Surrey confirmed their place in the final at the Oval on 27 July with a convincing win over bottom-placed Somerset.
Pre-match Bryony Smith recognised the value of the South-East Stars remaining together under the one-county heading. Stars had meant an amalgamation of Kent and Surrey, and fortunately for the Brown Caps the Kent contingent all moved home to the Oval again.
The side shows huge confidence. There are eighteen of them, with the one addition of an overseas player, Grace Harris. I for one cannot see the need to include these non-England players.
Surrey bat down to at least No 10; in today’s XI ten of them could bowl, though Smith saw no need to use Emma Jones, Alice Monaghan or herself.
Catches Win
But it is the fielding that catches the eye. Bearing in mind England’s lamentable current standards, we may safely call Surrey the best fielding unit in the country.
Today’s offerings brought sharp stops and returns in the ring, two neat catches at short third by Alexa Stonehouse; a fine running catch in the deep by Kalea Moore and an exceptional take at long-off by Alice Capsey. She sprinted far to her right, dived full length and held the ball in one hand as her wrist crashed against the floor.
This has been the standard throughout the season. If we had stats covering the number of times wicket-keepers have dived to their knees to collect wayward throws, Kira Chathli would prove the least troubled. Throw-ins are hard, fast and accurate.
Somerset have suffered badly from absences. Danni Gibson made a welcome return after months away – she scored 9 but couldn’t bowl. Heather Knight is missing from duty, and the experienced skipper, Sophie Luff, didn’t appear today either.
That left captaincy in the hands of 20-year old Niamh Holland, a tough call in the circumstances.
It leaves us wondering once more about the ECB’s decisions about apportioning counties to the two divisions. Durham in Div 1 with minimal support of women’s cricket; Yorkshire and Kent in Div 2, with long histories of success. They count for nothing in the ECB’s eyes.
Afterthought
Colour-coding: Surrey’s Cambridge-blue shirts exactly match the Oval’s seats and Danni Gregory’s finger-nails. What very good taste!
Scores:
Surrey 176-7 (Monaghan 57)
Somerset 107 (17.3 overs)
Top of Table
P W Pts
Surrey 12 10 46
Birmingham 13 8 36
The Blaze 11 6 31
Note: there is one county listed here – very rum.
