Tag: Women’s One Day Cup

A Concatenation of Classic Finishes

A look back at a remarkable day of cricket, including three (count ’em) classic finishes to county championship matches. Also a photo gallery.

Just over an hour and a half ago Jack Morley, Derbyshire’s number 10, kept out the fifth ball of the final possible over of the match, and with Derbyshire eight wickets down, but a long way adrift, Lancashire accepted that they were not about to capture two wickets with one legal ball left and the latest round of County Championship matches had officially ended. This was the third splendid finish to a match in very quick succession. This post looks back at the stories of this merry Monday.

THE PATTERN OF MY DAY

My morning was to a certain extent tailored around the fact that I had arranged to get myself vaccinated against the current variant of Covid-19 at 10:00. The venue for this jab, Well King’s Lynn, is on Loke Road, only a few minutes from my home by the quickest walking route, though I extended it both ways, on the way there because I also had a few things to purchase at Morrison’s, and on the way back because I was in the mood to do so, and as has always been the case with me and covid vaccinations, I did not feel so much as a hint of an unpleasant side effect. I decided that my first port of call cricket wise would be the Women’s One Day Cup match between Hampshire and Warwickshire, while also having cricinfo tabs open to follow progress in other matches, and that I would revert to the championship after this match was done. I missed the ending of Surrey versus Yorkshire, which followed a predictable course, ending with victory for Surrey by an innings and 29 runs.

A TOPSY TURVY MATCH

At first it looked like Hampshire were in charge. At one point they had reduced Warwickshire to 93-6. Abigail Freeborn was batting well, and now for the first time she found genuine support from the other end. Charis Pavely, a 20 year old who also bowls left arm orthodox spin, actually outscored Freeborn, contributing 55 to their seventh wicket stand of 97. Warwickshire captain Georgia Davis now came in and helped Freeborn to boost the final Warwickshire total to 243, and Arundel Castle is not especially noted for high scores. Freeborn just missed out on a century, being 94 not out at the end of the innings. The Hampshire openers fell cheaply, but then Charli Knott and Hampshire skipper Georgia Adams shared the biggest partnership of the match, and although Warwickshire then pegged Hampshire back once more, Mary Taylor played a little gem of an innings in the closing stages to get her side over the line with four balls to spare.

GLOUCESTERSHIRE’S WIN

To say that Gloucestershire have been unconvincing at Bristol in recent years is to err on the side of generosity – before today they had not won a red ball match at county HQ since 2022. They need 162 in the final innings to beat Kent, and given their poor record at Bristol in recent times they would have been quaking when their seventh wicket went down at 138. That brought Zaman Akhter in join Cameron Green. This pair picked their way towards the target, and in the event got there for no further loss. After 970 days Gloucestershire had finally won a red ball match at county HQ.

CLOSING STAGES IN PARALLEL

Glocuestershire’s triumph left two matches still in progress. At Chester-le-Street Durham had managed to get through Nottinghamshire’s second innings quick enough to leave themselves a chase of 92 in 18 overs to take the win. At Old Trafford Derbyshire had initially been looking at a potential chase against Lancashire but were by this stage hanging on grimly for the draw. By the time the Gloucestershire match finished there were under 10 overs left in both games, and Durham after being temporarily rocked back by Mohammad Abbas striking twice in the opening over were well on course for the win. Derbyshire were eight down, with Anuj Dal and Jack Morley defending gamely. Durham were 10 short of victory when Alex Lees was out, both bowler and keeper trying to get under the catch, and the latter, South African Kyle Verreynne finally claiming it. Durham promoted Brydon Carse to number five, and although Colin Ackermann reached a 50 before the end, it was Carse, like a ham actor stealing the Oscar winner’s line, who made the winning it, a straight driven four with 10 possible balls remaining. That left Derbyshire’s rearguard as the last cricket action of the day. They were into the final over there by then. Anuj Dal had clocked up 100 balls survived in the innings just before the end of the Gloucestershire match, and his score was 12 not out at the time. By the time Morley, 0* off 36, had played out the final few balls to secure the draw Dal’s final innings figures were 13* (115) – even more self denying than Hashim Amla’s 37* (273) for Surrey v Hampshire a few years ago. Ben Atchison, Derbyshire’s number nine had also contributed a 21 ball duck to the resistance act.

The three county championship match finishes described in this post illustrate just what is best about this, the oldest of all organized professional cricket competitions. At 135 years of age the County Championship is in splendid health.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

This splendid beetle attracted my attention during my extended walk back from being vaccinated.
As did this slightly less splendid specimen of the same species of beetle.
This pic and the next three show another Large Blue Butterfly.

Beckenham Blast

An account of a remarkable match between Surrey and The Blaze at Beckenham in the Women’s One Day Cup, and a photo gallery.

On Wednesday the Women’s One Day Cup saw Surrey entertain The Blaze (I am not sure why they have been allowed to continue under that name while all other such names disappeared in the close season reforms to women’s domestic cricket in England and Wales) at Beckenham. This post looks back at a remarkable day.

AN UNUSUAL VENUE

Shrewd observers may have already noted that the ground at Beckenham is officially known as The Kent County Ground, making this not in actuality a Surrey home game. Beckenham is only just Kent rather than Southeast London, and I presume Kent raised no objection to the venue being used for a Surrey home game.

TWISTS AND TURNS

The Blaze batted well, though no one made a really massive score. There was a fluent 80 from Amy Jones opening the batting, 56 from Scotland all rounder Kathryn Bryce, 82 off just 67 balls from Georgia Elwiss, and a rapid 34 from Scotland wicket keeper batter Sarah Bryce. They racked up 346-9 in total, a fine score, but at Beckenham, with its flat pitch and lightning fast outfield not necessarily a winning one. Ryana McDonald-Gay was the most economical Surrey bowler with 1-53 from her ten overs. Leg spinner Dani Gregory was the most penetrative, with 3-63 from eight overs.

Surrey lost Dunkley for 20, but then Capsey played a superb innings. The problem was she did not get enough support. Danni Wyatt-Hodge scored an aggressive 43 off 40 balls, while Paige Scholfield was even more aggressive for her 37off 31 balls, 24 of those runs coming in the form of sixes. After Scholfield’s dismissal Davidson-Richards, Chathli, Franklin and Moore all went fairly cheaply (Franklin’s 17 was the best score by any of these four). At 227-7, with McDonald-Gay, definitely more bowler than batter coming in to join Capsey, and only Alexa Stonehouse and Dani Gregory, the second as close to a genuine number 11 as you will see in 21st century professional cricket still to come it looked like the Blaze had secured the points. McDonald-Gay helped Capsey to add 65 for the eighth wicket. Stonehouse also offered support, but at 307, with Surrey still 39 adrift Capsey’s great knock ended for 125. Gregory rose to the occasion and batted above her usual station, but the real revelation was Stonehouse from number 10 in the order. By the time the final over started not only were the last pair still there, they had somehow reduced the runs needed to nine. Stonehouse hit the first ball of that final over for four and the heist looked on. The next four balls saw five needed off five balls turn into two needed off one, or one for a tie (there are no ‘super overs’ in this competition, so a tie would mean a share of the points), with Gregory, the number 11, on strike. In the event Gregory managed the single that split the points, and since each side had scored 346-9 from their 50 overs. This was the highest scoring tie in the history of women’s List A cricket. I suspect that Elwiss, who had followed her 82 with the bat by taking 3-35 from seven overs and taking the catch that dismissed McDonald-Gay would have been named Player of the Match for her all round contribution, though Capsey’s innings also deserves credit. Full scorecard here.

PHOTOGRAPHY

My usual sign off…

I thought this picture of three green insects on the head of a daisy was going to be my feature image…
If you click the next picture along from this page it should open up the Wildlife Trust’s Cinnabar Moth page.
…until my lunchtime walk today, when I saw this Cinnabar Moth near Bawsey Drain.

Cricket Snippets

Some bits from the world of cricket including a highly innovative piece of problem solving by UAE Women and their coach. Also a photo gallery.

I am listening to coverage of Hampshire v Essex in the Women’s One Day Cup, and I will mention that game in the course of this post, which will also look at goings on in the county championship. I will start however with…

CHAPEAU TO UAE WOMEN

Yesterday, in Bangkok, Thailand there was great piece of cricket thinking by the coach of the United Arab Emirates women’s team. They were playing a regional qualifier against Qatar Women, with only one side from their group progressing to the full qualifiers. It was thus a game that given their 32 place ranking advantage they needed to win. They had reached 192-0 after 16 of their 20 overs, but the weather was threatening, and with a big score on the board they wanted to be sure of at least five overs at Qatar before the weather decisively closed in. Declarations are not allowed in limited overs cricket, a rule that has been in place since 1978 when Somerset (men’s team) attempted to game a poorly thought out qualification system by declaring an away match against Worcestershire after batting for just one over. This would, by the rules of the competition, preserve their wicket taking rate, the criteria by which teams with the same number of points at the group stage were to be split, and thereby ensure their qualification. The UAE coach in this match checked with the match referee regarding ‘Retired Out’ as an option, and with confirmation that there was nothing in the laws to prevent everyone from ‘retiring out’, both UAE openers, including the skipper who had 113 to her name, retired out, and then so instantly did another eight UAE batters to end their innings. The official score was recorded as 192 all out from 16.1 overs, with all ten wickets being retired out, all to the first ball of the 17th over. The UAE women then managed to bowl 11 overs at Qatar, which was sufficient to dismiss this opposition for an total of 29 to win by 163 runs. Personally I reckon UAE Women and their coach deserve unqualified praise for finding a solution to a problem created by the blanket ban on declarations in limited overs cricket (note their method is both quicker and safer than finding ways to get out cheaply – if the fielding side work out what you are about then the ball will have to hit the stumps for this to work, as they will not appeal, and catches will probably go to ground). Situations where one is willing for one’s own innings to get at the opposition will not often arise, but unless declarations are once again allowed in limited overs match (and the near universal use of Net Run Rate to split sides who finish a group stage with the same points tally largely prevents utterly cynical Brian Rose type declarations, as doing so would be disastrous for your own net RR – the only time one might be considered is if a side has already well and truly qualified and they decide they want their current opponents rather than some other side to come through with them) I can see further instances of mass ‘retired out’ innings happening. Stuart Surridge, the Surrey captain of the 1950s who could fairly be labelled the most successful county captain of all time – five seasons in charge, five county championships won – was noted for extremely aggressive declarations. I shall quote two: once against a Somerset line up whose batting was headed by Harold Gimblett, noted for explosive innings at the top of the order, he gave them five and a quarter hours to attempt a target of 297, and was rewarded with a victory by 32 runs; the second was against Worcestershire near the end of the 1954 season – Worcestershire had been all out for 27 batting first, Surrey were 92-3 in reply when Surridge declared as he wanted another go at Worcestershire that evening, and Worcestershire lost two wickets in the short passage of play before the close, and the following day spinners Laker and Lock completed the rout, rolling the midlands county for 40 to secure a win by an innings and 25 runs and with it a third successive title.

HAMPSHIRE v ESSEX

Hampshire batted first, and with skipper Georgia Adams leading the way with 110 not out, her fourth list A century, but her first in Hampshire colours, and wicket keeper (surely soon to be called up by England) Rhianna Southby scoring 61 they totalled 273-5 from their 50 overs. Essex at 35-0 in the seventh over are just about keeping themselves in touch with the target so far. Linsey Smith, left arm orthodox spin, has just broken the opening partnership by bowling MacLeod for 25 to make it 47-1 in the tenth over.

COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIP

At Edgbaston, in the match that I listened to the first two days of, Surrey are reduced to playing for a draw. Warwickshire resumed yesterday on 364-4, and scored 301 more runs for the loss of a single wicket over the first two sessions of yesterday before declaring at tea time on 665-5 – and that after Rory Burns had won the toss and put them in to bat! The only Surrey player with any cause for pride in what was surely a humbling experience for them as a whole was wicket keeper Ben Foakes who did not let through a single bye in that vast total. Surrey are struggling in reply – they are 217-5. Rob Yates, who earlier scored 86 opening the batting has taken three wickets with his off spin. Ed Barnard who produced his highest score as a professional cricketer (beating a 173* in a list A innings) has added a wicket with right arm medium-fast bowling. Another multi-dimensional player, Aussie Beau Webster, who failed with the bat this time round but is a genuine all rounder, also has a wicket though I cannot tell you whether it was with off spin or with the medium pace he also bowls. In the other match I am keeping tabs on, Glamorgan are in complete control against Kent. They scored 549-9 declared, with Ben Kellaway notching 181 not out, his maiden first class ton, and after dismissing Kent for 212 sent them straight back in again – no nonsense about batting them right out of things to rest the bowlers – and currently have them 66-4 in their second innings, an effective -271-4. While there is no such thing as ‘never’ in cricket (I refer to you the account that began the main body of this post) it is at the least highly improbable that Kent are getting back into this one.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

Full moon between two wires, from a post supper walk last night.
A College of West Anglia building illuminated by the late evening sun while the moon shines above it.

Lancashire v Hampshire

A look back at today’s Women’s One Day cup match between Lancashire and Hampshire and a photo gallery.

Today Lancashire have been playing Hampshire in the Women’s One Day Cup. I missed the Lancashire innings due to the James and Sons April auction, but I did catch the whole of the chase.

MAGNIFICENT MCCAUGHAN

The match took place at Southport, a small ground (in 1982 Geoff Humpage hit 13 sixes in an innings there, in a match that his side ended up losing by 10 wickets – Warwickshire 523-4 declared (Humpage 254, Kallicharran 230*) and 111 (McFarlane 6-59), Lancashire 414-6 declared (Fowler 128) and 226-0 (Fowler 126 not out, D Lloyd 88 not out). Lancashire scored 292-6 in this 50 overs a side match, Eve Jones scoring 107 and Emma Lamb 86. They fell away a little after a very strong start, something noted by the radio commentators, and were probably a little short in the end. Hampshire’s openers, Bouchier and McCaughan started strongly. It was Bouchier who initially forced the pace, scoring 77 off 69 balls before being stumped by Threlkeld off Morris to make it 138-1. McCaughan then moved up a gear as senior partner, and found good support from Charli Knott. Knott had reached 47 without ever looking in any trouble, but then Emma Lamb pinned her LBW and it was 259-2, McCaughan having by then passed three figures. The target was now only 34 runs away, and 8.3 overs remained to be bowled. Neither McCaughan, who finished with 133 nor out, nor new batter and Hampshire skipper Georgia Adams (20 not out off 18 including a four and six) had any difficulty with a task that had by then become very straightforward. The winning hit came off the last ball of the 47th over, with eight wickets standing. A scorecard can be viewed here.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

A Day of Results

An account of Hampshire v Surrey in the Women’s One Day Cup and a look around in the grounds in the men’s county championship, plus a photo gallery.

Today is day three of the current round of county championship matches, and there is now only one match remaining to be decided. For the most of the day my attention was devoted to Hampshire Women v Surrey Women in the Women’s One Day Cup, and I will write about that match in detail before providing very brief descriptions of happenings elsewhere.

HAMPSHIRE OUTDO SURREY

Hampshire’s opening pair, McCaughan and Bouchier, gave their side a very strong start. Bouchier was particularly impressive for her 61. At 116-0 in the 22nd over Hampshire looked headed for a big total, but Surrey came back well after that, and in the end the total was 259-8, which looked it should be chaseable. Kalea Moore and Alice Capsey each took two wickets, but the best bowler for Surrey was Danielle Gregory, whose leg spin yielded a return of 10-0-32-1. Rebecca Tyson, making her first appearance in a game at this level, made her first interventions early in the Surrey reply, taking catches to account for both openers, Bryony Smith for 6 and Danni Wyatt-Hodge for 2. The bowlers off whom these catches were taken were Lauren Bell and Freya Davies, both tall, and both with long blonde hair. Capsey, the Surrey number three, dug in, but wickets continued to fall regularly at the other end. Dunkley was bowled by Bell for 4, Alice Davidson-Richards fell LBW to Linsey Smith for 19, the left arm spinner’s first victim, and Paige Scholfield was run out for 15, at which point it was 98-5. Alice Monaghan was the first Surrey player other than Capsey to play an innings of substance, playing the more aggressive role while Capsey was anchoring things. A sharp return catch by Smith ended Monaghan’s innings at 40, and in her very next over Smith took another fine return catch to get Surrey keeper Kira Chathli for 6. Then came the moment that virtually settled things, with 173 runs on the board, when Capsey, on 57, was caught by Georgia Adams off Freya Davies. That made it eight down and only numbers 9,10 and 11 to attempt to score 87 between them. 19 of these had been amassed when Tyson secured her first wicket, trapping Franklin LBW. Gregory did her best to support Moore, and the final wicket was something of a freak dismissal: Moore hit one back hard at Tyson, who was not able to cling on to what would have been a sensational caught and bowled, but the ball hit the bowler’s end stumps with Gregory out of her ground at that end, so it was a run out.

ELSEWHERE

In the County Championship match I followed for its first two days I had expected today not to be terribly eventful. Surrey extended their first innings lead to 84, Lawrence ending undefeated on 55. Somerset then suffered an epic batting collapse, being 38-7 at one stage (and this was effectively 38-8 with Dickson confirmed as unable to bat due to injury). Migael Pretorius and Lewis Gregory prevented the innings defeat, with the former scoring a half century. Pretorius’ innings was ended by the sort of catch that sets Ben Foakes apart from other wicket keepers, giving James Taylor his first wicket of the season. A few moments later Taylor ended the innings by having Leach caught by Sibley at first slip. That left Surrey needing 36 to win, which they achieved for the loss of two wickets.

Durham had already beaten Worcestershire before the end of yesterday, Worcestershire managing 162 and 81, and Durham 136 and 108-4.

Sussex mounted a bit of a fightback against Nottinghamshire in their match, but were still only able to set Nottinghamshire 148, and they made that target look trifling, winning by nine wickets.

Gloucestershire managed to set Leicestershire 143 in the final innings at Bristol, and there were times when that looked like being enough, but in the end Leicestershire got home two wickets. Dominic Goodman collected nine wickets in the match for Gloucestershire.

With only five matches scheduled for this round that leaves only Derbyshire v Middlesex in action. Middlesex put Derbyshire in, when Derbyshire would have batted first in any case. It was the home team who had judged things better – they racked up 472 batting first. Middlesex were all out for 315 in reply, which meant that 157 (150 is the Rubicon point in this context) that Derbyshire were able to enforce the follow-on, which it being late on day three meaning that there was insufficient time to build a big lead and then put Middlesex back in, they duly did. They have taken one early wicket, but Holden (16*) and Eskinazi (19*) are looking reasonably comfortable at present, with the score 35-1.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…