Tag: Insects

A Game of Two Halves for Bryce

An account of yesterday’s match between Manchester Originals and Northern Superchargers yesterday and a photo gallery.

Yesterday’s second match in the Hundred ‘double double header’ was Manchester Originals against Northern Superchargers. In the Women’s match the Originals were already out of the tournament, but wanted to go down with guns blazing.

THE ORIGINALS INNINGS

The Originals won the toss and decided to bat. Laura Wolvaardt and Beth Mooney gave the innings a fine start, scoring 60 together before Wolvaardt was out to the 47th ball of the innings for 26 (21). Mooney went on to play a truly magnificent knock, and her second wicket partner was Kathryn Bryce. They added 67 together in 43 balls, of which Bryce’s share was 13 (21). With ten balls to go in the innings Originals skipper Sophie Ecclestone instructed Bryce to retire and went out to bat herself in the hope of giving the total a final boost. Ecclestone faced five of the last ten balls and scored 6 runs. Mooney was closing on three figures, and found herself facing the last ball of the innings on 98*. She got the ball away and she and Ecclestone went all out for the two, but a direct hit throw ran Ecclestone out, leaving Originals with a final score of 151-3, and Mooney 99*. A crowd of over 12,000 gave Mooney a richly deserved standing ovation for her innings. The only wicket taker was left arm spinner Linsey Smith, who also conceded 32 from her 20 balls. Bryce was recorded as ‘retired out’, and hers was the first such tactical retirement in the Hundred (women’s). Some will consider it controversial, but for me it was perfectly legitimate, and I also note that Ecclestone did not ask anyone else to go into bat in that circumstance – she did so herself.

THE SUPERCHARGERS REPLY

Both openers for Superchargers were out cheaply. First to go was Davina Perrin, caught by Bryce off Kim Garth for 7 (9) to make it 13-1. That brought Phoebe Litchfield to the crease and she was in form from the get go. Hollie Armitage was second out, caught by Wolvaardt off Bryce for 9 which made it 45-2. Litchfield and new batter Annabel Sutherland looked capable of turning things round, but Garth produced a superb ball to bowl Litchfield for 45 and make it 86-3 after 64 balls. The moment that effectively sealed Superchargers fate came on the 80th ball of the innings, when Bryce had Sutherland caught by Eve Jones for 26 to make it 102-4. 50 needed of 20 balls, and the most likely person to score at that kind of rate just dismissed was the equation. Georgia Wareham and Bess Heath did their best, scoring 22 together off balls 81-90, which meant the ask was 28 of the final 10 balls. Off the 91st ball of the innings Heath essayed a reverse sweep against Ecclestone and succeeded only in finding the hands of Dani Gregory to 124-5. That brought Alice Davidson-Richards to the crease, and the next four balls yielded eight runs, meaning that 20 were needed off the last five balls. Ecclestone now decided that rather than give the Superchargers the chance to exploit the extra pace of Lauren Filer she would entrust those five balls to Bryce’s medium pace. Off ball 96 Davidson-Richards edged through to Mooney and that was 132-6. Kate Cross was stumped off ball 97 for a first baller, which meant that Bryce had a hat trick, having taken a wicket with the last ball of her previous set of five balls, and now with the first two of this set. Superchargers 132-7, needing 20 off three balls. Lucy Higham got a single off the 98th ball of the innings, and Georgia Wareham gave Bryce her fifth scalp of the innings, being caught by Fi Morris for 25 (18). That was 134-8 with one ball to go, and Linsey Smith managed a single, meaning that the final margin was 17 runs. Bryce’s final figures were 20 balls, of which 11 were dots, 13 runs conceded and five wickets taken – quite some way to make up for being tactically retired with the bat. Mooney who had followed her 99* with a blemish free keeping performance was named Player of the Match. Full scorecard here.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

Invincibles Boss London Derby

A look back at the early game in The Hundred today and a two part photo gallery – some of my regular stuff and a lot of owl pictures, taken at a Norfolk Owls session yesterday.

The early game in the Hundred today was between Oval Invincibles and London Spirit, at The Oval. This post looks back at that match.

THE SPIRIT INNINGS

The Invincibles won the toss and elected to field first. Spirit started atrociously, and when Charlie Dean gifted her wicket to left arm spinner Sophia Smale the score was 47-7 and it looked like we were going to be in for a very short game. However Eva Gray lived up to her team’s moniker, playing a very spirited innings of 28 off 22 balls, providing excellent support to Indian all rounder Deepti Sharma. Gray was eighth out with the score at 103. Sarah Glenn scored 2*, but her main role was to support Deepti Sharma which she did excellently, and the end of their innings Spirit had 120-8 to defend, with Sharma having scored 46* (30).

THE INVINCIBLES CHASE

Invincibles started slowly, with Chamari Atthapaththu continuing to struggle for form, scoring 11 off 19 balls, and number three Alice Capsey also scored at less than a run a ball, managing 13 off 14. However Invincibles’ skipper Winfield-Hill was going well, and she now found an excellent partner in Marizanne Kapp. This pair were still together when Invincibles completed victory with nine balls to spare. Winfield-Hill had 61* (40), a performance that would win her the Player of the Match award, while Kapp with 30* (18) had also batted superbly. Invincibles are second in the table, behind Welsh Fire on net run rate. A by-product of this result was that Manchester Originals, currently in action against Northern Superchargers, were officially eliminated even before their match started.

PHOTOGRAPHS

Today my gallery comes in two parts, first of all some of my regular pictures…

The second part of today’s gallery comes from yesterday early afternoon when there was a Norfolk Owls session for autistic people at the Scout Hut on Beulah Street. There were a number of different species of owl, ranging from very small (similar in weight to the mice that are its foodstuff) to gigantic (an eagle owl with a wing span of 6’4″). We were given plenty of information about owls, including the excellence of their sight and hearing. At the end of the session we got to handle two of the owls, one very small one and the eagle owl.

Trent Rockets Women Keep Qualification Hopes Alive

A look at Trent Rockets v Southern Brave in The Hundred (women’s) and a few other bits, including a photo gallery.

Today has been a ‘double double header’ day in The Hundred, though I have missed a fair amount of the action due having another commitment (it was worth it, as you will be seeing tomorrow). However I got enough of the Women’s match in the earlier double header between Trent Rockets and Southern Brave to feel able to comment (I am currently listening to the closing stages of the women’s match in the second double header, between Welsh Fire and Birmingham Phoenix.

THE TRENT ROCKETS INNINGS

Brave won the toss and elected to field first. Rockets responded excellently to the challenge. The three most significant contributions for them were Natalie Sciver-Brunt, a brilliant 60* (37), Grace Scrivens, 36 (24), and Katie George at the death, whose 8 (3) – four, four, out from the 98th, 99th and 100th balls boosted Rockets past the 150 mark to 155-7. Lauren Bell had three wickets, continuing an excellent campaign for her in that regard, though she would have been disappointed at conceding as many as 36 runs from her 20 balls. Another Lauren, Cheatle, was by the far most economical Brave bowler with 1-13 from her 20 balls. Chloe Tryon and Georgia Adams were the other wicket takers, with one a piece, though both were very expensive.

THE SOUTHERN BRAVE REPLY

Although there was over a third of this innings remaining when I had to leave the final outcome was already highly likely, especially with Smriti Mandhana having lost her wicket for a fine 42 (27). Tryon did her best to make a match of it, scoring 47* (31), but the only other double figure score outside these two biggies was from skipper Georgia Adams whose 27 soaked up 29 balls, which meant that in effect the rest were in the position of chasing 180 rather than the already formidable 155 actually on the board against them. Alexa Stonehouse was the standout Rockets bowler, taking 2-10 from 15 balls. Sciver-Brunt’s batting secured her the Player of the Match award.

AN EMERGING TALENT

Yesterday a 19 year old named Ollie Sykes, born in Wandsworth, playing only his second ever professional innings hit 87* from just 56 balls to boost Surrey past the 300 mark in their Metrobank One Day Cup match against Essex. Surrey defended this total successfully. I hope he is able to build on this fine start. For completeness of detail he is a left handed batter and bowls right arm medium pace.

HERITAGE OPEN DAY NEWS

I received details of the building I will be stewarding at on Heritage Open Day (Sunday 8th September), and it is the Pilot’s Office on Common Staithe Square (relocated there in 1864 having previously been at St Ann’s Fort which is about 200 yards from St Nicholas Chapel). Common Staithe Quay was at the time the town’s main quay, and the new Pilot’s Office was added to the building which at the time housed King’s Lynn’s public baths. The complex is very impressive, and the key feature of the Pilot’s Office is the octagonal tower, which is four storeys high, with topmost storey ringed by windows so that at night it was like a giant lantern. Here is a picture…

A photograph from the quay showing the entire complex.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

The Pilot’s Office pictures start here (to view the full image of any of them just click on it)…
…and end here.
This an alternative version of the London Underground Map – produced by https://x.com/TubeMapCentral

Trent Rockets Post Big Total

A look at development’s in the Hundred so far today and a photo gallery.

Today in The Hundred Trent Rockets are hosting London Spirit. The Women’s match has just reached the halfway point, and this post looks back at the first 100 balls.

BUILDING A BIG TOTAL

London Spirit won the toss and decided to bowl first. Bryony Smith and Grace Scrivens opening for the Rockets had an excellent opening stand, and Scrivens, who also got good support from Nat Sciver-Brunt, completed an excellent half century. She was third out, bowled by Sarah Glenn for 55, which made it 121-3 with 21 balls to go in the innings. Heather Graham played a superb late innings, and although Ashleigh Gardner didn’t have a great time, Alana King played well in the very closing stages. The innings ended with the run out of Gardner for 7 (4) which left Rockets with a score of 158-5. Deepti Sharma, the Indian off spinning all rounder, had the best figures for the Spirit, taking 2-25 from her 20 balls. This total will take a lot of chasing down. If Rockets defend successful it will mean that there is a clear gap between the top three (Welsh Fire, Northern Superchargers and Oval Invincibles) and the rest. If Spirit do somehow pull this off the split will instead be between a top four and a bottom four.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

A Collapse

A look at developments so far in the Hundred (women’s) match between Welsh Fire and Southern Brave, and a very large photo gallery.

Today the Hundred sees Welsh Fire taking on Southern Brave. The Women’s game is in progress as I type though it may well not be by the time I finish. This post looks at what has happened so far.

PRELIMINARIES

Welsh Fire came into this match looking to consolidate their position at the top of the group while Southern Brave were looking for their first win of this edition, in their fifth match. Fire won the toss and decided to bowl first.

A TALE OF WOE

The first ball of the match, bowled by Freya Davies, took the edge of Smriti Mandhana’s bat and went through to Sarah Bryce who took the catch. That set the stage for a procession to and from the Brave dug out. Danni Wyatt and skipper Georgia Adams added 28 together for the third wicket, but otherwise there was little hint of resistance. Adams’ 17 finished up being the top score of the innings. Wyatt managed 14, and Freya Kemp with 11 produced the only other double figure score of the innings. Highly unusually for a side batting first in this competition Brave actually failed even to bat for their 100 balls, being all out to the 92nd ball of their innings, for 84. The wickets were shared around, with only Georgia Elwiss of the six Fire bowlers used not getting at least one. West Indian ace Hayley Matthews had the best figures, with 3-16, while Davies and left arm spinner Jess Jonassen each had two wickets, Jonassen’s second being the tenth, that of fellow left arm spinner Tilly Corteen-Coleman. Beth Langston had 1-8 from ten balls, and Georgia Davis was the only bowler to concede more than a run a ball, taking 1-22 from her 20.

THE FIRE REPLY

Sophia Dunkley became the second opener to record a golden duck, being bowled by Lauren Cheatle. However, although she struggled horribly to score Matthews followed her good bowling by lasting 16 balls, while Tammy Beaumont was going well at the other end. When Matthews was second out at 28, Bryce came in to join Beaumont and that pair are still together as I type. Beaumont is on 27, Bryce 6, and the score is 48-2 – 37 needed off 42 balls. While I have been preparing this for publication Tammy Beaumont has been dismissed, bowled by Cheatle for 34. The score is now 63-3, 22 needed of 28 balls to win.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My gallery is well varied, though there is a huge preponderance of caterpillars – there are two stretches of Bawsey Drain, separated by the width of Columbia Way, where the caterpillars can be found in spectacular abundance.

A peacock butterfly enjoying the Buddleia near Eastgate Bridge.
There are a few caterpillars near this ladybird…
…and this is the last image to feature caterpillars.

200 balls, 17 wickets, 226 runs

A look at the amazing tie between London Spirit and Oval Invincibles in The Hundred (women’s) which concluded jus before I started this post, a look at the England men’s squad for the upcoming series against Sri Lanka and a photo gallery.

This title refers to the extraordinary match in the Hundred (women’s) between London Spirit and Oval Invincibles. This was a very local derby – the home grounds of the two sides are less than five miles apart.

THE LONDON SPIRIT INNINGS

London Spirit batted first. Although Meg Lanning fell very early, bowled by Marizanne Kapp with just two runs on the board Spirit reached 30 for no further loss. At that point Kapp bowled Cordelia Griffith 19, and dismissed the other set batter, Georgia Redmayne the same way for 9 to make it 31-3. Ryana McDonald-Gay then bowled Dani Gibson for 2 to make it 34-4. 13 runs later, with the 50th ball of the innings and the last of her allocation of 20 Kapp claimed a fourth wicket, yet another clean bowled, this time Heather Knight for 6. She had also only conceded 11 runs from those 20 balls. Charlie Dean now provided Indian all rounder Deepti Sharma with some good support, before Amanda-Jade Wellington got through her defences to make it 72-6. Sharma and Eva Gray now shared the best partnership of the innings, before McDonald-Gay achieved the seventh clean bowled dismissal of the innings, getting through Sharma for a fine 44. The run of bowled dismissals ended when Sarah Glenn went for a big hit against Sophia Smale on the 98th ball of the innings and was caught by Mady Villiers. Smale then bowled Sophie Munro with the 99th ball of the innings and it was 111-9. Smale was denied a hat trick, and indeed Tara Norris scored two off the final ball of the innings to give Spirit a final total of 113-9.

THE INVINCIBLES REPLY

Both of the Invincibles experienced openers, Chamari Athapaththu and Lauren Winfield-Hill fell cheaply, and it was 14-2. Marizanne Kapp and Alice Capsey had an excellent partnership, adding 55 for the third wicket before Capsey was bowled by Sharma to make it 69-3. Paige Scholfield, Villiers and Wellington all went cheaply and it was 82-6, but Joanne Gardner and Kapp looked to have settled things when they advanced the score to 110. Kapp just missed out on a half century when Sharma bowled her, but with four runs needed from eight balls it did not look like much difference. However Ryana McDonald-Gay now played a dreadful innings, failing to score of any of her first five balls, finally accruing two of her sixth, the 98th ball of the innings, and then having a swing and a miss at the next. That suddenly meant that Invincibles needed two off one ball. McDonald-Gay did make contact with this and got through for one, but was run out coming up for the second, which meant the match ended in a tie. It was a point thrown away by the Invincibles, and Kapp, taker of 4-11 and scorer of 47 off 32 was a clear Player of the Match. Gardner had 16*, and had McDonald-Gay had the wit to take a single early in her innings would probably have been able to finish things. Scorecard here.

ENGLAND MENS SQUAD FOR SRI LANKA SERIES

Zak Crawley and Dillon Pennington have been ruled out of this series by injuries. Olly Stone has replaced Pennington in the squad. Of more moment given that Pennington did not play against the West Indies is the Crawley situation, and while Jordan Cox (once of Kent, now of Essex) has been added to the squad England are allegedly planning to bring in Dan Lawrence in place Crawley. On ‘next cab off the rank’ principles this is unarguable – Lawrence has done a lot of drinks waitering of late. However Lawrence has never opened in red ball cricket, and while many things done by Stokes and McCullum have worked beautifully for them this one does have a bit of a look of a ‘cunning plan’ about it, with the usual weakness of such plans! One possible solution within the confines of the announced squad is for Stokes to go in right at the top, with Jamie Smith and Lawrence occupying the number six and seven slots which ever way round one cares to have them (Smith generally bats above Lawrence for Surrey), which would leave numbers 2,3,4 and 5 in the order unaffected. Detailed look at the squad here.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

The Amy Jones Show

A look at Birmingham Phoenix v Southern Brave earlier today and a large photo gallery.

There are two Hundred double headers today – at 11AM this morning Birmingham Phoenix women took on Southern Braves women, with the equivalent men’s game currently in progress. Meanwhile the women’s game between Trent Rockets and Welsh Fire is approaching the halfway stage. This post looks back the early match.

THE PHOENIX INNINGS

Brave came into this match without a win so far this season. An up and down batting performance saw Phoenix reach 137-7 from their 100 balls. The highlight was a half century from Amy Jones. Emily Arlott with 22 off 12 balls near the end was the only other Phoenix player to top 20. Best bowler for the Brave was 16 year old left arm spinner Tilly Corteen-Coleman with 2-22 from her 20 balls.

THE BRAVE REPLY

Smriti Mandhana made a racing start with the bat, and at 18-0 after 11 balls Brave seemed to be going well. Then came a truly bizarre passage of play, as three times in the space of seven balls Ellyse Perry had appeals for caught behind turned down on the field but given on review. The first one, to dismiss Mandhana was a slightly tricky one as there were two different noises, Mandhana’s bat hitting the ground, and then a teeny but later the ball hitting Mandhana’s bat. However both Maia Bouchier (0 off 2 balls) and Georgia Adams (2 off three balls) got big nicks, and in both cases the ball also deflected significantly after passing the bat). At 21-3 things looked bad for the Brave but then Danni Wyatt and Freya Kemp had a fine partnership, and at 89-3 Brave were looking in control. Charis Pavely then found the edge of Pavely’s bat, and for the fourth time Amy Jones took the catch. Three runs later came what proved the killer blow, Danni Wyatt going to catch by Fran Wilson off Hannah Baker for 43 to make it 92-5. Chloe Tryon and Naomi Dattani put on 21 together, but then Pavely struck twice in three balls, first trapping Tryon LBW and then finding the edge Rhianna Southby’s bat for Jones’ fifth catch of the innings. That was 113-7, and any slender hopes Brave might have had of this being their day would have finally vanished three runs later when Dattani edged Arlott to give Jones a sixth catch, making it 116-8. The two Laurens, Bell and Cheatle, cobbled together five runs for the ninth wicket before Cheatle was run out desperate going for a second to keep Bell on strike, and leg spinner Katie Levick then bowled Bell and Brave were all out for 121, beaten by 16 runs. Player of the Match was an easy decision in view of Jones’ half century and stellar work behind the stumps. Full scorecard here.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

Superchargers v Invincibles

Today the Hundred features Oval Invincibles v Northern Superchargers. The halfway stage of the women’s match is almost at the halfway stage. This post looks at that match.

AUSSIES TO THE FORE FOR SUPERCHARGERS

The Superchargers are posting an impressive looking total. With three balls to go they are 143-4. This total has been dominated by two Australians. Phoebe Litchfield made an excellent 44, while Annabel Sutherland is still going well. The Sjuperchargers have ended with 146-4, Sutherland 63* (40), an innings that has included five fours and three sixes. Best bowler for the Invincibles has been Rachel Slater who has mysteriously not been given her full allocation of 20 balls – she has 2-11 from 15 balls. On Wednesday Ellyse Perry had a magnificent all round match with 66, 1-10 and a barely believable catch. Annabel Sutherland is a younger Australian all rounder, who like Perry bowls fast medium and is a fine fielder.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

A Curate’s Egg Batting Performance

A look at the first innings of today’s Hundred (women’s) match between Trent Rockets and Birmingham Phoenix. Phoenix put up a respectable total, but maybe not enough – they certainly didn’t use all their batting resources. Also a large photo gallery.

Today in the Hundred the Trent Rockets are entertaining Birmingham Phoenix. I am typing this immediately after the end of the Phoenix innings (they won the toss and batted first).

139-3 NOT GOOD ENOUGH?

The Phoenix total referred to in the headline above is roughly equivalent to 165 in a T20 innings for comparison purposes. Undoubtedly a respectable score, but not an invincible one. Ellyse Perry scored 66 of the runs off 33 balls in a magnificent display. That means that the rest of the Phoenix innings was 73 off 67 balls. Sterre Kalis was scoring at a rate of below a run a ball for most of her innings, and even after picking things up late on she had a mere 48* (42) to show for her efforts, and it is not as though she had the excuse of worries over Phoenix’s batting depth – Amy Jones faced only three balls in the innings, and Suzie Bates, down to bat at five, never got in at all, the third wicket, a run out, happening on the 100th ball of the innings. Even after those two there were still Fran Wilson, Emily Arlott and Seren Smale who can handle a bat to come – Phoenix left a lot of resources unused in this innings. Rockets themselves have questions to answer – Alexa Stonehouse bowled the first 10 balls of the match straight through, yielding only six runs and was not called on for the rest of the innings. The ten balls she did not bowl were bowled by Amanda-Jade Wellington who leaked 29. Of the four Rockets bowlers who bowled a full allocation Heather Graham was the stand out with 1-15. Nat Sciver-Brunt (0-30) and Kirstie Gordon (0-32) were expensive, and such are Alana King’s usual standards that she would regard 1-26 as a disappointing return.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

If you click to view this one at larger size you will see a swallow.
A green shieldbug.

A Humdinger in the Hundred

A look back at today’s Hundred (women’s) match between Manchester Originals and Trent Rockets, with special focus on the final ten balls. Also a photo gallery.

Today the Hundred has matches between Manchester Originals and Trent Rockets. The men’s match will be starting in a quarter of an hour. This post looks back at a the women’s match.

THE MANCHESTER ORIGINALS INNINGS

Manchester Originals have come in for considerable stick over the make up of their squad. They have an overload of opening batters – todays playing XI featured four regular openers (Emma Lamb and Eve Jones being the two to come in down the order). Today however Eve Jones went a long way to addressing such concerns with a fine innings from number 5. Originals skipper Sophie Ecclestone hit 13 off just five balls to give the total a late boost. Even so, a total of 137 didn’t look exactly mountainous.

THE FIRST 90 BALLS OF THE ROCKETS CHASE

The Rockets lost three wickets fairly early in the chase, but then Nat Sciver-Brunt and Ash Gardner settled into a stand that looked to be moving things in their favour. With ten balls to go in the chase Rockets needed 22 to win, with Sciver-Brunt and Gardner still in residence.

THE LAST 10 BALLS

Lauren Filer was given responsibility for bowling balls 91-95, and she did an excellent job. Even with her final ball going for four the equation was 13 needed off the last five balls. Filer had 2-26 in total from her 20 balls. Kathryn Bryce was given responsibility for bowling the last five balls of the match. Gardner hit the first two of these balls for four to reduce the ask to five runs off three balls, and that point it looked like Rockets had done the job. Gardner went for glory off the 98th ball but hit it too high and Beth Mooney was able to get round underneath it, which meant the ask was now five off two balls with a brand new batter to face the first of them. Heather Graham, the new batter, did the sensible thing and grabbed a single, bringing Sciver-Brunt with an undefeated half century to her name down on strike with the task of hitting a four to win the match. Sciver-Brunt whipped the final ball towards midwicket, but while the shot had power it lacked for placement, failing to located a big enough gap in the field and Rockets only managed two runs of the final ball, meaning that Originals had hung on to win by one run. Filer was named Player of the Match for her bowling, and deservedly so. Scorecard here.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

This may look a bit like a boiled sweet, but it is actually what is known depending on your source either as a ‘jewel bug’ or a ‘metallic shield bug’.
An ultra close-up of one of these bugs.