Ten Predictions for the Women's World T20

With the start of the Sixth Women's World T20 competition just 10 days away we thought it was time for a few frivolous predictions, so here goes.....feel free to add your own in the comments.

No 1
Chloe Tryon will be the leading player for South Africa

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No 2
Ireland will break several records...that they don't want to break

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No 3
Mithali Raj will open the batting for India and bat too slowly

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No 4
Shemaine Campbell will be the West Indies player of the tournament

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No 5
Nat Sciver will be England's player of the tournament

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No 6
New Zealand will not make it to the semi-finals

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No 7
Sri Lanka will win a big game against England, South Africa or the Windies

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No 8
Harmanpreet Kaur will be India's player of the tournament

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No 9 
Sophie Molineux will be THE player of the tournament
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No 10 - THE BIG ONE
Australia will win the WWT20

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WWT20 favourites Australia name their squad

Three times WWT20 winners Australia have added two players to the squad that demolished the Kiwis 3-0 in their recent T20 series to make up their WWT20 squad. Joining the 13 players (only 11 of whom actually played in the series) are spinner Jess Jonassen, assuming she is fit after having minor knee surgery in September, and left-handed opener Nicole Bolton.

The full squad for the WWT20 is :-
Meg Lanning, Nicole Bolton, Nicola Carey, Ashleigh Gardner, Rachael Haynes, Alyssa Healy, Jess Jonassen, Delissa Kimmince, Sophie Molineux, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Elyse Villani, Tayla Vlaeminck, Georgia Warehem.

There is no place for Aussie contracted leg-spinner Amanda-Jade Wellington, whose role has been taken by Georgia Wareham, and previously tried seamers Lauren Cheatle, Tahlia McGrath and Belinda Vakarewa are all overlooked in favour of the untested, and largely unproven, 19 year old quick Tayla Vlaeminck.

The Aussie starting XI looks pretty clear with the fire power of Healy, Mooney, Gardner and Villani up front, followed by the tactical nous of Lanning, Haynes and Perry for those tricky situations, and Kimmince and Molineux no mugs with the bat at 8 & 9. 10 and jack, Schutt and Wareham, will be hoping they never even need to get their pads out of their kit bags. If Jonassen is fit then she may step in for Molineux, although 20 year old Molineux may already have taken the left-arm spinner's mantle from her 25 year old compatriot, whose numbers in India in March were not that great. Bolton looks like cover for the currently out of sorts Mooney, who has struggled slightly with the bat of late, after her scintillating ton against England in the Ashes at the back end of 2017. I think Mooney will get the nod to start in the first group games against Pakistan and Ireland, with the Aussies hoping she can rack up some runs and get her mojo back before they take on New Zealand and India, in what should be tougher games.

With the top two in Group B going through to the semi-finals it is difficult to see the Aussies not waltzing into the play-off stages of the competition, which will be held in the Sir Vivian Richards' Stadium in Antigua. Conditions there may be very different to the Province Stadium in Guyana, where all the Group B games are being played. Four warm-up games at the Sir Vivian Richards' Stadium on 3rd and 4th November, including England v Australia, and five at the Province Stadium between 4th and 7th November will be good indicators of the type of pitches the girls can expect to face.

Whoever Australia meet in the semi-finals, which is likely to be one of England, West Indies or South Africa, they will back themselves to power on to the final two days later and then bring home the trophy for the fourth time in the six times it has been held. Only England and the West Indies (the current holders) have managed to prevent the Aussies from winning it more times. They will have their work cut out to try and do it again.

MD
09/X/18

England spring surprises in their WWT20 Squad

England have named three uncapped players in their 15 player squad for the Women's World T20 Trophy which starts on 8th November in the West Indies. Loughborough Lightning duo Linsey Smith, 23, and former Scotland player Kirstie Gordon, 20, are joined in the squad by Surrey Stars player 20 year old Sophia Dunkley.

Left-arm spinner Gordon finished top wicket-taker with 17 wickets in this year's extended KSL, and former left-arm seamer, turned spinner, Smith, picked up 11 wickets, as the Lightning finished top of the table only to be beaten by Surrey Stars in the final. Despite both being left-arm spinners they have a very different style, with Gordon giving the ball plenty of air compared with Smith, who tends to fire the ball in at leg stump. As a result Smith quite frequently bowled in the powerplay for Lightning, whilst Gordon bowled only one of her 35 overs in the first six.

Dunkley made an enterprising 92 in a T20 warm-up game against the New Zealand tourists in back in June, but was not selected for the full England T20 squad that played both the Kiwis and South Africa later that month. She subsequently had a quiet KSL scoring just 98 runs in 10 innings, which included 66 in the Stars' opening match of their campaign against the Vipers, but had obviously shown enough to England Head Coach Mark Robinson to get the nod.

The full squad is :-
Heather Knight, Tammy Beaumont, Katherine Brunt, Sophia Dunkley, Sophie Ecclestone, Tash Farrant, Kirstie Gordon, Jenny Gunn, Danni Hazell, Amy Jones, Nat Sciver, Linsey Smith, Anya Shrubsole, Lauren Winfield and Dani Wyatt

Smith and Gordon will be competing for a place in the starting XI with another left-arm spinner in Sophie Ecclestone, whilst the right-arm off-spin variation comes through Danni Hazell.

Dunkley will be competing with Lauren Winfield for a place in England's middle order, but may be called into action if any of the top order batsmen should be injured or lose their form during the competition.

Missing out on the trip to the West Indies are six fully contracted players in Kate Cross, Georgia Elwiss, Alex Hartley, Beth Langston, Laura Marsh and Fran Wilson, plus Sarah Taylor who was declared unfit for the tournament a week ago. Also missing out are rookies Alice Davidson-Richards, Freya Davies and Katie George.

England are in Group A in St Lucia where they will play Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, South Africa and West Indies. The top two teams from that group will make it through to the semi-finals in Antigua on 22nd November. The final is at the same ground two days later.

Martin Davies
04/X/18

Women's Cricket Fixtures

We have tried to compile all the major women's cricket fixtures into one calendar. This includes all full international games, World Cups, World Cup qualifiers and top level domestic cricket in England, Australia and New Zealand, including the WBBL and the KSL.

We upload them in the relevant time zone, but the dates and times you see below should be adjusted to the time zone in which you have currently logged on.

Any problems or errors then please let us know - cricket@lawdox.co.uk

Third T20 - Talking Points

Ermmmm where to start?

Well Australia batted first and got 178/2 with Beth Mooney making a chanceless 117*. It was the highest T20I total in Australia, and the second highest individual score in a T20I, beaten only by Meg Lanning's 126 against Ireland. Mooney again looked very classy.

It meant England needed to make 179, which itself would be a record run chase. They did it! Courtesy of some sublime hitting (mainly over the off side) by Danni Wyatt (100) and Heather Knight (51), but also courtesy of some truly appalling catching from Australia. Four simple chances were put down, two skied chances by Alyssa Healy with the gloves on. Unforgivable. Wyatt was dropped on 13 by her and Knight was dropped on 14 and 23.

It has been some few days for Danni Wyatt. She scored her first 50 for England in her 124th game for England in the first T20I, which saw her promoted back to the top of the order for the second and third games. She struck the ball nicely in game two but was caught for 19. Tonight she made her first ever century for England off 56 balls. She and Knight added 139 for the fourth wicket, with England having been 30/3 when Knight walked to the crease. With the guidance of Mark Robinson this could be the turning point in her career, and a very welcome addition to England's batting stocks.

The result means that England won the T20I series 2-1 and the Ashes Series was drawn 8-8. The Ashes therefore remain with Australia, but only just, and this chase will remain with both teams for some time. The Aussies have still not won a T20I series since 2015, and there will be some soul searching after this defeat. Beth Mooney looked distraught after the teams had shaken hands. Her valiant effort with the bat allowed to be usurped by Wyatt's, who won the player of the match - a plaudit that Mooney deserved, even in defeat.

And so we move on to the WBBL, after another weekend of WNCL fixtures, and then into 2018, which will all be about the build-up to the WWT20 in November in the West Indies. It seems that England and Australia will meet again out in India in February, with a tri-series apparently scheduled out there. England then have series against South Africa and New Zealand at home this summer. This will be followed by the extended KSL (twice as many league games now).

As for this blog it is time to sign off. After five years of blogging, over 500 posts and 400,000 page views, the time is right to go back to just sitting quietly on the boundary and enjoying the cricket. The game has come a long way in those five years, but it still has a long way further to travel. In England we need to sort out second tier cricket properly - the KSL T20 is not enough. Players below the contracted elite need to be rewarded. It will all come I am sure, in time, but it is time for someone else to take up the campaign.

Thanks to everyone that has read this blog over the years, and all those who have commented - good or bad - either on the blog itself, on twitter or to me personally. Most of the comments have been positive, certainly from the people who care about the women's game.

It's been fun!!

MD
21/XI/17

Second T20 - Talking Points

If only.....

If only England could have batted like that in the first T20...

If only Brunt and Gunn could have bowled like that in the first T20....

If only Beth Mooney could have run herself out in the first T20.....

Ah the vagaries of cricket.

As it was England were very good and the Aussies weren't. Aussie hangover? Maybe. England more relaxed and more focused? Probably.

England's 152/6 was their highest ever score against Australia in a T20 in Australia. Their win by 40 runs was their largest ever margin of victory over the Aussies in this format (with thanks to @hypocaust). It was a comprehensive win.

And yet at the turnaround England's 152 looked to be slightly below par. They had run well, but failed to find as many boundaries as they would have liked. The pitch was quick and true and the outfield like glass. 165 looked like the score they needed to post.

As it was 152 was plenty, but with the Aussies at 45/0 in the fifth over that didn't look to be the case. Healy looked in good touch (as she so often does just before she gets out), even if Mooney wasn't quite as fluent as she had been in the first T20. She then thumped one straight to Jenny Gunn at mid-off and set off for a run. She was well short as the ball clattered into the stumps at the bowler's end. The next four overs turned the game on its head...

Brunt came on for her first over (the seventh of the innings). New bat Elyse Villani played and missed at the first three balls; to the fourth she walked down the wicket, swished wildly to leg and was stumped by Sarah Taylor.

In the next over Healy meekly hit Gunn straight down long-on's throat.

In the next over Ellye Perry contrived to hit a Brunt short ball onto her front foot and then back onto her stumps.

In the next over the much-hyped Ash Gardner hit Danni Hazell for a beauteous 6, and then holed out at deep midwicket, to a shot described on CA's livestream ball by ball commentary as a "slog".

Australia were now 65/5 after 10 overs - GAME OVER.

And so we move to the final game of the tour, and the penultimate entry on this blog. The last will follow the final T20.

The Aussies really want to win the last game so they can say they have won the series 10-6, and the T20 series 2-1. England will be desperate to square the series at 8-8, even though that means they have to leave Australia without the Ashes. I doubt there will be any changes to the England line-up unless there are injuries. As for the Aussies I think Villani may well give way to Alex Blackwell. Villani has had a poor Ashes series with scores of 38, 1, 8, 14, 17, and 1. Blackwell may be the calming influence they need to try and chase down any target England can set in the final match.

You should be able to watch it online here in the UK for free. I think it's going to be tight.

MD
20/XI/17

First T20 - Talking Points

The Ashes are gone and the first thing to say is that the Beth Mooney's innings deserved to be a game winner and, perhaps, an Ashes winner too. She batted like a woman possessed, striking the ball very cleanly. I have to admit I have always been a fan, having seen her play for Yorkshire in county cricket here in England back in 2015. Her timing and her ability to play in the V were a joy to watch. I only say "perhaps" as I'm not sure of the true merit of T20 cricket as a deciding format for an Ashes Series, or indeed any other multi-format series. T20 cricket is just too hit and miss. But it satisfies the needs of those that seem to need instant gratification and it keeps the television producers and the cricket boards happy, so it ain't gunna change any time soon.

England have really not had the rub of the green with some of the umpiring decisions in this series. Heather Knight's dismissal tonight was the third time she has been on the wrong end of a poor decision. This time by the third umpire! Wicketkeeper Healy's gloves were fractionally in front of the stumps before Knight hit the ball, and therefore the correct call was a no ball. Instead she was given out. England were further hampered in setting any sort of decent total when Sarah Taylor was given out lbw after the ball had struck her thigh pad. It was clearly too high, but there was no review.

The fact that England then made it to 132/9, having been 16/4 in the fifth over, will have pleased coach Mark Robinson. Danni Wyatt's first ever 50 in her 124th game for England, shows a degree of belief in her abilities, which is perhaps hard to fathom. Perhaps finally Robinson is the man to get the best out of her?Personally I'd like to see her open in the next two T20s, rather than Heather Knight, who looks far more comfortable down the order. Wyatt could be England's Alyssa Healy. What have England got to lose? At the moment they do not have the right combination at the top of the order. I know Wyatt has had her chances to open before and blown those chances, but she deserves another go, perhaps with a bit more guidance and support from the sidelines.

As for Katherine Brunt she is not a first ten overs bat. Her technique and temperament does not merit her being that high. It seems the more that is expected of her as a bat, the less she is able to perform. Free her from expectation and she does not try so hard, and then she succeeds. I think she should bat at 7, and be elevated only if quick runs are needed late in the innings. As for her bowling she has taken just four wickets in three ODIs, a Test and now one T20. England will have to decide if she is still the force that she once was, and the opening bowler they need for the WWT20 in the Windies in just 12 months time.

Somehow England also need to find a space for Elwiss in the next two T20s too, and realistically that has to be at the expense of Jenny Gunn. Again looking forward England need to decide if Gunn is part of the squad for that WWT20 next year. It is a moot point.

England will be disappointed, but it was in the 50 over format where they should have racked up some points. They are better than the Aussies in this format. Despite no real warm-up games due to the weather, they should have won the first ODI, and taken a 4-2 lead into the Test, and then a 6-4 lead into the three T20s. It was not to be, but it should not take the gloss off what has been a very rewarding 2017 for England.

The challenge now is to have an equally rewarding 2018!!

MD
17/XI/17