Durham Cricket (women) vs Warwickshire Bears (women) (match 13, league one – stand-alone fixture) at Chester-le-Street, Bank Homes Riverside, on 29 May 2026
Durham Cricket women bounced-back from their chaotic defeat by Surrey women, during which a new world record was set (by Surrey.) Durham Cricket top-scorer Bess Heath – pictured wearing England coloursmade career-best 61 (from 39 balls); banking an 80-runs partnership with Emily Windsor for DC’s third-wicket. Depleted by absences, Bears batters Charis Pavely partnered by Meg Austin posted 41 for Bears third-wicket, but Bears total score fell short after six batters departed for single-figures. Before the match, award-winning Head Groundsman Vic Demain certified an ‘outstanding’ pitch and outfield from DC’s point-of-view. That came in for post-match criticism by Bears’ Head Coach who told reporters it was a ‘difficult wicket,’ from the visitors’ perspective. Separately, Bears are yet to open their account. Durham cricket TV Livestreamcommentator: Ash Thorpe from ‘Durham Cricket’ academy CeMAP plus Gill Smith (World-cup winner, former England womens’ international left-arm seamer and author – please see new book reference below); and Tahlia Wilson (Australia WBBL) said to be participating via social media. Weather: clouding over, ‘quite windy, with cross-breeze’ 18C.
Durham Cricket women wearing yellow splash over dark blue with white numbers and dark blue caps with yellow pads; *Skipper Hollie Armitage *[Abbey Freeborn keeping wicket for Bears); *With Katherine Fraser(Scottish International); international player Heather Graham (Australia Womens Big-Bash League WBBL); *Mis-timing ‘square,’ Hollie Armitage was bowled ‘middle-and-off,’ by Alexa Stonehouse; *Mady Villiers was caught at ‘cow corner’ by Amu Surenkumar from Mary Taylor; *After 6 overs ‘power-play’ 37/2; *by ‘mid-way’ 62/2 (after 10 overs); *Emily Windsor was ‘run-out’ by Alexa Stonehouse’s direct-hit to the non-striker’s end; *Mis-timing ‘reverse-sweep,’ Bess Heath went plumb ‘leg-before,’ to Charis Pavely;*Stepping too far forward, Heather Graham was stumped by Abbey Freeborn, from Georgia Davis;Durham Cricket women batting: Bess Heath 61(39); Emily Windsor 31(39); Mady Villiers 13(13); Mia Rogers 12*not out (12); Bears women bowling: Alexa Stonehouse 1/15(4); Georgia Davis 1/20(4); Mary Taylor 1/28(4); Charis Pavely 1/23(3);
Bears women wearing ’sky’ blue diamond cheque with yellow trim over dark blue; with yellow helmets and black caps; *skipper Georgia Davis *[Mia Rogers keeping wicket for DC] *with international player Georgia Redmayne (Australia WBBL);*Abbey Freeborn was caught by keeper Mia Rogers, from Trudy Johnson for a third-ball ‘duck;’ *’Huge wicket’ when Georgia Redmayne went ‘leg-before’ to Mady Villiers; *After 6 overs ‘power-play’ 42/2 (vs37/2); *Meg Austin was bowled by Sophia Turner’s ’slower yorker;’ *Charis Pavely was bowled with her ‘middle stump removed,’ by Abi Glen; *Level-pegging by ‘mid-way’ 66/4 (vs62/2) (after 10 overs); *Mistiming ‘sweep,’ Amu Surenkumar went ‘leg-before’ to Katie Levick; *Bethan L Ellis was caught overhead at ‘backward-point’ by Bess Heath from Heather Graham, for a ‘golden duck’; *Mistiming ‘slog’, Chloe Brewer was caught-and-bowled at waist-height, by Mady Villiers; *Mary Taylor was stumped ‘outside-off’ by Mia Rogers, from Heather Graham; *Mistiming ‘slog’, Alexa Stonehouse steepled aerial, was caught-and-bowled by Katie Levick *Georgia Davis was caught at ‘backward-point’ by Bess Heath from Sophia Turner; Bears women batting: Chloe Brewer 26(23); Meg Austin 19(20); Charis Pavely 18(16); Mary Taylor 12(12); Durham Cricket women bowling: Sophia Turner 2/13(3.1); Katie Levick 2/23(4); Mady Villiers 2/23(4); Heather Graham 2/23(3); Abi Glen 1/9(1); Trudy Johnson 1/17(3);
Match result: Durham Cricket (women) 140/5(@7 runs-per-over,from 20 overs) beat Warwickshire Bears (women) 113 ‘All out’ (@6.1 r-p-o from 18.1 ov./target 141 from 20ov.) by 27 runs with 11 balls remaining
*Scorecard with video highlights, courtesy of ECB via nv play @url: https://live.nvplay.com/ecb/?tab=m_scorecard#me5e80000-9b94-4272-c358-08de2c26e0a4
*Book reference SMITH Gill (2026) “What Cricket Means to Me” courtesy of ‘YouTube’ @ url: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kotgWZbAMRI
*Upcoming League one ‘Vitality Blast’ (20ov.) fixtures @url: http://4theloveofsport.co.uk/2025/12/17/vitality-blast-league-one-fixtures-for-2026-3-of-4/
*Upcoming League one ‘MetroBank’ (50ov.) fixtures with mid-term results @url: http://4theloveofsport.co.uk/2026/05/17/metro-bank-one-day-cup-league-one-wome
