Stormont, Belfast
First a scene-setter:
This was a sort of Second XI that the selectors sent across the Irish Sea, though far from it, according to those who disagreed vehemently with the choices. Bess Heath and Freya Kemp were the two players invited to take part before moving on to the T20 World Cup in the UAE.
England beat Ireland in the first contest.
Scores: Ireland 210 (46.5 overs) England 211-6 (32.3 overs)
Orla Prendergast hit a splendid 76 for the home side, but Kate Cross decided she quite liked the idea of captaincy: she took a career-best 6-30, then helped her team recover frrom the wobbles by adding 38* off 36 balls, aided by keeper Bess Heath (33*/37)
Second Match
Two days later the sides met again. The temperature was no longer the same as in the Central Sahara (unreliable stat), and the wind blew.
Whatever the powow decided after the first match, it was evident the English were determined to put on a proper show second time round. The openers, Tammy Beaumont and Emma Lamb, started cautiously, aware of Orla Prendergast’s ability to move the ball dangerously. They defended and deflected.
Ireland had nominated an astonishingly young side. 16-year-old Alice Tector got away with two wides and a four in her first over, but in her second Beaumont picked her off for two fours. Lamb added three fours, sweetly struck through the covers, but in the ninth over she ran herself out like a raw beginner. There was a slight misfield at point, she ran, Beaumont didn’t, and the ball was back in the keeper’s gloves with her stranded in mid-ocean.
Till now, she has failed to swing the selectors’ verdict in her favour.
Beaumont wasn’t in her very best form; she wasn’t sure of her timing, but later events cast doubt on the pitch. The Irish bowlers, mostly young and inexperienced, failed to dislodge her. Hollie Armitage had a point to prove and got her head down. But by the time she’d gathered 19 runs she holed out to Freya Sargent’s leg-spin and became the second England hopeful to miss making a real impression.
Paige Scholfield (7) followed suit, falling lbw to young Tector, a well earned wicket.
That brought Freya Kemp to the wicket, and the game turned on its head. From here she fulfilled all the hopes placed on her. She struck the ball hard and clean, making consistently good choices between attack and defence. Beaumont, who had already passed 50, was happy to give her the strike.
In 47 balls of sublime stroke-making she hit 65 runs, adding 101 with her senior partner in thirteen overs.
You had to feel sorry for the Irish. They had been well in the first game for most of the day, but here they were totally outclassed. As Kemp returned to the hutch, Beaumont took over. Not only did she reach her hundred – her tenth took her past the previous English record, shared by Charlotte Edwards and Nat Sciver-Brunt with nine – but she accelerated.
As the bowlers tired, she came to realise 150 was possible. At the end of the 46th over she had 125. In the last over she hit a four and two (calm?) singles to reach her target (150*/139); for most of her innings she had been pootling along at well below a run a ball.
In the process the scoreboard reached 321, a total way beyond anything Ireland could hope for.
The Reply
The poison arrows came after the break. To add to Irish toils, too many balls kept low.
Kate Cross wasn’t satisfied with her first-match 6-fer and 38 runs. No-one doubted the captain’s right to take the first over; by its end she had taken 2-3!
Ireland’s pain was compounded by Lauren Filer at the other end. Almost every ball she bowled had the batter beaten for pace. When the bat did hit the ball, it was rarely off the middle.
Back to Cross. Her third ball saw an end to Prendergast, the last batter capable of building a decent innings. She lasted three balls without scoring. Now Filer again. She bowled a wicket-maiden, getting Leah Paul caught behind by Heath. 8-4
Una Raymond-Hoey and Rebecca Stokell got stuck in defiantly, but in her fifth over Filer struck twice, having Stokell caught by Beaumont off a miscued pull and bowling Arlene Kelly all ends up.
(Beaumont, unimpaired by her long innings, was a jack-in-the-box at gully and backward-point) 24-6
Cross had already given Kemp a good bowl, so she knew she had to give debutant Georgia Davis her chance before the innings closed prematurely. She had her reward in her second over, clean-bowling Tector. 35-7
It was good to see Kemp bowling so freely again. This was how she looked before her back-trouble, bowling really fast along challenging lines. Now she had her wicket, bowling Raymond-Hoey for a courageous 22 off 37. 35-8
In a game played without the benefit of DRS, decisions seemed to go England’s way every time. That’s often how cricket works. So Jane Maguire fell lbw to Kemp when there was a whisper of doubt.
The last to fall was Sargent, lbw again, but to Davis.
The total of 45 was a measure of the gap between the two sides, the final margin a stonking 275. If Ireland possess a sports psychologist on the strength, she’ll have her work cut out before the third ODI. She could remind them of their performance in the first match. It needs more players to take on major roles as batters and bowlers. All of them will want to put matters straight on Wednesday; they have only 48 hours to sort matters out.
England Performances
I was thoroughly unimpressed by the selector’s choices for the two series that are nearly concurrent: this Ireland tour and the UAE World Cup.
I though it a grave error to omit Lauren Filer from the big time, just because Bangladesh (the then supposed location) would offer slow pitches. When a bowler releases the ball, it travels as fast in Blackpool as it does in Bangladesh. It’s only when it pitches that we see the difference. She has bowled outstandingly in Ulster. Cross gave her six overs straight off. 6-2-10-3 is a remarkable analysis.
The two players invited to both parties
Freya Kemp has proved her worth with bat and ball.
Bess Heath still has a large question-mark against her. If the keeper-coaches rate her the second-best keeper in the country, I bow to their superior knowledge, If Jon Lewis picked her because she hits the ball hard, her case is unproven. She made an encouraging 33* on Saturday, but a two-ball duck today.
When she scores a ton in the third match, I’ll revise my thoughts with apologies. But her keeping has too many untidy moments for my liking. She dropped a straightfoward chance off an outside edge and some deliveries slip away down the leg-side that really should be stopped. I’m not expecting Sarah Taylor or Amy Jones’ standards.
Lewis’ selections over the past months have left him with no options. He hasn’t experimented with any of Heath’s competitors, and they are plenty.
The choice of Kate Cross as captain has worked like a charm. She has hardly been able to take the smile off her face. (9.5-0-30-6 and 4-0-8-3!) I was upset that Tammy Beaumont was denied the job, but that’s personal prejudice which is out of place. She scored 150* instead.
