Australia v New Zealand, Brisbane To all you 34-year-old management consultants out there, here’s your role model! Kate Henwood, who had never been part of a representative rugby squad till last February, finds herself vaulted into the Black Ferns’ side to face the Wallaroos in the first of two traditional cross-Tasman tests. Her two children
Trent Bridge The call for 5-day tests was justified. This was a great game of cricket. Whatever England achieved – and it was plenty – the Australians found an answer, as they nearly always do. The final turning point came late yesterday, when the heart of England’s batting was shredded. That third Innings After a
The Ashes Test – Fourth Day Ecclestone, the One-woman show Sophie Ecclestone returned the remarkable figures of 77.1-16-192-10 across two innings. On a burning hot day she wheeled away selflessly, while Heather Knight’s choice of bowlers and bowling changes came under question. But neither Ecclestone’s bowling nor Tammy Beaumont’s record-breaking batting could give hope of
Tammy Beaumont continued her outstanding form, by breaking a series of batting records that will take some overhauling. First she passed Betty Snowball’s highest ever score by an English batter that had stood for 85 years. Then, amidst huge tension, she finally tickled another single to fine-leg to receive a prolonged standing ovation. Late in
Friday 23 June Trent Bridge Tammy Beaumont followed her double hundred off last week with another undefeated ton against an Australian attack. The odds on her adding a further 200 to her overnight score are agaist her. But England will need a minor miracle over the next three days if they are to scoop more
The Ashes – Only Test, first day Before the day’s details, here’s my pre-hindsight gripe: Jon Lewis got his selection wrong. He picked an XI containing two promising young quicks (fine), but only one leading spinner (boo). If Heather Knight was looking for an alternative to Sophie Ecclestone, she had only Emma Lamb and Sophia
England haven’t won an Ashes series for nine years. Given how frequently the two sides meet – it’s almost as if they compete in the same league, playing each other home and away every year – this is a record England must hope to end. If you’d like to hear the Aussie version of what
Jon Lewis’ choice of players to represent England in the test match will speak volumes about his philosophy of cricket. Can the established players all be sure of retention? Can the younger generation harbour hopes of promotion? How far will he and his commmittee be influenced by events in the two warm-up matches? A test
The Ashes – Second Day What an extraordinary day’s play! At the flick of a switch we could watch two games at our leisure. In both of them the hosts topped 500 runs, scored at the rate of a 100-metre sprinter. The weather remained stuck, the jet stream streaming unremitting heat over proceedings. Would the
The opening day of the old campaign could hardly have been more fascinating. Two 3-day warm-up matches started simultaneously, AvB and BvA, only they weren’t called that officially. Instead it was: England v Australia A at Derby and England A v Australia at Leicester. ‘Warm-up’ meant that rules could be broken (slightly more than 44
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