A Study in Contrasts

A look back at today’s match between the Birmingham Phoenix and Trent Rockets women’s teams and last night’s contest between London Spirit and Manchester Super Giants men’s teams, plus a photo gallery.

This post focuses on two of the most dissimilar cricket matches you could imagine, last night’s match between the London Spirit and Manchester Super Giants (nee Originals) men’s sides (a combination of work yesterday and London Spirit women failing to show any of the quality for which they are named meant that I did not get to follow any of the women’s match), and this afternoon’s match between Birmingham Phoenix and Trent Rockets women’s sides. I will start with the latter first.

ONE WAY TRAFFIC IN BIRMINGHAM

Trent Rockets won the toss and opted to bowl. The biggest selection news was that England skipper Natalie Sciver-Brunt was missing due to workload management. How would Birmingham Phoenix react to their opponents being minus their star player? Almost as badly as a long ago South Africa men’s side did to news that Don Bradman would not be available for their opponents Australia. On that occasion South Africa proceeded to collapse for 36 and 45, still the lowest combined aggregate for which any test side has ever lost all 20 wickets. Here Phoenix were at one stage an eye-popping 15-6. They revived a little from that position, but it was blatantly obvious that they were mainly concerned with actually batting for 100 balls. They failed even to manage this, their tenth wicket falling to the 95th ball of their innings. They had scraped up a measly 64 all out, of which 39 had come from the bat of Ellyse Perry. Extras, with seven, was the second biggest contributor, while Eva Gray made six from number nine, Alana King five from number eight and Linsey Smith four from number 10. The Rockets bowling figures deserve quoting in full:

Kim Garth 15 balls, 11 dots, five runs conceded, two wickets taken.
Samantha Bates 20-13-10-3
Georgia Elwiss 20-12-13-3
Katie Levick 20-14-8-1
Ashleigh Gardner 15-5-19-1
Georgia Adams 5-1-4-0

Although Lauren Filer removed Beth Mooney for 4 with an absolute beauty Sophia Dunkley was already motoring by then and the Rockets were 40-1 from 19 balls. Sophie Luff came in at number three, and was instantly in command as well. Trent Rockets won by nine wickets with 69 of their 100 allotted balls unused. Sophia Dunkley had hit 43 not out from 17 balls with eight fours and a six, and Sophie Luff 19 not out from nine balls with four fours. Samantha Bates was named Player of the Match, a verdict with which it would be hard to argue. Scorecard here.

LIVINGSTONE’S LONE HAND

Manchester Super Giants were 65-1 after 42 balls and 105-2 after 67 balls. They fell away horribly from that high water mark, ending with 138-9 from their 100 balls. They bowled better than they had batted, and although Liam Livingstone played a great innings to follow a good effort with the ball London Spirit were never up with the rate at any stage of the chase. It was close in the final stages, but the 98th ball of the Spirit innings, bowled by 23 year old fast bowler Sonny Baker, who had claimed responsibility for closing things out, clean bowled him for 69 from 40 balls, making it 130-5, nine needed from two balls and a new batter coming in. Jamie Overton can hit a ball a very long way, but on this occasion he could do no better than a single, and with eight needed off one ball all Baker had to do was make sure it was a legal delivery. It was, and the heavily hyped James Coles hit it straight to Tom Moores, meaning that London Spirit ended up on 131-6, beaten by seven runs, a famous margin on the other side of the Thames (the match that led to the creation of The Ashes, at The Oval in 1882, went Australia’s way by that margin). Baker had been a little expensive earlier in the innings, but when it really counted he came good and won the match for his side. Livingstone, who had bowled his full allocation of 20 balls and taken 2-14 as well as playing the innings that kept his side in the hunt (though never, pace comments to the contrary by the so-called ‘expert summariser’, actually favourites to reach the target) was named ‘Match Hero’, a rare occasion when such an award to a member of the defeated side was entirely justified. Scorecard here.

PHOTOGRAPHS

A mixed gallery today, with some work pictures to start…

One of the things I am currently doing at work is cataloguing our whole stock of postcards.

The Hundred 2026 Gets Underway

A look back at the Men’s Hundred (mis)match between MI London and Sunrisers Leeds at The Oval yesterday and a large photo gallery.

The Hundred has undergone a major revamp since last summer, with the IPL getting involved in a big way. This post looks at the early stages of the competition.

NEW ERA OFF TO A FAMILIAR START

The first match of the Hundred in 2026 featured MI London (the former Oval Invincibles, and although the MI derives from the IPL franchise Mumbai Indians, who now own this franchise as well as many others we have been instructed that the required pronunciation is ‘My London’ not ‘M I London’) in action against Sunrisers Leeds (nee Northern Superchargers, also now owned by an IPL franchise, in this case Hyderabad). I missed the women’s match due to being at work, but I did listen to the men’s game.

Sunrisers Leeds, batting first, started brightly, and for more than half of their allotted 100 balls looked to be going very well. The key moment was the dismissal of Mitch ‘the bison’ Marsh for 41, caught by Sam Curran off Tom Curran, which made it 84-3 from 56 balls. That started a collapse, and Leeds were all out for 143 off the penultimate ball of their innings. Richard Gleeson had 4-25 from 19 balls and Sam Curran 2-27 from 15 balls.

Will Jacks and Jason Roy were both out cheaply for the London side, but a good stand between James Vince and Sam Curran took them past 50 before Vince was bowled for 17 to make it 51-3 from 44 balls. That brought Nicholas Pooran, one of the ultimate ‘guns for hire’ in this era of franchise cricket, to the crease to join Curran. Curran batted beautifully, but even he was overshadowed by the pyrotechnics of Pooran. The Oval is a big ground, but most of Pooran’s five sixes cleared the ropes by a very long way. In all the West Indian hammered 58 not out from 22 balls with five of each kind of boundary, Curran ended on 60 not out from 39 balls with five fours and three sixes. The London side had romped home by seven wickets with 16 balls to spare, a barely credible margin in a match in this format. Sam Curran’s all round efforts plus his captaincy of the London side secured him the ‘Match Hero’ award. Some names of changed and there is more money involved, but the franchise based at The Oval still looks formidably strong. Full scorecard here.

PHOTOGRAPHS

After a reminder to click on photos to view them at larger size we move to my usual sign off…

A hummingbird hawkmoth extracting nectar from a buddleia plant…

Iyer’s Insipid India

A look at the Indian men’s cricket team’s visit to Ireland and England, the latter part of which i s still in progress, a link to a chronological listing of my ‘Arisaig 2026’ posts and a photo gallery that is basically a highlights package of the last month.

I completed my series about my Scottish holiday on Wednesday, and have today created a page which lists all the posts in that series in chronological order. I now move back to the present. The Indian men’s and women’s cricket teams are both in England at the moment, with the latter playing their first ever test match, at a venue (Lord’s) whose pavilion was barred to women within the lifetimes of some of the players. I will have much to say about that match in due course, but as today is day one I look instead at the doings of the men’s side who have been playing T20Is (20 overs per side international matches) in Ireland now England.

THE EMERALD ISLE

Ireland have a bit of a tradition of embarrassing theoretically more illustrious opposition, going back as far as 1969 when they caught a visiting West Indies side on a very green pitch and rolled them for 25. They have added India to their scalp bags. Their victory in the opener might have been put down as a fluke, or to India being unfamiliar with Irish conditions, but when they repeated the dose in the second and last match to win the series it looked like India had major problems.

IN ENGLAND SO FAR

From Ireland India travelled east to England for a five match series. India had put up a good total in the first match when rain intervened and washed the rest of the match out. Three more matches have been played since then, and England have bossed all three. The most recent took place yesterday evening, and showcased most of India’s problems, with one exception – until last night Shreyas Iyer, recently promoted to the captaincy had done little with the bat since taking the reins. Last night he batted beautifully, scoring an unbeaten 80 from 49 balls. The problem was that his team mates combined to score a mere 78-7 from the 71 balls he did not face in the innings, a truly abysmal rate of scoring for this format. That total of 158 did not look likely to pose a threat to a confident England side, and in the end it was made to look an almost comically bad one. Harry Brook led the rampage with 79 not out from just 35 balls, while Phil Salt was also in brutal form. In the previous match India had bowled first, seen England score 201 and responded to a stiff challenge by slumping to 76 all out and defeat by 125 runs. With the final match of the England leg of this tour to take place at 2:30PM tomorrow India’s record for the trip stands at five defeats and one washout – and although at the time of the washout I thought they had been favourites to win that match their subsequent efforts suggest that actually England would have chased that one down as well. I have an idea as to the root cause of India’s problems on this tour: the IPL happens in (generally) small grounds on incredibly flat tracks, where scores of 250 in 20 overs are not uncommon and bowlers are seen as merely providing the deliveries to be hit for yet another succession of sixes, while the pitches in Ireland and England although good for batting have not left the bowlers completely out of things. Indian T20 batters tend to struggle in anything other than conditions tailor made for them, while the bowlers have grown unused to being significant factors.

PHOTOGRAPHS

While I have been concentrating for blogging purposes on my Scottish holiday it has been a splendid time for photography, and the gallery I now present is a highlights package spanning most of the period from 7th June, my first day back from holiday, to the present (reminder that photos can be seen at full size by clicking on them)…

A damselfly with a slender mainly black body and blue ring round the tail segment.

Three Cracking T20s

A look back at three splendid cricket matches and a photo gallery.

Not only are both the women’s and men’s English domestic T20 tournaments now in full swing, there is also a T20I series going on between England and New Zealand women’s teams. This post, typed as I listed to Bears v Somerset in the men’s tournament looks back at three classic matches.

ENGLAND v NEW ZEALAND

This one did not start out as though it would develop into a classic – New Zealand were 5-3 in the second over and 11-4 in the fourth, batting first. Linsey Smith was the chief destroyer, claiming three victims with her crafty slow left arm swing (note she rarely if ever actually spins the ball, it is all about movement in the air for her). Then New Zealand were dug out of trouble by a fifth wicket stand of 159. Sophie Devine with 87 off 57 balls was the principal scorer. England were never quite on terms in the chase, and the issue was virtually settled by two errors in successive balls from Maia Bouchier. First she was guilty of ball watching, resulting in the run out of the vastly experienced Heather Knight, and then on the very next ball she suffered one of the softest dismissals you could ever see. That left England needing pretty much two a ball and with two brand new batters together at the crease, and New Zealand were in control from then on, winning eventually by 14 runs to level the series, with the next match to be played tomorrow.

THE SEVERN BRIDGE DERBY

Yesterday in the men’s T20 tournament Glamorgan entertained Gloucestershire. The match was an absolute nailbiter, going right down to the last ball, when Matt Taylor succeeded in getting a delivery from Fazalhaq Farooqi away for the four runs Gloucestershire still needed. This match was 158 plays 157, and was a far better spectacle than 260 plays 240 on a road could ever have been.

THE LONDON DERBY

At noon today Middlesex and Surrey assembled at Lord’s in the men’s T20 tournament. Yet again a low scoring match proved to be an absolute belter of a game. Middlesex batted first and managed 143-8 from their 20 overs, and that represented a decent recovery from a low water mark of 89-6. After 10.3 overs of the Surrey innings Middlesex looked in charge, with Lawrence having just gone to make it 56-4. That brought Laurie Evans in to join Surrey skipper Sam Curran. Curran assumed control of proceedings and played a magnificent knock, while Evans did all that was required of him. With three overs to go the pair were still together and the ask was down to 27. The 18th over effectively sealed the deal, with 24 accruing from it, including three sixes by Curran, the last of which took his score to 70. It took four more balls, three of them legal, for the job to be done, a wide and two singles accruing, with Curran appropriately scoring the winning run. In the end Curran and Evans did their jobs so well as to make it look like a very comfortable win for Surrey, but those who actually followed the game know different, and that the final margin of six wickets with nine balls to spare is a deceptive one.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

Domestic T20 Competitions Under Way

A look at the events of Essex v Warwickshire in the Women’s T20 Cup, as I prepare to listen to Surrey v Lancashire in the men’s competition, and a photo gallery.

The English domestic T20 competitions get underway today. I shall shortly be listening to Surrey v Lancashire in the men’s T20 cup, but this post looks back at the game between Essex and Warwickshire in the women’s competition that happened earlier this afternoon.

A ONE WOMAN SHOW

Warwickshire found themselves batting first after the home side won the toss and opted to chase. When they were 80-1 approaching halfway things looked to be going well for them, but then Aussie import Georgia Redmayne was out to eh last ball of the 1oth over, to a return catch by Sophia Smale. Thereafter no one was able to stay with Abigail Freeborn, who batted excellently, for any length of time, and it took a big finish to boost Warwickshire to a final total of 164-8, of which Freeborn’s share was an unbeaten 86 from 56 balls, while Redmayne had scored 36 from 30.

ESSEX CRUISE HOME

Essex started the chase at a racing tempo, and even though they lost Grace Scrivens for 18, caught by Mary Taylor off Phoebe Brett that merely brought Cordelia Griffith in to join Alice Macleod, and the pair added 119 together in ten overs before both were out in successive deliveries, Macleod run out for 59 off 38 balls, and Griffith bowled by Millie Taylor (the two M Taylors are twin sisters just for the record) for 68 off 37 balls. The job was effectively done by then, and it took a mere four more deliveries for Joanne Gardner to finish the job, with Jodi Grewcock, miscast as an England opener in the recent ODI series against New Zealand, at the other end not actually getting to face a ball.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

Mother and child – a muntjac fawn stands right next to its mother in Kettlewell Lane Park.

County Championship Latest

A look at the latest round of county championship fixtures, now approaching a conclusion, and a large photo gallery.

Another round of county championship fixtures approaches a conclusion (indeed a number of matches have already ended), and this week marks a transition point – The T20 cup gets underway on Friday which will mean a break in the championship programme.

A WAKE UP CALL FOR SURREY

The first match I followed in this round saw the most successful of all cricketing counties, Yorkshire, taking on number two in that list Surrey. Surrey have been formidable in recent years, and in theory they have a very strong squad this year. However their results have been patchy, and this match was a horror show for them. They won the toss on the first morning, and that was about the last thing that went right for them. First they threw away the advantage winning the toss should have given them by opting bowl first in conditions that were not suitable for doing so, then a catch offered by Adam Lyth was dropped, which set the stage for a huge partnership between him and Jonathan Bairstow. Day two was heavily weather affected but Yorkshire racked up 486. It was day three (yesterday) that was the real killer for Surrey. It was only 56 from Sean Abbott, selected for his bowling, that even got them to 200, and with an advantage of 282 and just over a day and half to go Yorkshire did not hesitate to send Surrey in again. By the end of the day Surrey were 83-5 in their second innings, and any hope they might have of escape appeared to rest on the shoulders of Sibley (33 not out overnight). Just five runs had been added in the morning, and not a lot of time had elapsed when Sibley edged one from Aussie seamer Jhye Richardson into the slips and Harry Brook pouched the chance to make it 88-6. It was now a question of ‘when’, not ‘if’, with there being no one else left who could dig in for the long haul. At 90 Jack White pinned the other overnight batter Josh Blake plumb in front, and at 95 the same bowler ripped one through the defences of Jordan Clark. Sean Abbott and Matthew Fisher resisted a while, adding 25 together before Matthew Revis had Fisher caught by Root. That brought Dan Worrall, a member of the increasingly endangered species known as the ‘genuine tailender’ to the crease. The Aussie veteran, as per his usual custom, did not even bother to mark a guard. On this occasion he connected with a few lusty blows, amassing 18 before George Hill bowled him to give Yorkshire a win by an innings and 127 runs. Abbott was unbeaten on 33, giving him 89 for once out in the match, and the decidedly unusual record for a number nine of having top scored in one innings and second top scored in the other.

SOMERSET SET FOR SUCCESS

At Taunton Somerset are taking on Sussex. The weather is more likely to baulk the home side than their visitors, though it is holding good for the present. The two sides have just broken for tea with Sussex 111-7 in their second innings, after being made to follow on, a mere 162 runs short of avoiding the innings defeat (even in the most absurd of all ‘won after following-on’ matches, at Headingley in 1981, England were only the equivalent of minus 92-7 at their low water mark, when Graham Dilley joined Ian Botham at the crease). The Taunton floodlights have failed on two occasions in this match, though both times they have not been off for long. If Somerset win this, they will go second in the table, four points behind Nottinghamshire, who will soon be recording a draw against Hampshire. Somerset being behind Nottinghamshire will help to highlight the absurdity of awarding eight points for a draw – Somerst will gave won three matches, Nottinghamshire only two, but Nottinghamshire record will also include four draws, whereas Somerset have lost one match and drawn two to go with their three wins. While I have been preparing this for publication it has started raining in Taunton, so Somerset may yet be denied their win.

PHOTO GALLERY

Before sharing the gallery for this post, I have created a page containing links to all my ‘Pensthorpe 2026‘ posts. Now for my usual sign off…

WNAG Pensthorpe Trip 2026 6: Artwork and Insects

Continuing my series about The WNAG outing to Pensthorpe last weekend. This one deals with artworks and insects.

Welcome to the sixth post in my little series about the annual WNAG excursion to Pensthorpe which took place a week ago today. Still to come after today are a post about the Waders Aviary and a page linking to each article in the series.

ARTWORK AT PENSTHORPE

There are many pieces of art dotted around Pensthorpe, and there is also a bridge inspired by a very famous artist. Flowers, birds and insects all feature, as does a fairy standing on a feather, and a heron sculpture in a stream. I also deemed one of the pieces worthy of a very short video:

GALLERY 1: ARTWORK

INSECTS

Pensthorpe do not particularly emphasize the insect species that can be seen there, but it is no surprise that there are some fine specimens. I actually saw a damselfly flutter past while on the trailer ride, but not even I could attempt to photograph that one – a small moving target when one is oneself on the move is simply not doable. However I did get some remarkable sightings.

INSECT PHOTOGRAPHS

Two damselflies in one shot – which at that time was a first for me…

WNAG Pensthorpe Trip 2026 1: Setting the Scene

An introduction to yesterday’s excursion to Pensthorpe with the West Norfolk Autism Group, setting the scene for several more posts, with a selection of photographs.

Yesterday was the day of the annual West Norfolk Autism Group excursion to Pensthorpe, and we benefitted from excellent weather for the occasion. This post provides a rough outline of the day and a selection of photographs, while I will look more closely at various aspects of the site in future posts.

THE TRIP

I was one of those booked on the coach, which departed from its usual slot near Gaywood Library. We had asked people to arrive promptly so that we could set off at 9:30 sharp, and as it happened everyone was on the coach in time for us to set off a few minutes earlier than that. We arrived at Pensthorpe not long after 10, and once we had our wristbands in place there were only two fixed points to the day – the trailer rides for those who were booked on one of these, in my case at 11:15AM and lunch, which in my case was to be at about 1PM. Other than that, up until departure at 4:30PM the day was to be what we chose to make of it. We arrived back at Gaywood at about 5:15PM, and I walked home.

MY DAY AS IT HAPPENED

With limited time between our arrival and my slot on the trailer ride I deliberately did not venture too far afield at first, starting with a visit to the Waders Aviary, then a walk round some of the closer parts of the site, including the crane and flamingo enclosure and the Monet inspired bridge. Then it was the trailer ride, in a new trailer pulled by a tractor, with a reduced capacity meaning that we had three rides scheduled rather than two as in previous years. Between the trailer ride and lunch I ventured further, getting as far as Kingfisher Reach, where the path meets the route followed by the trailer, before heading back towards the restaurant for lunch. After lunch, which was excellent, I spent the afternoon engaged in further explorations, as well as revisits to some favourite spots. I was back at the coach in good time.

PHOTOGRAPHS

This gallery is just a small selection of the photographs I have from yesterday, designed to give you a hint of what is to come…

This pic which appears out of position in this gallery was the first time I had got multiple damselflies in one picture.

A Hard Fought Opening Day

A look at day one at Trent Bridge where Nottinghamshire and Surrey are playing and a large photo gallery.

Another round of County Championship matches got underway today. My focus is on Trent Bridge, where one of the oldest and strongest of all county rivalries is happening – Nottinghamshire v Surrey.

THE STORY SO FAR

Around the time the County Championship was put on a properly organized footing these two sides were the strongest in the country. The first properly organized championship happened in 1891, at which point Surrey were dominating things after Nottinghamshire had dominated the first half of the 1880s. This then is a rivalry with a lot of history. Last season Nottinghamshire won the title, after Surrey had won in 2022, 2023 and 2024.

Surrey won the toss this morning and opted to bowl. They took two early wickets, before Joe Clarke and Ben Duckett had a good partnership, ended by the dismissal of Duckett on the stroke of lunch. The afternoon belonged to Nottinghamshire, with Clarke and Jack Haynes building a substantial partnership. Post tea Surrey have come back into things with Dan Worrall bowling superbly and Sean Abbott nabbing a couple of wickets, but Clarke has found another good partner in Fergus O’Neill, and with bad light having just ended play for the day this pair are still in occupation with the score now 317-7, Clarke 129 not out and O’Neill 31 not out, Worrall 5-61, Abbott 2-63.

Nottinghamshire have probably had the better of the day given that Surrey chose to bowl, but we are all set for a cracking contest just so long as the weather doesn’t behave too badly (it is fine here in Norfolk, which I hope will hold tomorrow since that is the day of the annual WNAG trip to Pensthorpe).

PHOTOGRAPHS

The first two pictures in this gallery are from the sale I am currently putting together at work, the rest my usual sort of stuff…

This is lot 155 in the auction I am currently working on, and the full gallery for it runs to six images, but I sharing just two, this full picture…

Surrey Ruthless Against Sussex

A look at the final stage of Surrey’s ruthless disposal of Sussex in the county championship and a photo gallery.

This post looks back at the last stages of the match between Surrey and Sussex in the county championship which ended on Monday evening.

THE VICTORY PUSH

Although Surrey lost their last three wickets quite quickly they had piled up a lead of 264 by the time the last one fell – 622 against 358-9 declared. First class debutant Adam Thomas scored 120 of those runs from number seven, and I suspect we will be seeing plenty more of him, and higher in the order. Sussex started their second innings with the most obvious requirement being to reach the close of day three with little damage done. The very first ball of the innings, from Matt Fisher, hit and injured Tom Haines, and Sussex limped to 76-4 by the end of the day. They fared a bit better on day four, but for much of it an innings defeat looked more likely than not. They eventually avoided that, but were only able to establish a lead of 13, one run less than the lowest total Surrey have ever been dismissed for (against Essex in 1983, Neil Foster and Norbert Philip doing the damage with the ball). Surrey did lose two wickets while scoring these runs, making the final margin eight wickets, which decidedly flattered Sussex.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

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