New Zealand shock England in first ODI

New Zealand have won the first of the three matches in the ICC Women's Championship ODI series in convincing fashion.

They posted 240/8 in their 50 overs, but could, and probably should, have scored more. Skipper Suzie Bates (106) and Rachel Priest (52) put on a record opening partnership against England of 157 in just under 31 overs, as England struggled with the ball and in the field. Bates was dropped by Lydia Greenway on 48. It was a sharp chance, but Greenway would have backed herself to take it, and in fact she took a remarkably similar catch off Hazell to dismiss Bates 58 runs later.

That wicket sparked a collapse which threatened to undo all the openers' good work. Priest, in her 50th ODI for the White Ferns, had been caught by Sciver on the deep midwicket boundary off Knight, who also accounted for Satterthwaite for just 1. When Bates went New Zealand were 178/3, which soon became 182/6 as Devine, Broadmore and McGlashan all fell cheaply, two more to Knight and one to the debuting Grundy, who bowled well for her 1/35 return off 10 overs.

But Katie Perkins (27*) and Anna Petersen (12) steadied the ship that looked in danger of sinking. They took the score to 210 before Petersen slogged Brunt to Gunn at cow corner, and then Anya Shrubsole returned to pick up a consolation wicket as the White Ferns ended on a decent score of 240/8.

England needed not to panic in reply, but the needless run outs of Heather Knight (11) - her own fault  and Charlotte Edwards (26) - at the hands of Sarah Taylor, plus the loss of Lauren Winfield to a tentative prod outside off-stump, suggested confidence was low.

Heather Knight is run out         (c) Don Miles

England were 51/3 with 15 overs gone. Sarah Taylor (16 off 47 balls) and Lydia Greenway (27 off 52 balls) tried to rebuild, but it was slow progress and the run-rate was climbing steadily. Eventually the pressure told on Taylor as she skied one to mid-on, and then Greenway was bowled around her legs by leggie Erin Bermingham, who finished with 2/20 from her 10 over spell, Jenny Gunn being her second victim, bowled missing a flighted delivery.

Anya Shrubsole (29) and Dani Hazell (17) made the score look a little more respectable with some lusty hitting, but it was all in vain. England were bowled out in the 46th over for 173. It helps with the Net Run Rate calculation, but in truth England deserved to lose by more.

So New Zealand have some points on the ICC WC board, and England have two days to get their act together. Will they make changes? I have to say I think not. You got us into this mess so you get us out of it.

England will need to be a lot sharper with bat, ball and in the field. New Zealand thoroughly deserved to win this opener. They outplayed England in every department.

I have to say that I think bowling first was the wrong call. I said before the game that I would have batted, even after seeing the pitch. It was a decent pitch to bat on and runs on the board means pressure. We will wait and see what the winning captain does on Friday.

Full scorecard here

MD
11/II/15

England all ready to go in New Zealand

It has been a long time since England last ran out on the pitch for a proper game of cricket. In fact they last played on 7th September 2014 (5 months ago) against South Africa at Egbaston. Of course Charlotte Edwards, Heather Knight and Sarah Taylor have been getting in some practice in Australia, but for the rest of the England squad they will be keen to blow away the cobwebs tomorrow at Bay Oval here in New Zealand.

So it was good to see all fifteen players working hard in fielding and bowling practice this afternoon and the batsmen getting some more time in the nets. Katherine Brunt and Anya Shrubsole were getting some good shape on the ball on the practice wicket (next to tomorrow's strip) - the strip used in the recent warm-up game against Northern Districts. The ball seemed to be coming through reasonably well, although not much above stump height and Sarah Taylor was probably no more than 10 metres back behind the stumps. I understand the same strip is going to be used for all three games and it looks like there are lots of runs in it, plus the outfield will be lightening quick. If you can get any odds on Charlotte Edwards hitting her tenth ODI century this week then I suggest you take them. She, and fellow opener Heather Knight, will be salivating at the prospect of facing the New Zealand attack on this wicket. Knight's highest ODI score to date is just 72. She will hope to better that and maybe even clock up her own first ODI century.

New Zealand will be desperate to get early wickets, and, if they can, then the pressure will be on the England middle order, which has shown its fragility in the past. Misses Taylor, Sciver, Greenway and probably Winfield will be keen to show that they have what it takes. The England management will be hoping the same, particularly with one eye on the forthcoming Ashes series later this summer.

I think Rebecca Grundy will get the nod to play tomorrow, along with fellow bowlers Danni Hazell, Katherine Brunt, and Anya Shrubsole, with Jenny Gunn making up the starting 11. We will have to wait until 10am tomorrow (9pm back in England) for the team to be announced. The game is due to start at 10.30am (9.30pm in England). You can follow it live on BBC TMS on Radio 5 Live Sports Extra (although coverage may be shared with the England Men's warm-up game). The warm-up game was livescored on the Black Caps website at http://scoring.blackcaps.co.nz/livescoring/match2506/scorecard.aspx#innings1, so you would expect the same for this game too. I'll be tweeting (@womenscricblog) and blogging throughout the day with up-to-date information and with a full report at the close of play.

The weather forecast for tomorrow looks decent. So it looks like we are set fair.

MD
10/II/15

On tour with England in New Zealand

In less than a week England will play their first ICC Women's Championship ODI against the White Ferns at the Bay Oval at Mount Maunganui in New Zealand. It will be an intriguing series. Even more exciting for me is that I will be there to see it. The Cricket Bloggers (a select group of highly intelligent, well-informed, would-be selectors) are going on tour! Well three out of six of us. There's me, Crunch (women's cricket's Simon Hughes) & Snapper Don (the photographer). We are leaving Raf (historian), Syd (cynic) & Marion (stats) back in Blightey to keep an eye on things this end, and to retweet and blog stuff at a sensible time of day!

I've been following women's cricket for more than 10 years and I have been blogging and tweeting about it for more than two, with the aim of raising the profile of the sport. It is amazing to see how far it has come in that relatively short space of time, with no great thanks to me, but by the efforts of the ECB, some of the media and especially the girls that play.

But clashes with the men's game put the media coverage into perspective. England's tour to New Zealand will go almost unreported in the press, due to the fact that the men's World Cup is also being played in Australia and New Zealand at the same time. BBC's TMS will cover the first two ODIs live on the radio, and I hope to provide some updates on games after that for radio listeners, but I have failed to convince any of the written press (tabloids, broadsheets or cricket mags) to take any match reports from the games. There will be match reports and photos on the ECB website and, of course, on this blog, which I hope will reach the people who are interested in the tour. Reaching a wider audience is not going to happen with this series.

The flip side is that England's next series is against the Aussies in England and full coverage of the entire series will be provided on the radio by TMS, and Sky will be showing all the games live, including the four day Test. That is fantastic news. The concept of the Women's Ashes Series - three ODIs, three T20s and a Test - has been a huge marketing success. Each game in the series has meaning and context. The fact the series is against the Old Enemy and that they are the number one team in women's cricket at the moment, will mean the coverage and the interest will be intensified.

The ICC WC has not, and will not, reach those peaks of interest, particularly in England and Australia, as both teams are expected to win most of their games and thereby qualify easily for the World Cup in 2017 (The top four teams automatically qualify. In fact it is being held in England so I think England would qualify automatically come what may). What the ICC WC has done is to create a "tournament" in which all of the top eight countries in the world have to play one another over a three year period and it already seems to be bearing fruit for the likes of South Africa and Pakistan, who have claimed some notable victories. The pressure is on though for teams such as India and New Zealand. Failure to make the top four is unlikely to mean they will not be at the World Cup (they can still qualify through a secondary tournament involving smaller countries), but it will make life very uncomfortable. After England New Zealand are due to play the Indians in India!

As it is the White Ferns find themselves bottom of the ICC WC table and they must be favourites to stay there given their recent form, and recent results against England (they have not won an ODI against them since 2010). Overall New Zealand have won about half of the 278 ODIs they have played, but in the last three years they have lost 22 out of 32 games with one no result. They lost all four ODIs against West Indies on their last tour and failed to qualify for the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup last March after defeat to South Africa. But they do have the advantage of playing at home, and the fact that most of the England team have not played a competitive game since September (Edwards, Knight and Taylor being the exceptions having wintered in Australia). They have some class batting in Suzie Bates, the in-form Amy Satterthwaite and Sophie Devine, but their bowling looks weak. It is interesting that 14 year leg-spinner Amelia Kerr was equal top wicket taker (with Ireland's Eimear Richardson) in the domestic T20 competition (10 wickets in five games) and second in the 50 over competition (17 wickets in 10 games) behind off-spinner Frances Mackay (20) (who has not made the White Ferns squad!). England will need to hit the ground running after just one warm-up game against the Northern District Women on Saturday. As professionals you would expect them to do so! Stayed tuned and follow my twitter feed (now called @womenscricblog) for more on the series.

ICC Women's Championship Table

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
South Africa Women	6	3	2	0	1	7	+0.334	852/216.1	796/220.4
West Indies Women	6	3	3	0	0	6	+0.584	1128/257.3	1111/292.4
Pakistan Women	6	3	3	0	0	6	-0.398	1030/271.0	1023/243.4
England Women	3	2	0	0	1	5	+0.686	367/80.1	312/80.1
Sri Lanka Women	6	1	4	0	1	3	-0.347	861/226.0	927/223.0
India Women	6	1	4	0	1	3	-0.371	793/224.5	855/219.2
New Zealand Women	3	0	3	0	0	0	-1.712	392/150.0	465/107.3

MD
04/II/15

NZ v Eng; Aus Domestic & NZ Domestic - Audio & Links

As the England Women head out to New Zealand for the second leg of the ICC WC, plus three T20s and another two ODIs, I have done another audio update, which covers the squad selections, plus the conclusion of the domestic seasons in both Australia and New Zealand. You can listen to the WCB Audio Update here - https://soundcloud.com/martin-davies-34/wcbaudio280115. Below are links to the main stories covered in the Update.

England Squad
The 15 player England squad for New Zealand is:-
Charlotte Edwards (capt), Katherine Brunt, Kate Cross, Lydia Greenway, Rebecca Grundy, Jenny Gunn, Dani Hazell, Amy Jones, Heather Knight (vice-capt), Laura Marsh, Nat Sciver, Anya Shrubsole, Sarah Taylor, Lauren Winfield, Danni Wyatt.
ECB link is here

New Zealand Squad
Suzie Bates (capt), Erin Bermingham, Kate Broadmore, Sophie Devine, Georgia Guy, Holly Huddleston, Sara McGlashan, Morna Neilsen, Katie Perkins, Anna Petersen, Rachel Priest, Hannah Rowe, Amy Satterthwaite, Lea Tahuhu
White Ferns' link is here

Aussie Domestic Cricket

Meg Lanning beats Ellyse Perry & Elyse Villani to the Belinda Clark Award for Best Aussie Woman Cricketer 2014/2015 - more info

NSW beat South Australia to win WNCL 50 over final - more info & highlights - It is there tenth consecutive title and their 17th in the 19 years of the competition!!

NSW completed the double with a win in the WT20 final over Vic Spirit - more info. Looks like this could be the last WT20 competition for the states as plans for the Women's Big Bash begin to take shape - more info

New Zealand Domestic Cricket

T20 Final - Wellington Blaze blew away the Otago Sparks with a ten wicket win - more here - with 14 year old leg-spinner Amelia Kerr taking 3/19 (video here)

50 Over Final - Despite another 100 from Amy Satterthwaite (892 runs @ average of 148.66 this season) - the Auckland Hearts beat the Canterbury Magicians - more here



MD
29/I/15

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

English trio enjoying their winter Down Under

So the "Aussie Experiment" is coming to an end for Charlotte Edwards and Heather Knight, with both due to return to the UK and the England squad in the New Year. As far as I know Sarah Taylor will remain with the South Australian Scorpions until February, when she will join the England team in New Zealand. They have played the first twelve weeks of the Australian domestic season with three separate states and all have done pretty well. In fact Charlotte Edwards and Heather Knight are the leading run-scorers in the WT20. All their figures are below.

Edwards has led a young Western Australia side who have struggled in both T20 and 50 over formats. Edwards has been her normal reliable self. She tops the run-scorers in the WT20 at the current time (although she has had two more innings than most of her closest rivals) and is 9th in the WNCL list of run-scorers. She averages about 40 in both formats.

Knight probably has the most to smile about. She has batted consistently well for Tasmania in both formats and is 2nd top-scorer in the WT20, with an average of a whisker under 50, in a format in which some have questioned her ability. She has also scored those runs at a very healthy strike-rate, in excess of a run-a-ball (114.92). In the longer format she is also averaging just under 50 and is the 5th highest run-scorer in the league.

Taylor has not fared as well as her two team-mates with the bat. She scored a magnificent 81* off 51 balls for South Australia against ACT in the WT20, but has managed only one other 50 (in the WNCL). She would have liked more. She also did not keep in the final three games of 2014, although she did take over the gloves in the last game when the young Aussie keeper was injured.

Charlotte Edwards (playing for Western Australia - WT20 - p10, w1, l9  WNCL - p5, w1, l4)
WT20 scores - 36, 34, 66*, 34, 46, 66, 7, 17, 4, 52 = 362 @ an average of  40.22
WNCL scores - 63*, 1, 28, 62, 5 = 159 @ an average of 39.75

Heather Knight (playing for Tasmanian Roar - WT20 - p8, w3, l5  WNCL - p4, w1, l3)
WT20 scores - 41, 68*, 53, 17, 0, 70, 66, 24 = 339 @ an average of 48.42
WNCL scores - 75, 27, 19, 78 = 199 @ at an average of 49.75

Sarah Taylor (playing for South Australia Scorpions WT20 - p8, w4, l4  WNCL - p4, w2, l2) 
WT20 scores - 38, 1, 36, 81*, 4, 22, 6, 40 = 232 @ an average of 29.00
WNCL scores - 58, 8, 7, 4 = 77 @ an average of 19.25

Their form bodes well for England's trip down to New Zealand and the second round of the ICC Women's Championship games in February. Knight has certainly thrown down the gauntlet to others who are looking to take her opener's slot away from her in the T20 format of the game. Lauren Winfield got the job in the summer against the South Africans, scoring a match-winning 74 in the third and final T20 of the summer. She may retain the slot with Knight dropping down to four or five.

Perhaps only after that tour will we know if the experiment has really worked, but the results so far look favourable. Next year England's autumn/winter tour will be to South Africa, but with the prospects of a Women's Big Bash looming in Australia, their will be pressure to release several of the England girls to go and play in Australia at least in December and January, if not for the entire Aussie season.

Professionalism brings conflict between players being allowed to play and make a living, and not overplaying, and between tours and competitions. There have already been issues with the proposed WICL T20 tournament, and there will be more during the English summer with county cricket, as England entertain the Aussies for another exciting Ashes series. It is a fine line, and it will not get any broader as the profile of the women's game, and the girls that play it, continue to grow.

MD
28/XII/14

New Zealand's team to face England

Fellow blogger Syd Egan recently speculated on the England squad to tour New Zealand in February - a tour that I will be lucky enough to be covering. I have to say I cannot wait. For those of you that haven't read Syd's piece yet it is here. His 15 are:
Edwards, Knight, Taylor, Greenway, Winfield, Beaumont, Sciver, Gunn, Hazell, Brunt, Shrubsole, Cross, Jones, Wyatt and Farrant. For what it's worth (which is not a great deal) I think they will probably take Marsh and Grundy rather than Wyatt and Beaumont.

But what of the New Zealanders they will be facing? So far New Zealand have played just three games in the ICC Women's Championship, all against the West Indies, in the West Indies, and they have lost them all. They are bottom of the ICCWC table of eight teams. They will be desperate to get something out of England's tour to New Zealand.

New Zealand currently have 10 contracted players - Suzie Bates, Sam Curtis, Sophie Devine, Holly Huddleston, Hayley Jensen, Felicity Leydon-Davis, Sara McGlashan, Morna Nielsen, Katie Perkins and Rachel Priest. In addition to these another 10 players were also named in the White Ferns High Performance Squad in October - Kate Broadmore, Nicola Browne (who declined a contract), Maddy Green, Georgia Guy, Frances Mackay, Hanah Rowe, Sian Ruck, Amy Satterthwaite, Lea Tahuhu, and Natasha von Tilburg.

The squad that went to the West Indies in September was the contracted 10, plus Green, Guy, Satterthwaite, Tahuhu. No-one really came out of that disastrous tour with any great credit, except perhaps Sophie Devine who averaged 40.25 in the four ODIs - only Bates, Priest and Satterthwaite averaged in double figures and only Devine, Bates and Priest scored 50s. Debutant off-spinner Georgia Guy also did well and was the top bowler with seven wickets.

You would guess that the selectors will stick with the contracted 10, plus vice-captain Satterthwaite, which leaves just 3/4 slots available. Guy deserves to keep one of them, but the others seem to be up for grabs. Seamer Tahuhu only bowled five overs in the Windies and has not put down a huge marker in the current New Zealand domestic season. Frances Mackay on the other hand has had a good start to the domestic season both with bat and ball, but may already be behind Guy in the off-spinning pecking order. On the opening bowler front Hanah Rowe is a young contender. She has had a decent start to her season with Central Districts and at 18 could provide back-up to Nielsen, Huddleston and Leydon-Davis.

A few of the New Zealand batsmen seem to be in decent nick. Sophie Devine scored back-to-back hundreds in the domestic OD competition for Wellington against Canterbury earlier this month; Amy Satterthwaite scored a hundred for Canterbury against Wellington and 97 against Otago; Sara McGlashan scored a hundred against Otago and was 96* against Northern Districts for Auckland; and Kate Broadmore has scored 53* and 115* for Central Districts, which must put her name in the frame for the final squad. Keeper batsman Rachel Priest has also scored a ton for Central Districts against Canterbury in her first OD of the domestic season.

However there have been few stellar bowling performances by any members of the High Performance squad, which could account for the glut of centurions, and must be of concern to the selectors with only just over two months to go until the England tour begins. To add to their woes captain Suzie Bates has not been in sparkling form with either Otago in New Zealand or, beforehand, in the Aussie WNCL with Western Australia (alongside Charlotte Edwards). She, along with the rest of the White Ferns, will have a maximum of six more domestic ODs and three domestic T20s to find some form and force their way into the squad for a very important series for both teams.

MD
16/XII/14