England's Irish Problem

England are due in Ireland for a six match series in early September – three T20s and three Women’s Championship ODIs. It should be a series that they, and their supporters, are looking forward to, but instead it is just causing major headaches.

The problem is that England are due to play the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh in early October and the prospect of spending a fortnight in Ireland prior to the tournament does not appeal to the England management. It seems therefore that none of the 15 players selected for the T20 World Cup squad will make the trip to Ireland. Instead they are due in Abu Dhabi for a pre-tournament acclimatisation training camp in mid-September. It means that none of them will play a game of T20 cricket after the Hundred Final on 18^th August (I know that is technically not a T20 either), before heading into the T20 World Cup fixtures. England play their first World Cup game, against South Africa, on 3^rd October.

So not ideal scheduling from England’s perspective, but there is the additional headache of just who will represent England in Ireland for that series, and the potential repercussions on the domestic game.

Presumably the England contracted players who are not selected for the T20 World Cup will be on the plane to Belfast – eg Beaumont, Cross, Filer, Lamb, Wong (Farrant & Gaur are injured). If not why are they contracted? But who will make up the bulk of the squad, and will all those invited to join the squad want to play? The problem is that the concluding league stage fixtures of the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy, and the semi-finals themselves, clash with the tour. As a player if you choose to go to Ireland, you will probably miss the last two rounds of the RHF on 4^th and 7^th September and the semi-finals on 14^th September. Whilst an opportunistic England cap for some might be very appealing, loyalty to their regional set-up at the end of a 14 match 50 over season might seem more important.

If England were to select the ten “next best players" in England for the tour, then some of the major contenders for RHF Trophy honours could suffer very badly, whoever those players actually are (feel free to make your own selections and see the impact on the teams). The top four teams in the RHF league standings at the moment, with four rounds of fixtures to go, are Vipers, Diamonds, Stars and Sunrisers, but the other four teams are not out of contention for a semi-final spot, if they can turn their season’s round. Little is likely to change before the Ireland squad is actually selected, with only two more sets of RHF fixtures due to be played in late August/early September. Removing the “top” 30 players (including the England World Cup players) out of a pool of approximately 120 players from the RHF Trophy as it reaches its conclusion seems disingenuous at best.

Ultimately it will be for the non-contracted players invited to join the squad to decide if they want to make the trip. It will be a tough decision, but one which, either way, the ECB and the Regions, and their supporters, will have to respect. Quite what the Irish will make of all this is anybody’s guess?

Martin Davies

20/VI/24

Who will make the WBBL06 Finals?

With just eight games to play over this weekend there is still only one team who know they have made the WBBL06 semi-finals, and that is Meg Lanning's table-topping Melbourne Stars. Until this year they were the only team never to have made the Finals, and here they are sitting in an unassailable position at the top of the league. The question then is who will join them there?

Whilst mathematically the Renegades and the Hurricanes could still just squeak in, it is statistically almost impossible. The fight therefore for the other three slots will be between Heat, Thunder, Scorchers and Sixers, with the Strikers lurking, but with two massive games to play against teams above them (Thunder and Scorchers). 

So how might the games play out? Let's have a look at each game....

STARS v HEAT
Given that the Stars are already through they might be forgiven for taking their foot off the gas and perhaps resting some of their players. You might expect English pair Brunt and Sciver to only feature in one game this weekend, but Stars still look strong in the batting department even without them. Heat have won five on the bounce, thanks largely to some inspired hitting from Laura Kimmince. But can that sustain them here? It looks doubtful.
STARS TO WIN

STRIKERS v THUNDER
Strikers have struggled this season and look destined to miss out (they also play the Scorchers to round off their season). They are a very young team, even their overseas star (Laura Wolvaardt) is only 21! Thunder's big names - Haynes and Knight - have held their batting together and you'd have to back them to do so again here
THUNDER TO WIN

CANES v SCORCHERS
Canes have struggled with the bat, with four completed innings' totals below 90. Unless Rachel Priest comes good they are unlikely to trouble the Scorchers with Sophie Devine back in their ranks, although early Scorcher wickets could make it a low-scoring thriller!
SCORCHERS TO WIN

SIXERS v RENEGADES
Sixers just clung on to end their five game losing streak against the Thunder on Wednesday, but they look a nervous team. They are jam-packed with stars, but none have really taken WBBL06 by the scruff of the neck - Healy, Perry, Gardner, Kapp, van Niekerk. But a moderate performance should be enough to beat a Renegades side who have struggled with the bat. 
SIXERS TO WIN

THUNDER v CANES 
If the Thunder have beaten the Strikers the day before then playing the Canes gives them an ideal opportunity to cement their place in the Finals. The momentum will be with them and the Canes could buckle.
THUNDER TO WIN

SCORCHERS V STRIKERS
The Scorchers will be the favourites to take this game out, but the Strikers might just pull off a shock win. If the Strikers' bowlers can keep a lid on the Scorchers top four, then some of the lesser known Strikers' batters might just do what they need for the win.
STRIKERS TO WIN

STARS V SIXERS 
This is probably the game of the weekend with everything riding on it for the Sixers, who have an inferior run rate to those around them. The Stars might just feel that if they win this won it might keep the Sixers out of the Finals, and thereby get rid of their closest rival. Stars in-form batting line-up of Lanning, du Preez, Villani, Sutherland, and Sciver looks too hot for the Sixers to handle.
STARS TO WIN

RENEGADES V HEAT
The Heat will probably need to win this game to ensure themselves of a place in the Finals. Lose and net run rate might be required to get them through. They will know the calculations before the game starts so winning may not be the be all and end all for them. This could be the Gades' chance to sneak a cheeky win and force everyone to get their calculators out.
RENEGADES TO WIN

If this were all to play out then the top of the table would look like this

Stars               23
Thunder         16
Scorchers       14
Heat               14
Sixers             14

Net run rate would decide the second two teams to qualify for the semi-finals, with Sixers currently significantly in arrears of Heat and Scorchers. 

Is this how it will pan out? Almost certainly not.......but it will be fun to see!!

Martin Davies
20/XI/20