1 Tongue in cheek
Last week I had my tongue (half hidden) in my cheek when I wondered whether Sophie Ecclestone had played her last game for England. I was referring to the vaulting ascent of Tilly Corteen-Coleman as England’s next slow left-armer. Well, I was left looking like an oracle when she came on to bowl in the fourth over of Sunrisers’ innings at the Oval. Once again she took a wicket with her first ball, pinning Amara Carr right in front – hitting all three, as they say. Bryony Smith used her in one-over spells this time, and she finished with the tidy analysis 4-0-14-1.
I hope I’m not biased by the fact she was born in Canterbury.
2 The more games offered to players, the more standards rise
The people in charge of proceedings can see how well their plans are working. With games coming thick and fast through the summer, playing standards are rising visibly. To take just two examples from today’s match: Emma Jones (SES) and Kate Coppack (Sunrisers). Both have been bowling with some venom recently, and Jones adds fierce hitting to her CV. She took an outstanding catch on the boundary too.
You can add many parallel examples from up and down the country. My one concern is how and when these performances can be rewarded. We are seeing more ‘A’ team squads being given their chance, and the Under 19 World Cup is proving an excellent breeding ground. But will there be enough opportunities for all the talent being developed nationwide?
3 Was it inevitable?
The one player added to the England ODI squad, Sophia Dunkley, added six runs off nine deliveries, to become the only SES batter of the six to reach the crease not to make double figures. Such is cricket.
4 Assessing one performance against others
Sunrisers’ 20-year-old captain, Grace Scrivens, once again produced a quality innings.
Opening with Mady Villiers, she scored 62* off 48 deliveries out of a total of 111-5. Unlike the other batters in the top six she preferred to use a straight bat. But she has the ability to manoeuvre the ball powerfully beyond the reach of the ring-field to off and leg.
How do national selectors rate a performance like that against others from stronger batting units than Sunrisers? Scrivens saw Villiers go for a duck, followed by Alice Macleod and Amara Carr for 4 and 2; two of them attempting rash shots that offered easy catches. Only with Jo Gardner coming in at 7 did she find a partner prepared to lower the risk-level while still hitting the ball hard. Together they added an undefeated 68 till the rain finally settled in.
5 Overseas Players
I return to a topic that grinds me down. In the Charlotte Edwards Cup each region is allowed one overseas player. Why? Do the authorities think that adds extra thousands of spectators to every gate? Or do they think English standards are not high enough without their assistance?
As it happens, I have spotted only Australians among these incomers, and I’m sure Cricket Australia is very happy to allow players from their second and third-string squads to come over and remind the English how to play the game successfully.
But wait; in today’s game Nicola Hancock, once of Australia A, didn’t make the XI for Sunrisers after the following results: 12 runs in four innings, and 3 wickets for 101 in five matches.
Moving in the opposite direction was Georgia Redmayne, who batted No 3 for SES and registered their top score of 38*. But her runs came less fluently than several of her partners’; a scoring rate of 95 to set against the 190 of Bryony Smith (21), the 109 of Phoebe Franklin (23), the 156 of Emma Jones (36) and, at the end, a mighty 266 by Alice Davidson-Richards (16* off 6).
In sum, we are left wondering how the head coaches of each region came to their decision about the choice of that one player. Did they all automatically look to Australia first (and last)?
6 Whether the weather be hot…
I live seven stations down the line from Kennington/Vauxhall. Not a drop of rain all afternoon. The Oval game was restricted to 18 overs each.
Scores:
SE Stars: 153-4 (18 overs) Sunrisers 111-5 (15.5 overs)
SES won by 19 runs (DLS method)
