day last year and lots of photographs.

Yesterday was Early Music Day at the Lynn Festival. This featured three concerts, all held at St Nicholas Chapel. This post looks at all three concerts.

CONCERT ONE: AN ORGAN RECITAL

The Organ at St Nicholas Chapel is a truly magnificent instrument, designed and constructed by the London firm of Henry Willis & Son, and completed in 1900. David Flood proved to be a magnificent performer as well, and he chose pieces all of which could have been played on this organ when it was first completed in 1900.

CONCERT TWO: THE ORCHESTRA OF THE AGE OF ENLIGHTENMENT

This concert did not feature a full orchestra, it was a smaller ensemble, all of whom belong to this orchestra. This means that rather than a conductor being present they took their lead from the First Violinist. The concert was excellent, featuring some splendid music.

CONCERT THREE: HARPSICHORD AND VIOLA DA GAMBA

Masumi Yamamoto was on the harpsichord and Ibrahim Aziz on the viola da gamba, an instrument much closer in shape and size to a modern cello than it is to a viola, in spite of the name. The concert both started and ended with them playing together, but each also played solos in the middle. Here are some photographs (quick reminder, all photos can be viewed at full size by lcikcing on them) specifically relating to these concerts…

St Nicholas Chapel
The organ.
An information board about the organ.
This picture and the the next show controls for the organ.
The wooden angels in the inside roof of the chapel presented and interesting challenge.

FROM THE ARCHIVE AND GENERAL PHOTOGRAPHY

A year ago today I published my all time XI of players whose surnames begin with the letter E. Since then a new name has appeared on the scene: Abhimanyu Easwaran produced a succession of big scores in Indian domestic cricket. I am not yet prepared to break up my opening pair of J Edrich and Elgar just yet, but the latter is under threat, especially if Easwaran gets his opportunity to perform at a higher level and delivers. Now for my usual sign off…

Men’s Ashes: Climax or Anti-climax

A look at development’s in the men’s Ashes as we wait for play to get underway on day four at Old Trafford.

Today is Early Music Day at the Lynn Festival (will be blogging about this in due time), and I am making use of the long break between the first and second concerts (the second and third are basically back to back, with insufficient time between the end of one and the start of the other to come home) to keep an eye on the cricket should there be any developments at all today and to post this.

THE MEN’S ASHES – THE STORY SO FAR

Australia won the first two matches, though England had good chances in both, and could blame poor catching, especially by Bairstow behind the stumps, for the fact that they were not at least 1-1. England won a thriller at Headingley, with Harry Brook scoring a vital 75 in the final innings. That brings us to…

THE FOURTH MATCH – OLD TRAFFORD

Penultimate matches of Ashes series at Old Trafford include 1896 (2nd match of a 3 match series, Australia won by three wickets after England staged a remarkable but unavailing fightback – Ranjitsinhji on test debut conjured 154* after England were made to follow on, which meant Australia needed 125 to win, and fast bowler Tom Richardson narrowly failed to pre-empt Bob Willis’s Headingley heroics by 85 years, taking 6-76 as Australia limped over the line), 1902, when an Australian win by three runs gave them the Ashes, “Laker’s Match” of 1956, when the off spinner’s 19-90 in the match gave England victory by an innings and 170 runs and guaranteed retention of the Ashes for them, 1981, when a blazing Botham century set up victory by 103 runs which guaranteed England a series win and retention of the Ashes, and on the debit side of the ledger the bore draw of 1964 when Aussie skipper Simpson, knowing that a draw was enough for his side, literally ensured this off his own bat, occupying the crease until the third morning as Australia scored 656-8 declared (Simpson 311), England then scoring 611 to utterly kill the game.

Australia blatantly selected their side for this match with a draw in mind – they picked no specialist spinner and had two seam bowling all rounders and keeper Carey batting at number eight. England, rather than bringing in any new played had Moeen Ali officially at number three, Bairstow continuing as keeper and an 8-11 of Woakes, Wood, Broad and Anderson. England won the toss and put Australia in. The pitch proved better for batting than either side had reckoned on, and Australia’s 317, lasting just into the second day, was a definite underachievement by them. Woakes was the bowling star with five wickets. England took the bull by the horns, and it was that rarity, Crawley’s day. The Kent opener rode his luck to score a very rapid 189, backed by good performances from Ali and Root. Bairstow became the second Yorkshireman with a surname beginning with B to score 99* in a test match, as Anderson was pinned LBW before he could reach the landmark. Bairstow’s knock took a mere 81 balls, rather a contrast to the other 99* by a Yorkshire ‘B’, Boycott’s knock at Perth in the 1979-80 mini-series. England had tallied 592, a first innings advantage of 275. Wood came to the party in Australia’s second innings, claiming three wickets as Australia closed the third day on 113-4, still 162 adrift of making England bat again. There has been no play so far today, as Old Trafford’s tutelary deity, Jupiter Pluvius, has put in an appearance. There is a pitch inspection happening as I type this. The last two covers have just come off, much to the disgruntlement of the Aussies, who were hoping for today to be entirely washed out (they are looking and playing like a side who are mentally shot, and their attitude to the covers coming off is further indication of that). If the rain holds off, play will commence at 2:45PM.

PHOTOGRAPHS

Before my usual sign off, here one year on from its creation is a link to my all-time Ds XI.

All Time XIs – The Letter C

I will be at work today, and am unlikely to put up a new blog post today, so exactly one year to the day after I created it here is my all time XI of players whose surnames begin with the letter C. In that year a new name has emerged as meriting consideration – Tagenarine Chanderpaul has made a very impressive start for WI. He has more to do to earn his place yet, but he is definitely one to watch.

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The temperature here is back to what would be expected of England in July after two days of serious heat. Peterborough, just over an hour to the west of me by bus was one of various UK places to top 40 degrees yesterday, while the Botanic Gardens in Cambridge, south of me, clocked 39.9. Holbeach and Marham, either side of King’s Lynn and closer still, both also had temperatures between 39 and 40. I am continuing my series of all-time XI posts with a look at the letter C.

THE XI IN BATTING ORDER

  1. Shivnarine Chanderpaul (Lancashire, West Indies). The Guyanese super stacker was not a regular opener, but with due respect to his achievements this season I could hardly pick Ben Compton, and nor did any other regular openers beginning with C jump out at me. I reckon he can handle the job, and as you will see going…

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Women’s Ashes Series Ends All Square

An apology, a look at the last two matches of the Women’s Ashes, a team of that series and lots of photographs.

This post focuses mainly on the women’s Ashes series which concluded yesterday evening. However, before I get into the main meat of the post there is one necessary item to attend to…

A CORRECTION

On Monday I reblogged my All Time G’s XI to coincide with the 175th anniversary of the skipper’s birth. I was guilty of inattention – the anniversary day, and the date of the original post was of course July 18th, not July 17th. I should have done a proper post on Monday and reblogged the Gs on Tuesday. Here are some of a bountiful recent harvest of photos…

THE LAST TWO MATCHES OF THE WOMENS ASHES

Australia secured retention of the Ashes by winning the penultimate ODI on Sunday by three runs. Australia posted 282, 26 of them off the final over of the innings, bowled by Lauren Bell. England fought hard in response, with Natalie Sciver-Brunt scoring a superb century. She was on strike for the final ball of the innings, off which England needed six to win or four to tie. Unfortunately she could only manage a single.

While England could no longer win the Ashes they could draw the series by winning the last match, which took place at Taunton yesterday. England batted first, and with Sciver-Brunt hammering another century, her seventh in ODIs, four of which have come against Australia they reached 285 from their 50 overs. Rain intervened after 19.2 overs of the Australian innings, and the DLS adjustment left them needing 171 of24.4 overs. They never really looked like getting them, and England eventually won by 69 runs, to level the multi-format Ashes series at 8-8. They also became the first team win an ODI series against Australia in a decade, and had won four of the seven matches overall, the 8-8 score line being caused by the test match carrying double points. Although Australia keep the Ashes it is England who are the happier side – they have a lot of very talented cricketers who now know that they can go toe to toe with Australia.

Time for a second photo gallery…

A COMPOSITE WOMENS ASHES XI

This is my team of the series:

  1. Tammy Beaumont (England, right handed opener). A double century in the test match, a major contribution in the first ODI.
  2. Beth Mooney (Australia, left handed opener). Made a lot of significant contributions in all formats.
  3. *Heather Knight (England, right handed batter, occasional off spinner, captain). Had a fine series, and given the respective resources at their disposal I would reckon that tying the series is a greater achievement for her as captain than it is for Healy.
  4. Ellyse Perry (Australia, right handed batter, right arm fast medium bowler).
  5. Natalie Sciver-Brunt (England, right handed batter, right arm medium fast bowler). Even if she had done nothing else in the series (which is far from the case), those back to back centuries in the last two matches would be enough to justify her inclusion.
  6. Annabel Sutherland (Australia, right handed batter, right arm fast medium bowler). The 137* in the test match was the highlight of her series, but she contributed with both bat and ball all the way through the series.
  7. +Amy Jones (England, wicket keeper, right handed batter). Her opposite number didn’t have a great series (perhaps the triple role of captain, keeper and opener is simply too much – Alec Stewart struggled when he had the triple role), while she did. The greatest moment of her series came last night when she pulled off a miraculous stumping off the bowling of Sciver-Brunt.
  8. Ash Gardner (Australia, off spinner, right handed batter). Her eight-for to win the test match would qualify her all on its own, but she had other moments in the limited overs matches as well.
  9. Alana King (Australia, leg spinner, right handed lower orderbatter). This one was a tough call, with Georgia Wareham the challenger. However, I refuse to fill a bowling position based on lower order runs, so King gets the nod.
  10. Sophie Ecclestone (England, left arm orthodox spinner, right handed lower order batter). A heroic effort in the test match, a good T20 series, and her bowling was crucial to England’s success in the final ODI.
  11. Kate Cross (England, right arm fast medium bowler, right handed lower order batter). With Katherine Sciver-Brunt retiring she became the de facto leader of England’s seam attack, and she did her job superbly in this series.

This side has a superb batting line up, four genuinely front line seamers (Cross, Sutherland, Perry, Sciver-Brunt), three great and contrasting spinners, a fine captain and a superb keeper.