A week is a long time...in cricket

We are a week and 10 games into the WWT20 and it has been an interesting few days.

In Group A New Zealand have lived up to the expectations of many (me included) and look like the side to beat in this competition. They comfortably beat Australia today and their top order looks extremely powerful. The complete lack of pace from Leigh Kasperek's slllllllll...o...w right arm spin (although to be fair she does not actually spin it much at all - watch the ball in the slowmos!) seems to fox all who bat against her. Her appearance and style are very reminiscent of England's former left-arm spinner Holly Colvin. Short of stature she too threw the ball in the air, allowing it to dip as it got to the batsmen. She did alright too!

I keep expecting someone to work out how to play Kasperek - use your feet and play straight. In the group games they only have South Africa left to play. It will be interesting to see if Dane van Niekerk can get to her.

The Aussies look a bit of a muddled outfit. Which is not like them. I pointed out before the tournament that they did not know who to open the batting with. They still don't. If it were me it would be Mooney and Villani with Lanning at three, but I think Lanning may insist on taking the role against Sri Lanka. Despite their confusion the Aussies are still likely to make the semis - they have Sri Lanka and Ireland still to play. Their narrow victory over South Africa has saved their blushes. But will they make it beyond the semis? In all probability they will meet England there. England will never have a better chance of knocking them out of a major final.

In Group B the first three games went with form with comfortable wins for India, West Indies and England over lower opposition, but India's catatonic batting against Pakistan as they froze under the pressure of their own and their country's expectations, ultimately led to their demise - although you have to say that the rain probably saved Pakistan from throwing away a game that they should have won at a canter. Tomorrow India play England. Should India lose then their tournament may well be over. England's big game experience might just be enough to win it for them, despite a lacklustre start to the tournament against Bangladesh.

Defeat might not be the end for India. West Indies have been unconvincing in their opening two wins against Pakistan and Bangladesh. In fact Pakistan should have beaten them, but ran out of self-belief half way through chasing 103 and ended up four runs short. The Windies still have England and India to play and they could lose both those games, opening the door for India to qualify on net run rate.

I'll be watching the rest of the tournament from Colombo in Sri Lanka where I am headed to follow the England Academy take on the Shooting Stars and the Sri Lankan young guns. The way things are panning out at the moment I would suggest that it looks like a New Zealand v England final, but all that could change as soon as tomorrow. I'll be sitting on my suitcase in the front-room waiting for the taxi to the airport watching England take on India. Will it be new India or old India, and will it be new England or old England? Who knows?

MD
21/III/16

New Zealand the in-form team heading into WWT20

So here is the up-to-date WCB IT20 Standings as the teams go into the WWT20 starting on 18^th March, including all games played up to 9^th March.

No I didn’t believe it either, but New Zealand really are top of the table AND they really are that many points ahead of England and Australia. I have checked lots of times. There are actually numerous reasons why they are top of the tree – Australia and England have not been too flash at T20 cricket of late (Australia have lost their last three T20 series and lost six of their last nine games); New Zealand have won eight of their last eleven games, including wins over England and Australia; and for some reason New Zealand played only 11 T20s between 1 March 2012 and 1 March 2014, which means they have only played 32 T20 games in the last four years compared with England’s 46 and Australia’s 44, so their recent form has a much greater impact on their current standing.

So does that make them favourites for the WWT20? Well the realistic answer is that they have as good a chance as Australia and England, the perennial favourites for these competitions, but also probably just as much chance as India, West Indies or South Africa. This really is the hardest WWT20 to call that there has ever been. Below I have previewed the teams’ chances, based on form, but there is one imponderable which I think might affect the tournament and who goes on to win it, and that is injury. 

For many of the top players the last few months have been jam-packed with cricket, as teams squeeze in ICCWC ODI fixtures, plus the almost obligatory three T20s. The Aussies have played an Ashes series against England, followed by a home series against India and no sooner were they back from New Zealand than they were on the plane to India. In between the entire squad has been involved in the WBBL, as have several of the England, New Zealand, West Indian and South African players. South Africa themselves have finished their latest series (against West Indies) today, which followed swiftly behind England's tour there too. Don't get me wrong I have no problem with plenty of cricket, but it does take it's toll. There will be many players carrying injuries into the tournament or having just recovered from injuries. I expect there may well be more during the tournament and if you lose a key player, then your fortunes can change rapidly. But aside from that caveat it looks like being a great tournament.

Group A
Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Ireland

Australia expect to win. In fact most of the cricketing world expect Australia to win, but I just have this nagging doubt about this side and about the balance of their team. They did not perform that well against England last summer, then lost 2-1 to India at home and then by the same score to New Zealand away just a few days ago. They are struggling to nail down a decent opening partnership, they are relying far too much on Lanning and Perry to get runs and their bowling looks light. It has been a long haul for the Aussie girls since the English summer, including a full-on WBBL and I think this may be a tournament too far.

Antipodean rivals New Zealand will be looking to steal the Aussies’ crown.  After a couple of lacklustre years, including the failure to make the semi-finals of the last WWT20, New Zealand, under charismatic coach Haidee Tiffen, are once again punching above their weight on the international scene.  They seem to have a bit more self-belief now and if skipper Suzie Bates can keep her recent form going they will be tough to beat. But they do have bad days. And when they are bad they are very very bad. Can they string together the five or six wins on the trot that they need? They just might.

South Africa surprised everyone, including themselves, by making the semi-final of the 2014 WWT20. It was a great achievement and the fact that they froze in the semi-final against England was no surprise. Their recent series against England and the West Indies in South Africa shows that that cup run was no flash in the pan. Within their squad they have match-winners in van Niekerk, Lee, du Preez, Kapp and Luus, but their squad is thin. I expect them to win some big games, but possibly lose some they should win. If you want an outside bet though...

Sri Lanka and Ireland will not make it to the semi-finals, but Ireland could well win their first WWT20 match when the two sides meet. Sri Lanka are in a horrible slump of form at the moment. They have lost their last eight T20 games and in truth have never looked like winning any of them. Ireland won the WWT20 Qualifying Tournament in December, just pipping Bangladesh (their fellow qualifiers) in the final. They have great spirit in their team and it may be enough to get them a very precious two points.

Group B
England, West Indies, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh

Playing at home and coming off the back of a T20 series win against the Aussies in Australia, plus a drubbing of a rather forlorn Sri Lanka, India are on a high. Things could go one of two ways it seems for them – they could either live up to their own, and the whole of India’s expectations and win the thing, or they could crash and burn. They should get off to a good start as they play Bangladesh on the opening day of the tournament, but their clashes with England (22^nd March) and the West Indies (27^th March), will decide if they make it through to the semi-finals. If they can make it there then their young stars – Smriti Mandhana, Shika Pandey, Anuja Patil and Veda Krishnamurthy,amongst others, may prove fearless enough to get them into the final, although it may have to be at the expense of tournament favourites Australia, which may be a big ask.

England lack consistency over the last couple of years. This tournament has come too early for new Head Coach Mark Robinson to have had any great influence over the outcome for his new team, but a new positive attitude with the bat looks certain. The South Africa tour proved that sometimes it comes off and sometimes it does not. There is no doubt that England have players capable of winning T20 games – Taylor, Knight, Jones, Shrubsole, Brunt – but the question is can they? England look a bit light in the spin-bowling department, with Knight now Charlotte Edwards go-to spin bowler it seems. If England make it out of the group then they are in with a shout.

The West Indies have a remarkably poor record in T20s over the last couple of years. They have only won seven out of the 25 they have played in that time. They have also managed to tie three of those games, which is quite a feat. They have class in Stafanie Taylor, and Deandra Dottin seems to be coming back into some sort of form after a couple of years in the wilderness following her ban, but these two need some back-up. They are a team capable of winning, but they lack a cutting edge.

Pakistan have had a torrid run into the tournament due to security issues in India. At the time of writing they have still yet to get to India, and it has been confirmed they will miss their first warm-up game with New Zealand scheduled for Thursday, and maybe even the warm-up against South Africa on Saturday. Their current T20 form is not that bad and they are a potential banana skin for the big three, but with little or no practice before the tournament they are clearly at a huge disadvantage.

Bangladesh have only beaten Ireland and Sri Lanka in their last 13 games, and lost narrowly to Ireland in the WWT20 Qualifier final. They should not trouble the big boys, but will be keen to get one over on Pakistan if they can.

So the warm-up games start tomorrow and the tournament itself kicks off on next Tuesday (15th March). Some of the group games are being televised as will be the semi-finals and the final. If the tournament can step out of the huge shadow of the men's tournament into the media spotlight, then it should be a great event.

MD
9/III/16

Reasons to be cheerful for England and South Africa

England wrapped up what looks like a comfortable five wicket win against South Africa in the third ODI of the tour to take the two ICCWC points and the series 2-1.

Georgia Elwiss in full flow
(c) Don Miles

In reality the win, with six overs to spare, was far from comfortable, until Georgia Elwiss came to the crease with England 91/4, chasing 197 to win. Playing her first game of the tour replacing Lydia Greenway, Elwiss breezed past her previous best of 25* to record her maiden 50 for England in any format (for a lot of her early career she batted at 11). She went on to make 61, striking the ball cleanly and with freedom, before she was out with England needing just nine runs to win. She and Heather Knight (67*) had added 97 for the 5th wicket and taken the game away from a tenacious South African team, which seemed to have a new self-belief of their own.

Elwiss's innings was indicative of the new fearless style of cricket that Mark Robinson, along with coaches Ali Maiden and Ian Salisbury, seems to have instilled in the girls, in his brief tenure at the top of the women's game. Amy Jones, Lauren Winfield, Danni Wyatt and Elwiss all seem to have been asked to play their own pugnacious style of cricket. With the steadying influences of Charlotte Edwards and Heather Knight in the top order mix and with Nat Sciver to come back, it is a heady combination, which may sometimes come unstuck, but will make England an exciting team to watch.

In this series it was not the batting that let England down, but the fielding and the bowling, combined with an exceptional batting display from Lizelle Lee and Marizanne Kapp in the second ODI. England bowled better in the final ODI restricting South Africa to 196/9, and indeed it would have been far fewer had it not been for another belligerent innings from Lee (74) ably supported by the young Sune Luus (20), who will make a top order batsman over the next few years, and also sets the standard in the field for the Proteas. She, along with skipper Mignon Du Preez and 17 year old Laura Wolvaart, took stunning catches in the second ODI to remove set English batsmen and allow South Africa to outfield the England side in all three games. If they can bring that intensity and skill to their T20 game then South Africa could well trouble England in this format too, and their Group A opposition in the WT20 next month - Australia, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and Ireland. They will back themselves to beat Sri Lanka and Ireland, and if they can sneak a win against New Zealand or even Australia (who no longer look quite so infallible), or they slip up in any of their other games, South Africa will make the semi-finals of another world championship competition.

England will be relieved to have picked up the four points they have from the ICCWC games, which takes them to 13, equal with South Africa in fourth place in the table. England have by far the easier run in in the competition with Pakistan, Sri Lanka and West Indies to play. South Africa on the other hand have West Indies (currently second on 16 points), New Zealand (currently third on 14 points) and Australia (currently top on 20 points). The West Indies' other series is against India (6th), who are currently playing Sri Lanka (1-0 to India so far), and finish with Pakistan. They are not out of the running if they can replicate the form they recently showed against the Aussies. New Zealand are due to face Australia in five days time, before being hosted by South Africa and then finishing with a home series against Pakistan.

For now England and South Africa will focus on the T20 format of the game. They play each other on Thursday, Friday and Sunday, with the latter two games being televised. The WT20 then kicks off on 15th March. It is looking like it could be the most fiercely contested world championship tournament ever.

[3rd ODI scorecard]

MD
15/II/16

Looking ahead to 2016!

At the end of the year there is always a tendency to look back at what has been, and it is true to say that 2015 has been a watershed year for women's cricket, not so much perhaps on the pitch, but in it's coverage and it's credibility as a standalone, entertaining and financially-viable product. Press and television coverage of the Women's Ashes was unprecedented. Every ball was on the television, including the Test at Canterbury (much to the annoyance of some patronising know-it-all journalists - who actually know very little at all about women's cricket). Every national newspaper had match reports, and carried interviews and background pieces on the players.

The Ashes was followed by the inaugural Women's Big Bash in Australia, which has been a huge success so far, with television audiences beyond anyone's expectations. The tournament looks set to stay and to grow and is a fantastic advert for women's cricket.

But enough of looking back. Let's look forward. 2016 is jam-packed with some great cricket. Here is a quick run-down of what to look out for over the coming 12 months.

January 2016

The Final of the Women's Big Bash
After 56 T20 games the semi-finals of the WBBL will be played on 21st and 22nd January and the final will be on Sunday 24th January. Who will get there? Well my money would be on the Hurricanes, the Heat, The Thunder and, maybe, just maybe, the Strikers. First team to take home the trophy? I have to stick with my original pick and say it will be the Heat. Whoever it is it has been a great step forward for women's cricket.

Australia v India 
Just two days after the Big Bash finishes the Aussies start a three match T20 series against the Indians, followed by three ICC WC ODIs. It could be carnage! The Aussies will be in prime T20 form, a format that the Indians don't seem to like much. The Aussies also sit top of the ICC WC standings and they are likely to hand out a 3-0 drubbing to the Indians in this slightly longer format of the game. With three ICC WC ODI series to play after this the Indians will be staring down the barrel at the bottom of the ICC WC standings.

January should also give us some more details about the new Women's Cricket Super League (WCSL) T20 competition planned by the ECB for August.

February 2016

South Africa v England 
No sooner will the England players have returned from their WBBL experience than they will be on the plane to South Africa for England's first tour under new Head Coach Mark Robinson. England have just renewed the contracts of the current 18 players, plus added Fran Wilson as the nineteenth. Squad, and then team, selection will be interesting and one hopes that the England players will be up for the challenge. Languishing in fifth in the ICC WC table, no less than three wins in the three ODIs will be acceptable.

New Zealand v Australia
Two weeks after their last encounter with the Indians the Aussies will be playing their first ICC WC ODI game in New Zealand. It should be a good series. The Kiwis demolished a poor Sri Lanka side in November and will be keen to nick at least one ODI off their local rivals, if not the series win, as they did to England last February. Under new Head Coach Haidee Tiffen New Zealand  look a rejuvenated unit, but the Aussies will be strong favourites to extend their lead at the top of the table.

South Africa v West Indies
As England leave South Africa so the West Indians arrive for three ICC WC ODIs and three T20s. The Windies will be keen to cement their place in the Top Four (they sit equal top as I write this), but South Africa will know that they need the points too, with New Zealand and Australia their final two opponents. Stafanie Taylor is world class for the Windies, but she cannot win the series on her own. I think the Saffers might just pip them 2-1 on home soil.

March 2016

Women's World T20
Hard on the heels of all the ICC WC ODI action comes the Women's World T20 Cup in India. This is the fifth time the competition has been held and the Aussies have won the last three. They will be hot favourites to make it four in a row. But T20 is a tough game to call.
Ten teams will fight it out for the World Champions crown - the top eight, plus Ireland and Bangladesh, who qualified in December. The groups are :-
Group A - Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and Ireland
Group B - England, West Indies, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh
The top two teams in each group make it to the semi-finals, with the final being played on 3rd April at Eden Gardens, Kolkata.
Anything less than a place in the final for either Australia or England will be a disaster. The West Indies and South Africa made it to the semis last time in Bangladesh, but they will have to fight tooth and nail with New Zealand to make it this year. India will hope to perform well on home soil (especially now that they too are contracted players), but T20 is not really their thing.
Let's hope the crowds are better than the last time India hosted a World Cup (50 overs in 2013), when the grounds were almost empty for every game.

May 2016

After a short lull the English domestic season will start on 1st May with nine county teams each playing each other to become County Champions. Last year Yorkshire won the title, and this year newcomers Somerset and Staffordshire will find themselves slugging it out with the best in the country in Division One.

June 2016

England v Pakistan
June will see the arrival of the Pakistan team in England for three ICC WC ODIs and three T20s. England will expect to pick up all the points, but it could be a good series for England to introduce some fresh faces to the squad, before the 2017 World Cup to be held in England. Coach Robinson will have found his feet by this time, so it will be interesting to see his first proper squad selection.

India v Sri Lanka
Sometime before the end of July Sri Lanka have to return to India to play at least their three ICC WC ODI games. Both sides will be desperate to get some points. Sri Lanka had seemed to be making progress as a team, but their recent results have been disappointing to say the least. It may be too little too late for India, who will finish their first ICC WC campaign with series against Pakistan and then the West Indies. A top four place may be out of sight for them by this time.

August 2016

Women's Cricket Super League
The much-heralded WCSL should kick-off in England with a two week, six team, T20 competition in August.

The franchise-based tournament aims to bring together the best of the best, but the details are still sketchy. Applications have been invited to run the teams and are now being considered. The winning bidders will be announced in January, but it looks like there will be two London-based teams, one on the south coast, one in the south west, one in the north-west and one in the midlands.

With the success of the Big Bash the pressure will be on the ECB to bring the same pizazz to the WCSL. But the ECB are starting from scratch unlike Cricket Australia who tagged the WBBL onto the existing successful Men's Big Bash teams and structure. The plan is to extend the WCSL to the 50 over game the following season, but I just cannot see this happening for a whole host of reasons.

October 2016

South Africa v New Zealand
This is the first of the 6th round games in the ICC WC and is already pencilled in to start on 8th October. The rest of the games in the round are below and they have to be played by the end of October 2016.
West Indies v England
Pakistan v India
Sri Lanka v Australia
England will almost certainly go to the West Indies in late September/early October.

November 2016

The final round of ICC WC games have to be played in October and November. The fixtures that remain are :-
Australia v South Africa
Sri Lanka v England
India v West Indies
New Zealand v Pakistan
The teams that finish in the top four positions in the table will automatically qualify for the World Cup in England in 2017. The other four will have to compete in the ICC Women's World Cup Qualifier 2017, where they will be joined by six regional qualifiers. The ten teams will be competing for the final four places at the Women's World Cup. It means the bottom four could still get through, but teams like Ireland, Bangladesh, Zimbabwe and Scotland may have other ideas.

December 2016

WBBL/2
And so we return to the WBBL. No doubt WBBL/2 will be bigger, better and even more fun than WBBL/1!!

MD
30/XII/15

Isobel Joyce will blog for WCB on Ireland in WWT20 Qualifier

The build-up to the 2016 Women's World T20 Cup in India has already started for the eight teams who are attempting to claim the last two spots in the WT20 competition in India next March.

Bangladesh, who qualified as hosts for the 2013 World T20 Cup, and Ireland, who won their place at the 2013 tournament by finishing third in the qualifying tournament held in Ireland (behind Sri Lanka and Pakistan, who also qualified) are the two favourites to emerge from the eight teams in the 2015 Qualifying Tournament, being played in Thailand at the end of November. Just the two teams that make the final of the Qualifying Tournament will join Australia, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka and the West Indies, when the main tournament kicks off on 11th March 2016.

The format for the Qualifying Tournament is two groups of four playing each other once. The top two from each group then go into the semi-finals and the winners of those games not only qualify for the final, but have a place assured at the main competition.

The groups are:-
Group A - Bangladesh, Thailand, Scotland and Papua New GuineaGroup B - Ireland, Netherlands, China and Zimbabwe.

WCB will be following the whole Qualifying Tournament and we will have our own exclusive insider - captain of Ireland Isobel Joyce. She will be blogging for WCB in both the build-up to the tournament and as the tournament progresses, starting at the end of this month as Ireland head to Spain for a pre-tournament camp. So follow WCB on twitter (@womenscricblog) and here on the Blog for all the news on the ICC Women's World T20 Qualifier.

The 20 games will be played at the Thailand Cricket Ground (TCG) and the Asian Institute of Technology Ground in Bangkok, Thailand. These are the fixtures:-

Sat 28th November 
Thailand v Bangladesh, TCG (1000-1245);
Ireland v Netherlands, AIT (1000-1245);
PNG v Scotland, TCG (1345-1630);
China v Zimbabwe, AIT (1345-1630)

Sun 29th November 
China v Ireland, TCG (1000-1245);
Scotland v Bangladesh, AIT (1000-1245);
Zimbabwe v Netherlands, TCG (1345-1630);
Thailand v PNG, AIT (1345-1630)

Tues 1st December 
Thailand v Scotland, TCG (1000-1245);
Bangladesh v PNG, AIT (1000-1245);
Zimbabwe v Ireland, TCG (1345-1630);
Netherlands, China, AIT (1345-1630)

Thurs 3rd December 
Trophy semi-final 1 (A1 v B2) TCG (1000-1245);
Shield semi-final 1 (A3 v B4), AIT (1000-1245);
Trophy semi-final 2 (B1 v A2), TCG (1345-1630);
Shield semi-final 2 (B3 v A4), AIT (1345-1630)

Sat 5th December
Trophy third/fourth place play-off, TCG (1000-1245);
Shield third/fourth place play-off, AIT (1000-1245);
Trophy final, TCG (1345-1630);
Shield final, AIT (1345-1630)

MD
21/X/15