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

Women's U19 T20 World Cup - Format and Warm Up Games

Welcome to our coverage of the inaugural Women's U19 T20 World Cup. First of all let's have a look at the format of the competition. Initially the sixteen qualifying teams are divided into four groups.

Group A - Australia, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, USA Group B - England, Pakistan, Rwanda, Zimbabwe Group C - Indonesia, Ireland, New Zealand, West Indies Group D - India, Scotland, South Africa, UAE Each team will play two warm-up games (see below). In the Group Stage they will play each team in their group once. The top three teams in each group will then enter the Super 6s Leagues. Super 6 League 1 - A1, A2, A3, D1, D2, D3 Super 6 League 2 - B1, B2, B3, C1, C2, C3

In the Super 6 Leagues teams will only play two more games (not three). The top two sides from the Super 6s Leagues go on to the semi-finals, and then the winners to the final.

Warm-up games are on Monday and Wednesday this week and the competition proper starts on Saturday 14th January 2023. Here are the warm-up games.

Monday 9th January 2023

Scotland v USA Ireland v Pakistan Indonesia v Zimbabwe India v Australia UAE v Sri Lanka New Zealand v Rwanda West Indies v England South Africa v Bangladesh

Wednesday 11th January 2023

Bangladesh v India England v Indonesia Rwanda v Ireland South Africa v Australia Zimbabwe v West Indies Pakistan v New Zealand Sri Lanka v Scotland

We will try and keep you up-to-date with all the scores, results, performances and standings.

Martin Davies 08/I/23

Busy week to settle WWC17 places

It is a busy last few days in the ICC Women's Championship this week as the final round of fixtures are played and the four teams that automatically qualify for the 2017 World Cup emerge (subject to the ICC's ruling on the unplayed Pakistan v India fixtures)

On Tuesday England, who have already secured their qualification with victory in the second ODI against Sri Lanka, again take on their hosts at the Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. It will be interesting to see if Katherine Brunt has recovered from her "niggle" which took her off the field in the last game, and if newbie Emma Lamb is given her first cap?

On Wednesday West Indies have their final chance to secure their WWC17 place for themselves as they take on India in the third and final ODI in Vijayawada. They have failed to score enough runs in the first two games and been well beaten by their Indian hosts. If West Indies are again beaten, then the door remains just slightly ajar for South Africa to sneek past them into the top four, although they will have to beat Australia...three times!
As for India, without the six points from the unplayed games against Pakistan, they will finish in fifth or sixth spot and will be in Sri Lanka for the qualifying tournament.

Also on Wednesday New Zealand can seal their place in WWC17 if they win the fourth ODI against Pakistan. In the three games to date they have been untroubled, although Pakistan did manage to put 263/6 on the board in the last game (the first ICCWC match). New Zealand still chased it down with nearly six overs to spare and eight wickets in hand. Amy Satterthwaite helped herself to a second consecutive unbeaten hundred, and she will be looking for more runs as the teams move to Nelson for the final two ODIs of the series.

On Thursday England conclude their series against Sri Lanka with the fourth ODI in the series. It will be England's last ODI before the World Cup warm-ups, unless they can fit in another "unofficial" series before next June.

On Friday Australia start their five match ODI series against South Africa (with the first three to count towards the ICCWC). It is the final series in the ICCWC competition, with Australia already through to the WWC17, but, by this time, it may already be too late for South Africa to get there without going to Sri Lanka first. The second and third games will be played the following Sunday and Wednesday.

And finally Saturday will see the conclusion of the New Zealand v Pakistan series. How many ODI runs can Amy Satterthwaite finish up with in 2016? She has 730 so far!!

MD
14/XI/16

Lamb added to England squad in Sri Lanka

England have today announced that Lancashire’s Emma Lamb has been called-up to Heather Knight’s England squad to take on Sri Lanka starting tomorrow.

The right handed top order batsman has been training in Abu Dhabi along with seven other members of the England Women’s Senior Academy and the England squad, as part of a six-day preparation camp for the four-match One-Day International (ODI) series, which gets underway in Colombo tomorrow (Wednesday 9^th November).

The 18-year-old’s addition to the squad to play against Sri Lanka comes after impressing Knight and England Women’s Head Coach, Mark Robinson, in the UAE, and follows a consistent Kia Super League campaign this summer, where she scored 122 runs at an average of just under 25 for Lancashire Thunder. Lamb is now one of two uncapped players in the 15-strong squad, joining Yorkshire and Loughborough Lightning right-arm seamer, Beth Langston.

Robinson said : “Emma has really impressed us during the prep camp in Abu Dhabi.  She got good runs in the two internal warm-up matches we played there, batting in an unfamiliar position at number six, which has shown to us that she has great versatility.  She also delivered a series of strong performances in the Kia Super League this summer, and was the standout batsman on the England Women’s Academy tour to Sri Lanka earlier this year, so she fully deserves this opportunity.

“Her approach to everything so far has been very professional and we are keen to try to build some experience into young players like Emma whenever we can.  Being around the senior girls over the next couple of weeks, I am sure she will learn loads, which is the whole idea.

“The training camp in Abu Dhabi was excellent.  Heather Knight led from the front with a big hundred in the second warm-up match yesterday, with Georgia Elwiss also getting 80 odd, and Nat Sciver chipped in with a couple of good scores.  It has also been really beneficial to have some of the Senior Academy players training with the squad – it’s been great to get a closer look at them, and I’ve been very impressed with what I’ve seen.

“The challenge now is to adapt quickly to the new conditions here in Sri Lanka.  There has been a lot of rain around in Colombo over the last few days, and looking ahead the forecast isn’t ideal, but we will take everything in our stride.  Sri Lanka have had a tough time in the ICC Women’s Championship, but we know how competitive they can be – especially on their home turf.  There certainly won’t be any complacency from us, as we look to finish 2016 on a high.”

All four of England women’s fixtures against Sri Lanka will be played in Colombo during a short nine day window, starting with the first ODI tomorrow (Wednesday 9 November). The remaining three ODIs will form England’s seventh and final round of matches in the ICC Women’s Championship – the qualification tournament for the ICC Women’s World Cup in England in 2017 – and will be played on Saturday 12^th, Tuesday 15^th and Thursday 17^th November.  Heather Knight’s team need to record just a single win (2 points) from the three Championship matches to secure one of the four automatic qualification spots for the World Cup on home soil next summer.

MD
08/XI/16

Aussies beat Sri Lanka to make World Cup

Here is the ICC's wrap up of the series.....

Australia has qualified for the ICC Women’s World Cup 2017 after a 3-0 whitewash of Sri Lanka in the ICC Women’s Championship. Australia captain Meg Lanning has lauded her side for the way it adjusted to the conditions to become the first side to book a place at next summer’s event to be held in England.

“We were hoping to win all games that we played. I thought Sri Lanka tested us at certain stages but we stuck to our guns pretty well, certainly in the last two games we set pretty high standards. The conditions have been difficult, I guess, from the batting perspective, very different from back home, but the last couple of games we have adjusted very well, we came with our plans and stuck to them,” Lanning said.

Australia had arrived in Sri Lanka needing just one win to qualify for the ICC Women’s World Cup 2017. And Lanning’s side achieved it in style when it wrapped up the first match in Dambulla last Tuesday by 78 runs. It then won the two Colombo ODIs by nine wickets and 137 runs.

Australia now sits pretty on 30 points from 18 games, 10 points more than its nearest rival the West Indies, which, like the remaining six sides in the competition, has played three less matches. England is third with 19 points, followed by New Zealand (16), South Africa (15), India (13), Pakistan (eight) and Sri Lanka (five). The top four sides from the ICC Women’s Championship will automatically qualify for the ICC Women’s World Cup 2017 while the bottom four sides will get a final chance of qualification through the ICC Women’s World Cup Qualifier in February 2017.

Lanning said the team was preparing for the different challenges in England next year.
“We are going to every game trying to improve and be better and we want to win every game. We have got a World Cup in July that we need to be ready for and play really good cricket, so it’s important we play every game the way we want to and also try on work on things to get better.
The conditions will be different in England. The key is in being aggressive and to take the game on as much as we can. Wickets are very important in ODI cricket. I think we are in a really good spot but have areas to improve,” Lanning said.

Sri Lanka captain Chamari Atapattu said they had been hoping to do better but hoped to learn from the series.

“We are not satisfied with our performances in this series. We couldn’t complete our tasks individually and were unable to follow our plans. This is a big experience - playing a series against Australia - and we hope to learn from it.

“The Australia players applied themselves very well and came up with good individual performances. As for our team, we had some satisfaction in taking several wickets in the first match but we seemed to lose focus in the remaining matches,” Atapattu said.

Australia’s dominance in the series saw some gains for both its batsmen and bowlers.
Left-hander batter Nicole Bolton, who was the pick of the batters with 212 runs and finished as the only centurion of the IWC series with scores of 64, 35 and 113,  moved up three slots to 18^th position in the MRF Tyres ICC ODI Women’s Player rankings.

Bolton’s opening partner Elyse Villani’s 115 runs in the three matches enabled her to re-enter the rankings at 52^nd position while top-ranked Lanning, fourth-ranked Ellyse Perry and sixth-ranked Alex Blackwell retained their positions with reasonably good showings.

Leg-spinner Kristen Beams, who was the most successful bowler in the series with 10 wickets and conceded just 61 runs in three matches, moved up 16 places to 28^th rank in the rankings for bowlers. Beams had hauls of 4-15 in the first match and 4-26 in the third.

Left-arm spinner Jess Jonassen’s four wickets took her up two places to seventh position while pace bowler Holly Ferling’s seven wickets helped her move up 10 places to 52^nd rank.

For Sri Lanka, opener Prasadani Weerakkody moved up four slots to 26^th position while captain Chamara Atapattu made up for her lack of big contributions with the bat by taking five wickets with her medium-pace bowling that helped her move up 17 ranks to 76^th position.

Upcoming ICC Women’s Championship matches:

8-13 October – South Africa v New Zealand in South Africa

14-19 October – West Indies v England in West Indies

  ICC Women’s Championship 2014-16

Teams	P	W	L	Tie	N/R	Points	NRR
Australia	18	15	3	0	0	30	+0.994
West Indies	15	10	5	0	0	20	+0.497
England	15	9	5	0	1	19	+0.754
New Zealand	15	8	7	0	0	16	+0.232
South Africa	15	7	7	0	1	15	-0.069
India	15	6	8	0	1	13	+0.008
Pakistan	15	4	11	0	0	8	-1.030
Sri Lanka	18	2	15	0	1	5	-1.339

Note – two points for a win, no point for a loss and one point for a no-result

MRF Tyres ICC Women’s Player Rankings (as of 26 September 2016, after the Sri Lanka-Australia ODI series)

Batters (top 10)

Rank     (+/-)       Player                  Team     Pts        Avge      Highest Rating

   1         ( - )        Meg Lanning       Aus        820       49.57     834 v NZ at Bay Oval 2016

   2         ( - )        Suzie Bates          NZ         775!      40.50     775 v Aus at Bay Oval 2016

   3         ( - )        Mithali Raj          Ind         722       49.54     839 v Aus at Baroda Vadodar 2004

   4         ( - )        Ellyse Perry         Aus        693       42.83     725 v NZ at Bay Oval 2016

   5         ( - )        Stafanie Taylor    WI         690       45.63     765 v Ind at St Kitts (WP) 2012

   6         ( - )        Alex Blackwell    Aus        650       35.00     683 v Ind at Canberra 2008

   7         ( - )        Sarah Taylor        Eng        640       39.76     803 v Aus at Chelmsford 2009

   8         ( - )        H. Kaur                Ind         630       35.57     679 v SA at Bangalore 2014

   9         ( - )        Deandra Dottin    WI         583       28.28     650 v NZ at Kingston 2013

  10        ( - )        A. Satterthwaite  NZ         577       29.07     653 v Aus at Sydney 2012

Other selected rankings

Rank     (+/-)       Player                  Team     Pts        Avge     Highest Rating

 18         (+3)       Nicole Bolton      Aus        495*!    44.09    495 v SL at Colombo (RPS) 2016

26         (+4)       P.Weerakkody     SL          408*!    18.53    408 v Aus at Colombo (RPS) 2016

Bowlers (top 10)

Rank     (+/-)       Player                  Team     Pts        Avge     Eco       Highest Rating

   1         ( - )        Jhulan Goswami  Ind         730       21.78    3.18      796 v Eng at Chennai 2007

   2         ( - )        Katherine Brunt   Eng        658       22.59    3.36      796 v Ind at Mumbai 2013

   3         ( - )        A. Mohammed    WI         638       17.99    3.26      704 v Aus at Sydney 2014

   4         (+1)       Stafanie Taylor    WI         606       18.72    3.10      768 v NZ at Kingston 2013

   5         (-1)        Ellyse Perry         Aus        588       24.24    4.28      698 v Ind at Mumbai 2012

   6         ( - )        Shibnam Ismail   SA         567       19.27    3.53      641 v Eng at Johannesburg 2016

   7         (+2)       Jess Jonassen       Aus        546*!    20.80    4.10      546 v SL at Colombo (RPS) 2016

   8         (-1)        Jenny Gunn          Eng        543        27.80    3.78      693 v Ind at Scarborough 2014

   9         (-1)        Anya Shrubsole   Eng        539*!    25.64    4.14      539 v Pak at Taunton 2016

  10        ( - )        Morna Nielsen     NZ         532*     26.88    3.68      546 v Ind at Bangalore 2015

Other selected rankings

Rank     (+/-)       Player                 Team     Pts        Avge      Eco        Highest Rating

28          (+16)     Kristen Beams     Aus        413*!    19.60    3.45      413 v SL at Colombo (RPS) 2016

40          (+10)     I. Ranaweera        SL          341*     27.62    4.35      349 v Aus at Colombo (RPS) 2016

46          (+3)       E. Kaushalya       SL          323*     28.20    4.19      377 v WI at Dambulla 2013

52          (+10)     Holly Ferling       Aus        311*!    20.87    4.36      311 v SL at Colombo (RPS) 2016

All-rounders (top five)

Rank     (+/-)       Player                  Team     Pts        Highest Rating

   1         (+1)       Stafanie Taylor    WI         418       559 v NZ at Kingston 2013

   2         (-1)        Ellyse Perry         Aus        407       446 v NZ at Bay Oval 2016

   3         ( - )        Suzie Bates          NZ         336!      336 v Aus at Bay Oval 2016

   4         ( - )        Jhulan Goswami  Ind         288       308 v Aus at Canberra 2016

   5         ( - )        Sophie Devine     NZ         245!      245 v Aus at Bay Oval 2016

MD
26/IX/16

England Academy in Sri Lanka - images

Just a few images from the England Academy Tour to Sri Lanka March/April 2016
Played 8 Won 6 Lost 2

 

 

MD
12/IV/16

Academy continue winning ways

England Academy made it three wins out of three over Sri Lanka A in ODIs, and five out of five overall, with just an ODI against the Aussie Shooting Stars tomorrow and then two T20s against the same opposition on Sunday. They will be expecting to keep up their 100% record.

In truth Sri Lanka have been no match for England, as you might expect, and today confirmed the respective strengths of the two sides. Put into bat Sri Lanka struggled to make 133 all out in 38 of their 40 overs (the game having started late after heavy overnight rain and the pitch being left uncovered).

Seamers Langston, Cross and Davies all took an early wicket apiece to leave Sri Lanka struggling at 44/3. The introduction of spin in the shape of left-armer Alex Hartley and off-spinner Steph Butler (3/26) produced more regular wickets, including two suicidal run outs. At 91/8 Sri Lanka were in danger of failing to make three figures. But the ninth wicket added 21, and the tenth the same, to take Sri Lanka to 133 all out.

In reply opening pair Emma Lamb (19) and Evelyn Jones (1) again got the opening duties, but Jones soon went slashing a ball to slip. Georgia Adams (9) followed in similar fashion in the next over to leave England on 13/2. Lamb and Fran Wilson (44) seemed to have things under control until Lamb missed a sweep shot and was lbw. This brought Wilson's former Somerset team-mate Sophie Luff to the crease. They had taken the score to beyond half of what was required when Luff was run out calling Wilson through for an optimistic single and failing to get back at the non-striker's end when Wilson declined the run.

But it seemed as though Wilson and Sophia Dunkley (18*) would bring home the win as they accumulated runs without too much bother, with the aid of some sloppy fielding from the tiring Sri Lankans, but Wilson then drove hard and aerial, but straight to mid-off. Kate Cross (18) helped Dunkley level the scores but then skied a ball to midwicket. Dunkley finished the job next ball with a trademark searing drive through wide mid-off. Job very much done.

It was a solid victory, which is never to be sneezed at, but in terms of developing future England players it probably had fairly limited impact. England will hope to be pushed a little harder by the Aussies tomorrow in their last 50 over fixture of the tour.

England bowling (unofficial) - Langston 7-2-21-1, Cross 7-2-12-2, Macdonald 4-2-19-0, Davies 6-2-15-1, Hartley 7-0-32-1, Butler 7-2-26-3.

England batting (unofficial) - Jones 1, Lamb 19, Adams 9, Wilson 44, Luff 13, Dunkley 18*, Cross 18, Macdonald 0*, Butler, Hartley * Langston did not bat.

MD
06/IV/16

Academy make it four in a row

England Academy cruised to their fourth victory in four, but then so they should against a Sri Lanka A side that has buckets of enthusiasm, but is lacking in raw talent.

England posted another decent total of 273 all out based around solid contributions from opener Emma Lamb (85) and keeper Ellie Threlkeld (58). Sophia Dunkley also hit a lusty 38. After a slow start Lamb found her touch and after reaching her fifty let loose on the Sri Lankan bowlers. In the over she was out bowled she had already taken 14 runs, but advancing down the wicket she played over the ball and departed bowled.

Dunkley creamed her first two balls for fours through the covers and continued to look to punish almost every ball she faced. She found a willing partner in Threlkeld who was happy to play both straight man and straight in the V, pushing the singles to allow her team mate to wreak more havoc. Dunkley finally played one shot too many and was stumped, but Threkeld continued bringing up her fifty in the 48th over. She celebrated in the next over by launching an imperious 6 over wide long-on, but was out in the same over caught behind.

273 was always going to be too many for the Sri Lankans although they started brightly. But they lost wickets at regular intervals - 26, 52, 68, 80, 94, 100, 113 and 113 - four of them to Sophie Ecclestone who bowled her 10 overs straight through for figures of 4/32, starting at the tenth over. At 113/8 the game looked to be coming to an early conclusion but Sri Lankan number 9 Malsha had other ideas. She swung lustily to leg in the fashion of someone scything down barley, or flat-batted the ball over extra cover. It proved effective as she scored 47 quick runs as the ninth wicket pair added 66 in 11 overs. The partnership was finally broken by the returning Beth Langston, and  Kate Cross polished off the final wicket, leaving the Sri Lankans 186 all out, still 87 runs adrift.

England batting (unofficial) - Lamb 85, Jones 15, Adams 18, Wilson 1, Dunkley 38, Armitage 0, Threlkeld 58, Cross 16, Butler 18, Ecclestone 1, Davies 2*

Engalnd bowling (unofficial) - Langston 6-0-25-2, Davies 4-0-21-0, Cross 3.5 -0-15-1, Ecclestone 10-2-32-4, Hartley 7-0-28-2, Armitage 4-0-14-0, Butler 2-0-29-0, Dunkley 3-0-16-0

MD
2/IV/16

England thrash the Aussies

England Academy took full advantage of a tired-looking Shooting Stars side, bowling them out for just 148 in less than 38 overs, and then knocking off the runs with just four wickets down with nearly 20 overs to spare.

The Stars had played a 50 over game yesterday against Sri Lanka which they had won quite comfortably, but with just a 13 player squad and the temperatures well above 30 degrees, and the humidity energy sapping, it was perhaps little wonder that they were no match for a very keen England squad with England-contracted player Kate Cross once again at the forefront.

Within six overs the Aussie innings was in disarray as Cross claimed three wickets whilst conceding just one run. Molineux was caught and bowled for a duck in her first over, McGrath bowled in her third and the much-touted Stalenberg picked up a golden duck as she edged through to Threlkeld. The England camp were cock-a-hoop. At the other end Beth Langston was bowling an impeccable line and length meaning there was just no release for the Aussie batsmen. Eventually Langston gave way to Macdonald and the Aussies unleashed a series of pulls and cuts to finally get the scoreboard moving. They just seemed to have the measure of the pitch when Graham walked too far across her stumps and was bowled by Alex Hartley. The Aussies were 67/4 in the 18th over. Not long after Hartley claimed her second as Gardner advanced down the pitch and missed and left Threlkeld with an easy stumping. This was followed by an unnecessary run out as skipper Banting and opener Patterson got their wires crossed. Banting was run out by about 15 yards - 76/6.

The seventh wicket pair added 35 but the reintroduction of Cross seemed to mesmerise Patterson, who had batted a long time for her 37. Third ball of the new Cross spell she guided a short ball straight into the hands of Jones at cover point. Her vigil was over and Cross had 4/12.

Alex Price and Lauren Smith then added an enterprising 31 with Price putting away the bad balls with some aplomb, but when Smith went bowled by a full ball from Langston, the end of the innings was nigh. Ecclestone removed Price in the next over caught behind cutting one too close to her and Langston bowled Hancock neck and crop in her next over.

In reply the England Academy could not really have had a better start. Emma Lamb (26) and Evelyn Jones (38) put on 70 for the first wicket, with Jones finding the boundary with quiet regularity during the opening powerplay and thereafter as the Aussies kept the field up in search of wickets. Both went with the score on 70 though with Lamb trying to force the pace and being stumped and Jones bowled by a good leg-break from Wellington. It was only a minor blip for England though. Fran Wilson made 20 and took her team to within 18 of victory before she drove a ball straight into extra cover's hands, but Georgia Adams (37*) and Sophie Luff (10*) quickly polished the game off as the Aussies wilted in the heat.

The Academy play the Aussies again on Friday when they can probably expect a tougher ride.

England batting (unofficial) - Lamb 26, Jones 38, Adams 37*, Wilson 20, Luff 10*
England bowling (unofficial) - Langston 6.1-3-13-2, Cross 8-1-18-4, Macdonald 3-0-26-0, Hartley 8-1-34-2, Ecclestone 8-0-30-1, Butler 4-0-22-0

Australia batting (unofficial) - Patterson 37, Molineux 0, McGrath 5, Stalenberg 0, Graham 31, Gardner 7, Banting 0, Price 30, Smith 18, Hancock 4, Wellington 2*
Australia bowling (unofficial) - Hancock 3-0-18-0, Brennan 5-0-20-0, Vakarewa 5-0-16-0, Wellington 6-0-33-1, Price 6-1-22-2, Smith 3.1-0-24-1, Stalenberg 3-0-14-0

MD
29/III/16

England Academy start with a win

England Academy kicked off their tour of Sri Lanka with a convincing win over their hosts on a good batting track at the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo.

Having won the toss skipper Fran Wilson elected to bat and Emma Lamb and Evelyn Jones took 28 off the first five overs - I was going to say without breaking a sweat, but on a stifling hot and humid day in Sri Lanka's capital, that would have been completely inappropriate. But in the sixth over Lamb clipped a ball to mid-on and set off for the single. Jones was not on the same wavelength and remained firmly rooted at the non-striker's end. Lamb ((9) attempted to return home, but was run out comfortably. England were 31/1. Holly Armitage joined the fray at number three, but within three overs both Jones and she were back on the England balcony under the whirring fans. Jones (26) clipped a full-toss to midwicket and Armitage (1) hooked a ball straight down deep square leg's throat. England were 46/3.

Bath duo Fran Wilson and Sophie Luff set about rebuilding the innings. Initially they nudged and nurdled and scampered quick singles, but as they grew in confidence Wilson hit some delightful extra cover drives and Luff got on her dancing shoes, advancing down the wicket to the myriad of tiny Sri Lankan spin bowlers.

Both batted at an even tempo and both reached their fifties in the 28th over of the game. Next over Luff was gone for 54, advancing again but hoisting one to long on. The pair had added 103 for the third wicket. Kate Cross then joined Wilson, but she had little to do but nudge the odd single as Wilson cut loose. The pair added 76 for the fourth wicket, of which Cross contributed just 9. Wilson had advanced in the meantime to an effortless 115. She was out bowled advancing down the wicket and effectively yorking herself, but by this time England were well set on 225/5 with 12 overs to come.

Ellie Threlkeld (6) came and went quickly but Cross came out of her shell and hit some good straight shots before she walked past one and was stumped for 33. The tail did its best to wag with Alex Macdonald making 29 before she was caught at long on. Sophie Ecclestone bagged a first ball duck, but Beth Langston (14*) and Alex Hartley (3*) saw England through to an imposing 311/9.

In reply Sri Lanka never looked like keeping up with the run rate. Kate Cross and Freya Davies opened the bowling and kept things tight with Cross making the initial breakthrough in the 5th over thanks to a catch by Langstone. The second wicket was a run out through a direct hit from Luff. Sri Lanka were 42/2 in the 12th over. As the heat took its toll on the fast bowlers the spinners were thrown the ball - Butler, Hartley and Ecclestone all bowled tightly without there appearing to be much turn. Butler claimed the third wicket with Sri Lanka having plodded to 85 in the 22nd over. The game continued to drift along with Sri Lanka content to take 4/5 per over mainly in ones and twos. Having made it to 148/3 in the 35th over there was a sudden flurry of wickets - one each for Langston, Cross and Ecclestone and another Luff run out. At 159/7 the game was effectively over and Wilson brought her bowlers back for short two over spells and even brought on part-time spinner Lamb to bowl five overs. She accounted for the eight wicket as a full toss was bunted to Wilson at midwicket and Butler took the ninth thanks to a good catch from Cross at deep cow. The Sri Lanka tail enjoyed the last 10 overs adding 71 to their total, but still finished 75 short of England's score.

The game took over seven and a half hours to complete in stifling conditions and many of the England girls looked shattered at the end. They have a day to rest before they meet the Australian Shooting Stars on Tuesday at the Panagora Stadium.

Batting (unofficial) - Emma Lamb 9, Evelyn Jones 26, Hollie Armitage 1, Fran Wilson 115, Sophie Luff 54, Kate Cross 33, Ellie Threlkeld 6, Alex Macdonald 29, Beth Langston 14*, Sophie Ecclestone 0, Alex Hartley 3*
Bowling (unofficial) - Kate Cross 6-0-22-2; Freya Davies 5-0-18-0; Alex Macdonald 6-1-33-0, Beth Langston 6-1-26-1; Steph Butler 8-0-36-2; Alex Hartley 8-0-27-0; Sophie Ecclestone 6-0-27-1; Emma Lamb 5-0-34-1

MD
27/III/16

Launch of WCB Audio Updates

Today I thought I'd try something new - an audio update. Well I say today, it has actually taken me about three days to put it all together, but it has been an interesting learning curve.

The idea is to provide regular updates on Women's Cricket that you can listen to in the car, on the train, at work or at home. And with a trip to New Zealand imminent I thought I might upload some updates from the other side of the world while I was away, so this is a warm-up.

They won't be long, otherwise they become too boring, but hopefully they will be informative, interesting and easy to listen to.

The first WCB Audio Update is here - https://soundcloud.com/martin-davies-34/wcb-audio-update-jan2015

It provides an update on the Australian domestic season which is coming to a climax; the latest games in the ICC Women's Championship where Pakistan have recorded a stunning 3-0 series win over Sri Lanka; and catches up with domestic cricket in New Zealand, where they too are reaching the end of their season, ahead of England's visit in mid-February for the last games in Round Two of the ICCWC.

I was hoping that England would announce their squad for New Zealand this week, but that will be at 10am on Monday, when I will be away, but check out the ECB website after 10am on Monday for all the news (http://www.ecb.co.uk/news/womens).

I hope you like the audiocast (there has to be a better name for it than that- ideas?). Please feel free to leave a comment below or email me with your thoughts - wcb@lawdox.co.uk

Relevant links from the Audio Update are :-

Aussie Domestic Cricket
WNCL News - http://www.cricket.com.au/series/wncl/I7GXJQk9REiPQ1cc2rlZNg

WNCL - Lisa Sthalekar's take on the semi-finals this weekend is here

WT20 News - http://www.cricket.com.au/series/wt20/UM6eejv7DkCG927cmV_CJQ

WNCL & WT20 results (click on All Series for past matches) - http://www.cricket.com.au/fixtures


ICC WC Update
Pakistan v Sri Lanka - series scorecards etc - http://www.espncricinfo.com/icc-womens-championship-2014-16/engine/series/808849.html


Domestic Cricket in New Zealand 
Women's One Day Domestic Comp - http://www.blackcaps.co.nz/domestic/points-tables/womens-domestic-one-day-competition

Women's T20 Domestic Comp - http://www.blackcaps.co.nz/domestic/points-tables/womens-domestic-twenty20-competition

MD
14/I/15

Aussies top ICC Women's Championship Table

Australia's comprehensive 3-0 defeat of the previous high-flying West Indies (remember they beat New Zealand 3-0 back in September?) has sent them back to the top of the ICC Women's Championship table, where they will continue to reside throughout Round 2 of the tournament. In Round 3 they meet with England, in England, and only then can they be knocked off their perch. The points table currently looks like this..

Teams	Mat	Won	Lost	Tied	N/R	Pts	Net RR	For	Against
Australia Women	6	6	0	0	0	12	+0.952	1196/236.2	1130/275.0
West Indies Women	6	3	3	0	0	6	+0.584	1128/257.3	1111/292.4
England Women	3	2	0	0	1	5	+0.686	367/80.1	312/80.1
South Africa Women	3	1	1	0	1	3	+0.583	364/77.0	315/76.0
Sri Lanka Women	3	1	1	0	1	3	-0.583	315/76.0	364/77.0
India Women	3	0	2	0	1	1	-0.686	312/80.1	367/80.1
Pakistan Women	3	0	3	0	0	0	-1.357	467/125.0	477/93.4
New Zealand Women	3	0	3	0	0	0	-1.712	392/150.0	465/107.3

The remaining second round matches are :-
India v South Africa starting on 24th November 2014
New Zealand v England starting on 11th February 2015

Pakistan v Sri Lanka - on a date to be fixed before the end of February 2015

None of these teams can match Australia's 100% record with six wins out of six, so Australia will hold on to their top of the table spot at least until March next year. Who would back against them staying there for much longer?

India lost the two completed ODIs to England this summer and will be hoping to get their first win under their belts against South Africa, who have won one of the two completed games they played against Sri Lanka. But South Africa will be tough opponents and I think they may even end up winning the series in India (probably 2-1).

New Zealand have home advantage against England, and will be desperate to get something out of that series after their disastrous start in the Caribbean, which leaves them firmly rooted to the foot of the table. New Zealand would normally have been considered to be one for the "Top Four", but their place in the top order is under threat from the likes of Sri Lanka and South Africa, who they play in rounds 4 and 6 of the competition. England's overall record against the Kiwis is not that hot - won 28; lost 31, but they have won the last six, last losing to the White Ferns at Lord's in 2010. They must start as favourites to take the series, and they will be looking for a clean sweep, before taking on the Aussies in the English summer.

Sri Lanka will expect to boost their points tally when they take on Pakistan, which they must do before the end of February next year in the last of the Round 2 matches. In Round 3 they host the West Indies, which should be another great series; New Zealand travel to India for what could be another tricky series; and South Africa are hosted by Pakistan. 

No team can afford to slip up if they want to be in the top four and qualify automatically for the 2017 World Cup. Australia have so far been clinical in all six victories. Can England peg them back in 2015? The Aussies are looking very strong!

MD
17/XI/14