WBBL11 - Key Games this week

There were just three games over the weekend, but it looks like this week could see some teams taking big strides towards a top four finish, while others don't. 

The latest results were:-
Scorchers 159/4 beat Strikers 158ao by 1 run with 1 ball remaining
Thunder 64ao lost to Renegades 68/2 by 8 wickets with 53 balls remaining
Stars 171/8 beat Heat 153/9 by 18 runs

Points of Interest:-

• Neither Scorchers nor Strikers really wanted to win their game - having posted a moderate 159 Scorchers looked in trouble with the Strikers 77/1 in the 10th over, but a team hat-trick in a maiden16th over reduced Strikers to 121/7, requiring 39 from 24 balls. They needed 25 from the last 2 overs and then 13 from the last, with the last two batters at the crease - but 1424 off the first four balls meant they needed just 2 off the last two balls to win! But Darcie Brown top-edged a leg stump full toss into the air and keeper Mooney came from behind the stumps to take the catch and win the match.
• As suspected Thunder's revival was short-lived - bowled out for 64 by Renegades, who moved up to second in the table
• Heat had Stars 44/6, but let them and Marizanne Kapp (93* off 51 balls) off the hook, as Stars took 47 off the last three overs to post 171/8. Heat never really looked likely to get near the total as batters got in, only to get out.

This week's games :- 
Strikers v Heat - A bottom of the table clash which doesn't have much to recommend it tbh
Stars v Hurricanes - Canes will be keen to put their loss to the Sixers down as a minor aberration, while the Stars bowling seems to be their strong suit. Should be a tight game with the Canes perhaps consolidating top spot.
Renegades v Scorchers - Renegades lose, win, lose, win.....so will they lose this one? They shouldn't do. Scorchers batting is currently looking fragile
Heat v Sixers - Sixers have to win! Heat don't look like ever winning!
Strikers v Thunder - Strikers have lost their last three and look devoid of oomph, but then Thunder have only won two games and were hammered in their last. Might be a case of who is the least bad!

Can the rain please go away!!

Martin Davies
24/XI/2025

WBBL - Halfway through

We have reached the halfway point in WBBL11. Is it me or has it been rather disappointing and very low key? Cricinfo's coverage of the games, via AAP, suggest they don't really care very much about the tournament. Their match reports almost certainly have some AI generated content in them and are frequently inaccurate. 

The latest results were:-
Strikers 134/7 lost to Hurricanes 136/6  by 4 wickets with 2 balls remaining.
Scorchers  150/7 lost to Thunder 154/1 by 9 wickets with 10 balls remaining.
Renegades 155ao lost to Hurricanes 106/4 (13 over target 106) by 6 wickets with 6 balls remaining.
Stars 219/4 beat Sixers 42ao (10 over target 153) by 111 runs.
Thunder 200/6 beat Heat 159ao by 41 runs.
Sixers 147/9 beat Hurricanes 136ao by 11 runs

Points of Interest:-

• Hurricanes have lost their first game, contriving to go from 129/6 to 136 all out in 10 balls to lose by 11 runs to the Sixers. They remain top of the league on 10 points, ahead of the chasing pack, who all seem incapable of actually chasing anything.
• The chasing pack includes Renegades, Sixers, Stars, Thunder, Scorchers, and Strikers, who are all separated by just 3 points (6 down to 3) - they are all the model of inconsistency!
• Brisbane Heat have now lost all 4 of the games they have played
• Thunder won both their games this week, which some suggest is the start of a resurgence. One of those was against the Heat (without Grace Harris or Jemimah Rodrigues). I still wouldn't back them to make the play-offs
• Brisbane Heat keep trying different opening partnerships - the latest one included shipping in Lauren Winfield-Hill. They still lost. Give Annie O'Neil a go!!
• Meg Lanning, not retained in the WPL, now has the most runs in the competition (no she doesn't - DWH has one more after this morning's game!), having helped herself to 135 of them against the Sixers this week
• It continues to rain in Australia and the girls continue to play through it until their clothing gets so heavy they can't carry on!

This weekend's games are:-
Scorchers v Strikers - Neither team look in a very good place and look likely to miss out on the play-offs along with the Heat. Expect this to be a scrappy affair.
Thunder v Renegades - Renegades have a 3/2 record and are likely to burst the Thunder's newly inflated resurgence balloon.
Heat v Stars - After pummelling the Sixers with the bat and the ball it is difficult to see the Stars slipping up against winless Heat.

Martin Davies
22/XI/2025

WBBL - Already 33% done

The second weekend of the WBBL has been completed with 13 of the 40 league stage games having now been played. 

The latest results were:-
Hurricanes 114/1 (12 of 12 overs) beat Heat 108/9 by 16 runs (DLS target 124)
Sixers 142/9 beat Thunder 118/8 by 24 runs
Strikers 112 ao lost to Scorchers 55/2 (9.1 overs) by 6 runs on DLS after rain prevented any further play.
Stars 141/7  lost to Renegades 145/6 by 4 wickets with 7 balls remaining.

Points of Interest:-

• A plethora of Aussie youngsters are shining in this competition - Lucy Hamilton; Caoimhe (Keeva) Bray; and Ruby Strange have all shown they can more than hold their own at this level
• By contrast the overseas players have generally failed to make much of an impression (with the exception of DWH and Wolvaardt), including the 15 English players. There has been the odd glimmer, but not much to excite England coach Charlotte Edwards.
  
• As well as the injury to Alana King, Alyssa Healy has obviously got major problems with her thumb on her right hand - I'd guess there is a fracture. In addition Amelia Kerr pulled out of her last game in the warm-up with a quad injury.
• Sophie Molineux has returned for the Renegades which strengthens them immensely - good with the bat and the ball
• The Hurricanes remain the only team not to have lost a game and head the table
• The Stars and the Heat are bottom of the table without a win in any of their three starts
• The rain continues to be an issue shortening two of this weekend's games

There are no games tomorrow (Monday), but four of the five games this week are evening games, which means they are at a more watchable 8:10/9:10am here in the UK.
This week's games
Hurricanes v Strikers - Canes must be favourites to keep their 100% record going. Strikers batting seems to be Wolvaardt......and not much else.
Thunder v Scorchers - Difficult to see Thunder getting off the mark v Scorchers, although they are a rather erratic bunch, who don't bat very deep. Two of their games have been won batting second in rain-restricted matches. Might be tight?
Hurricanes v Renegades - Two games in three days for the Canes, with a journey from Tasmania to Sydney in between. Renegades bat deep, even if they don't have players making the big scores. Canes will be favourites, but if the Renegades can get Lee and DWH before they get going, they might just pull off the win.
Sixers v Stars - Second game on at the batter-friendly North Sydney Oval on Thursday should see Sixers consolidate their place in the top 4 and Stars continue to prop up the other 7 teams.
Heat v Thunder - Heat have seen nothing big with the bat from Harris, Rodrigues, Henry or de Klerk. It will be Thunder's second game of the week. If they have sneaked past Scorchers they might go 2 from 2.
Hurricanes v Sixers - This is actually the first game on Saturday, but starts late Friday here in the UK. Should be the game of the week. Canes won the previous meeting at a canter after a Lee/DWH big opening partnership. Can they do it again?

Let's hope the weather improves and all the games can be completed.

Martin Davies
16/XI/25

WBBL End of First Week Update

 We have had another five games of WBBL11, with a mixture of predictable and unpredictable results.

Thunder 148/7 lost to Renegades 151/6 by 4 wickets (with 11 balls remaining)
Scorchers 172/3 beat Heat 149 all out by 23 runs
Sixers 152/9 lost to Hurricanes 154/4 by 6 wickets (with 19 balls remaining)
Stars 173/4 beat Scorchers 78/8 by 16 runs (DLS 95target  off 9 overs)
Renegades 141/9 lost to Strikers 143/3 by 7 wickets (with 14 balls remaining)

Points of Interest

• Hurricanes are the only team with a 100% record - 2 from 2
  
• Alana King is continuing to play despite having broken her little finger on her right (bowling) hand. It looked to be hampering her bowling and can't help her batting or fielding. 
• All teams seem to be having a really hard time holding any catches/getting stumpings
• Significant drops 
  - Beth Mooney 105 (73) - dropped on 0 and 32 - Scorchers won
  - Meg Lanning 90* (55) - badly dropped on 18 - Stars won
  - Laura Wolvaardt 71* (48) - missed stumping on 7 and dropped on 43 - Strikers won 
• Thunder and Heat are yet to get off the mark - both 0/2.
  
• Beth Mooney made her 4th WBBL century. She also has 44 50s! She is the leading run scorer in the WBBL with over 5,000 runs to her name
• The rain continues to play a part in the tournament

Games coming up over the weekend are 
Heat v Hurricanes - can Canes keep their 100% record?
Thunder v Sixers - Thunder could easily end the day 0/3
Strikers v Scorchers - Wolvaardt looks in imperious form for Strikers. Mooney for Scorchers. Who will win out?
Renegades v Stars - Stars could be too much for Renegades

Martin Davies

14/XI/25

WBBL11 is underway

This weekend saw the first games of WBBL11 with all 8 teams involved in the first round of games played in Brisbane, Perth and Melbourne. 
The results were :-

Brisbane Heat 133ao (20 overs) lost to Melbourne Renegades 66/3 (7.3 of 8 overs - DLS) by 7 wickets
Sydney Thunder 181/8 lost to Hobart Hurricanes 182/4 (19.3 overs) by 6 wickets
Perth Scorchers 109 ao (19.3 overs) lost to Sydney Sixers 112/0 (12.5 overs) by 10 wickets
Melbourne Stars 184/5 no result with Adelaide Strikers 32/1 (4.2 overs) due to rain

Points of Interest

• Heat have a bit of an issue with their opening partnership. They tried Charli Knott and Nadine de Klerk with Gerogia Redmayne at 8. Not sure it is a combination that will work too well, and they look a bit light on batting generally.
  
• Batting also looks to be an issue for Renegades with Wareham filling the 5 slot and the inexperienced Davina Perrin under pressure as opener with the reliable Courtney Webb
• Heat's left-arm seamer Lucy Hamilton looks an exciting prospect
• Thunder failed to defend 181 (including 16 wides) courtesy of a 145 run partnership between Dani Wyatt-Hodge (90) and Nicola Carey 58*. 36 off two Power Surge overs from Bates and Ismail showed a weakness in their death bowling options
• This could be a long and fruitless season for the Scorchers. Their batting, on a great batting wicket was woeful, and their bowling not much better. 
• Ash Gardner likes being captain of the Sixers - 5/15 off her 4 overs and a 10 wicket win to start her reign.
• Megan Schutt is a dwindling force for the Strikers. She bowled 0/50 off her 4 overs and Tahlia McGrath is not really a reliable seam option. Strikers could struggle.
• It rains in Australia at this time of year. 

The next five games this week are :-
Renegades v Thunder
Heat v Scorchers
Sixers v Hurricanes
Scorchers v Stars
Strikers v Renegades
Scorchers play two games and cannot really afford to lose them both. Heat may be their best chance of a win.
Sixers v Canes looks to be the game of the week.

We'll have another round-up at the end of the week, by which time the front-runners and the potential wooden-spooners might already be more apparent. Let's hope the weather doesn't intervene too much more.

Martin Davies
09/XI/2025

The Jam in the Metro Bank sandwich

With the T20 Blast league games finished there has been just time to squeeze in two games of 50 over Metro Bank cricket, before the Hundred Circus comes to town for August. For those of you who may have forgotten the league table looked this last Wednesday. If you want to know how it got that way you can read my take on the first eight rounds here.

The big winners in this slither of a second stage in the competition were Surrey and Durham. They both won both of their games. Surrey, minus only Sophia Dunkley, managed to sneak a win against table-toppers Hampshire, after rain interrupted their run chase of Hampshire's 278. At the time they were 151/5 with 24 overs to go. As the rain eased they were required to score 63 off 4.5 overs, which they did with a ball to spare thanks to a measured 73* from Alice Davidson-Richards. Six days later, they beat Warwickshire more comfortably, despite 113 from 18 year old Davina Perrin, with Alice Capsey's 79 underpinning the chase of only 240. 
Surrey moved up from 5th to 4th in the table

Meanwhile Durham managed to extract both Lancashire openers, Emma Lamb and Eve Jones, before they had put together yet another hundred partnership, which opened the door to bowling out the team in red for just 168 within 40 overs. They had been chasing Durham's 257 built around Hollie Armitage's 111. In their second game Durham dispatched Somerset by a mere 105 runs, having posted 315/9 with Suzie Bates helping herself to 163 of them. 
Durham moved up from 6th to 5th in the table, just one point behind Surrey.

The big losers in this short phase were Warwickshire, who lost their fifth and sixth games on the trot, as they first came up short chasing The Blaze's 218/6 in a game reduced to 39 overs. Once again their top order were missing in action, but from 28/5 they did manage to get to 171 all out thanks to 50s from Abbey Freeborn and Nat Wraith. Against Surrey they were again 32/5 but recovered to post 239 thanks to Perrin's hundred, but it was never enough.

Having been pipped by Surrey Hampshire found themselves in a table-topping clash with The Blaze, who had leapfrogged over them in the table. In trouble at 34/3 with Southby, Bouchier and Perry all gone 20 year old Freya Kemp showed her progression as a batter with a mature maiden century, which, combined with 77 from Nancy Harman, took Hampshire to an imposing 291/7. Once again Hampshire's bowlers delivered, bowling out The Blaze in 45 overs for just 211, with 19 year old Daisy Gibb claiming 3/21. 
The win took Hampshire back to the top of the table. The defeat took The Blaze from top to third. 

Things did not improve for Essex who were grateful to get two points from a No Result against Somerset, who had 312 runs on the board when the rain came, but were then trounced by 138 runs by Lancashire. Essex failed to remove Emma Lamb (142) or Eve Jones (71) before they had added 162 for the first wicket. It set up Lancs' total of 306/4. In response only 20 year old Jodi Grewcock (52) put up any great resistance as Essex were bowled out in just over 35 overs for 168.
That win kept Lancashire in second place in the table and Essex firmly rooted at the foot of the table.

The current table looks like this

Each team has four games left to play which will be played in September. There will be an anxious wait to see the 15 names announced in the England World Cup squad in early September, as those players will almost certainly take no further part in the Metro Bank One Day Cup for their counties. 

With five teams within 8 points of each other it is all to play for.

Martin Davies
31/VII/25

Heading to the World Cup

I have just finished typing all the World Cup games into the WCB Women's Cricket Fixtures calendar [you will find them here if you need them], which got me thinking about how England might fare and how the tournament, as a whole, might pan out. It all starts in 8 weeks........and about 4 weeks later Australia will be World Champions for the eighth time.

Is it really that clear cut? Is it really that much of a foregone conclusion? Should I be putting my life-savings on Australia to win the 13th Edition of the Women's Cricket World Cup? Well, probably not.

Cricket, as they say, is a funny game, and the tournament is being played in the sub-continent, on pitches that should suit spin bowlers, and batters that are nimble of foot and agile in mind. It would not surprise me if Sri Lanka, Pakistan or Bangladesh cause a few upsets, but they are unlikely to win the tournament. Given that all the eight teams play each other, and then the top four go into the semi-finals, this is a tournament about consistency. You need to win more games than you lose. In fact in the last edition West Indies qualified for the semi-finals with a 3-3 record, having had one game called off. This time they have not even made the competition. 

Consistency should reward the "better teams". So you would expect Australia, India and England to win more games than they lose. I think the last slot might just go to Pakistan, who are playing all their games at the Premadasa Stadium in Colombo, in Sri Lanka, so do not have the travel issues that all the other teams face, and will be playing every game on the same pitch. This is a huge advantage. Some might say so big that it is unfair?

So from the group stage it becomes a simple knockout tournament, where the best team on the day will win. In T20 cricket this can often be on the performance of one individual, but that is less likely in 50 over cricket, although it can happen - Chamari Athapaththu, Harmanpreet Kaur and Anya Shrubsole spring to mind. One day cricket tends to be much more of a team performance and this favours Australia and India, so, provided they avoid each other in the semi-final, these would be my two teams in the final.

And so to the final. India playing in front of 40,000 screaming Indians in the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangaluru. The pressure on them will be enormous. It is not something they have dealt with well in the past, and despite the pressures of playing in front of large crowds in the WPL, it might just prove too much for them again. 

So what of England? They are a "new team", under a new coach and a new captain. The problem is that they are not really a "new team" at all. Unfortunately this summer has not seen the blooding of some new players such as Ella MacCaughan, Jodi Grewcock, Charis Pavely or Rhianna Southby. The West Indies series was a golden opportunity to experiment, but it just produced false hope in some of the existing players, which has subsequently been crushed, by not only losing both the T20 and the ODI series to India, but by looking second best in almost every facet of the game. With a genuinely "new team" at the World Cup England might be forgiven for not making the Final. The fact that they might struggle to even make it to the semi-finals with a squad that looks so similar to the one that lost 16-0 to Australia in The Ashes seems an opportunity missed.

But then who knows? England might just go and win the whole thing. I wouldn't be putting my house on that though.

Martin Davies
23/VII/25