- This topic has 20 replies, 2 voices, and was last updated 1 year, 10 months ago by
.
- Posts
Not sure how many bets will be on here, but I thought I would create a thread.
Outside of watching horse racing (the interest in which is very much on the wane) I watch a fair bit of women’s sport. For some reason I just prefer it to the men’s equivalent. It used to be mainly tennis, but that has diminished with so many changes to the streaming. Amazon gave you coverage of all courts, but Sky just one or two, hardly the greatest swap for the viewer. Amazon have left itself with very little, and it’s now really about the shopping, and little else. So I went from tennis to cricket. The game has moved on massively from the days of Rachel Heyhoe Flint when it was seemingly quite an achievement to hit the ball off the wicket. Unfortunately, at international level only three teams really count – Australia, England, and India. There will be be the odd shock, usually down to one or two individuals stepping up. The other teams just don’t have the strength in depth.
England are currently touring New Zealand. They should have won the T20 series 5-0, but threw one game away. I think there is still more frailty to the women’s game which possibly makes it more exciting. After the retirement of Satterthwaite, New Zealand just have the three world class players in Devine, Bates and Amelia Kerr. At the moment the rest are simply not up to much. Until Gaze scored a 50 in the last T20 match nobody outside the big three had scored a 50 for 6 years. That’s not a great stat. They have a domestic structure, but it’s dominated by Wellington, and it’s not producing the players they need.
England should be even more dominant in the upcoming three ODI’s.
England duly landed the odds of around 1/3 in the first ODI. Comfortable in the end, but New Zealand had two big chances to create the upset. They created a platform that should have seen them posting 250+, but instead another terrible batting collapse resulted in them not even seeing out their 50 overs. England then produced their own collapse only for Jones and Dean to register an unbroken 130 partnership for the seventh wicket. This result might be even harder for New Zealand to take than if they had been absolutely hammered.
Mair was by far New Zealand’s best bowler in the T20’s so a big surprise she was left out of this match. Rowe looks very short on confidence and looks a certainty to be left out of the second match. They will also be hoping Devine is able to return. Green would be the obvious player to make way given that she has played every match, and contributed next to nothing. I doubt England will make changes although you could make a case for Dunkley replacing Beaumont who looks to be struggling. Bouchier was the star batter in the T20’s and continued her form into this match.
Surprisingly, no team changes were made for the second game of the series.
England under performed, but still registered a relatively easy win to go 2-0, but not before New Zealand threw away another winning opportunity. Again they allowed England’s tail to post 250+ when at one stage it looked as if they would be pushed to reach 200. In reply New Zealand recovered a little thanks to just one partnership, but never really looked likely to get over the line. At the conclusion the ‘injured’ Bezuidenhout not batting didn’t look great. Gaze has now shown a couple of glimmers with the bat, but her wicket keeping at times remains basement level.
After Beaumont carved out a 50 it’s hard to see England making changes for the final game, unless with the series won, they want to experiment. In reality they could put out a second team and beat New Zealand. The home side must be really short on confidence. Just read that Mair is injured which explains her absence. It was puzzling why she didn’t play in this game as she was the one player with a chance to blast out the England tail. Green was terrible again, and it just emphasises the lack of depth that she continues to retain her place.
England are due to play both Pakistan and New Zealand this summer, and both series look there for the taking. Unless they badly under perform they should be looking at a couple of whitewashes. Interesting to see if they can attract much of a crowd to watch what are likely to be very one-sided fixtures.
Series ends with a crushing victory for New Zealand. England shocking with bat and ball, and Devine returns to blast a century. The margin could have been even greater had Jones and Dean not staged a recovery for the second time in the three matches.
So even though England have taken both series for a combined 6-2 scoreline they have finished on a very low note. That overall score is flattering as the home side failed to take advantage of several winning opportunities, and that was with injuries to two key players in Devine and Mair. On pitches that were relatively benign, England only once scrambled over 250 with a succession of failures from the top order batting.
I’ve all but quit betting so I can’t comment on that side of it but I have to say I can see the appeal of women’s sport. It looks like a much more pleasant place to be. The drunk and coked up thugs aren’t only a racing problem but they tend to stick to the men’s.
I quite like athletics and that’s long had men and women competing on the same bill. The sport is sadly in the doldrums a bit at the moment but certainly on the track side of it there are some great female athletes about at the moment. It is a shame about Flo Jo’s, shall we say, dubious records because if you take her out of the equation then a lot of the best times ever have been set in recent years.
England start their home campaign with the first T20 against Pakistan. Although there is more chance of an upset in the shorter form it looks a mismatch and England are priced as short as 1/25. Given the opposition it’s a little disappointing that England have decided not to experiment with the squad. This looked an ideal opportunity as a second team would likely be winning these matches. The only real point of note is that Dunkley hasn’t made either the T20 or the ODI squads despite a strong start to the domestic season. Kemp who has so far only produced bits and pieces at international level plays instead of Sciver-Brunt. Bet365 still have Sciver-Brunt in their lists which shows how much notice they have taken. The game is on BBC2 so hopefully, it won’t be a complete mismatch. England should look to bat first to both test themselves, and reduce the possibility of early finishes.
Pretty ordinary performance from England, but still a very easy win, just emphasising the gulf in class. Pakistan started well twice, but very quickly lost the plot. England’s early self destruction (11-4) mirrored what happened in New Zealand. This top order collapse is happening too often, and isn’t something they are likely to find so easy to recover from against the likes of Australia and India. Bouchier tailed off against New Zealand, and it was another poor shot today. Welcome runs for Gibson, but once Kemp starts playing as an all rounder, I suspect she will be the one to make way.
Thankfully, I was able to watch today’s match on Sky. BBC spent far too much time discussing Jimmy Anderson. Pretty sure if was a men’s match they would not waste time talking about the retirement of female player.
Whilst applauding BBC for showing some cricket, by just showing the odd match, they are providing no continuity.
Next match on Friday evening.
A dreadful second game of the series with England winning in a canter, despite no batter in the match making more than 31. It’s such a mismatch it’s hard to see what either side are getting out of this series. England are winning very easily, but are not close to playing well, and surely Pakistan would be better off playing sides of similar ability. As I said England could have experimented, but it seems Knight is unwilling to move in that direction. Hammering Pakistan in every game is going to mean very little. If this is the best on offer I can see the crowds dropping off.
A slightly better third game, but still a very easy win for England, and again a massive gulf. England batted first for the third time in series, and although they achieved their highest total it was still a long way from convincing performance. Danni Wyatt with 87 made the only real score of the series, but she was dropped three times, all of which should have been taken, and first on 12 by the Pakistan keeper who hasn’t looked at all solid. Jones made a decent contribution again, and has looked the England player in the best nick. England just made the one change, Filer for Bell. Disappointing that they didn’t see fit to give the whole squad a run outas this looked an ideal opportunity. Worth mentioning the Pakistan over rate was abysmal throughout the three games.
On to the ODI’s when the gulf between the two sides should be even greater.
Forgot to add that England have got lucky with the draw for the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh. They have avoided both Australia and India at the Group stage. That said the same happened at the Commonwealth Games and that didn’t work out too well. If they are to have any chance they will certainly need to be playing better cricket than they are at the moment. Australia have won the trophy on 6/8 occasions, with England and West Indies the other winners. England won the initial tournament in 2009, the only time it’s been held in this country.
Eyecatching performance from 17 year old Davina Perrin making 50 off 25 balls in the Charlotte Edwards Cup yesterday. Worth keeping an eye on, and having made previous squads, a fair chance that this year she will actually play for Birmingham Phoenix in the Hundred.
First ODI, and nothing changes, England poor, but nowhere near as poor as Pakistan. Surprised the crowds are turning out because the games have been lifeless, and the results entirely predictable. No signs of Pakistan progressing, or England getting any better. Nearly every England player got a start, but nobody could better Capsey’s 44, and that innings was about as entertaining as pulling teeth. Pakistan’s top score was the 40 extras including a ridiculous number of wides. To make matters worse Sky called up their second eleven commentary team. You know when things are headed up by Nick Knight in his little kiddies jacket – he must have been wearing that at school – things are looking bleak.
After a near washout in Taunton the third and final ODI. England 302-5 Pakistan 124-9, not even batting 30 of their 50 overs. An embarrassing end to a very embarrassing series. Even today England didn’t bat that well. Had they done so 350 would surely have been on cards. The innings was meandering until Wyatt gave it some much needed impetus. Sciver-Brunt duly racked up a century, but for the majority of her innings she was short off a run a ball. A succession of gifts in the last three overs gave the innings a much better look. Overs 45-47 went for just 6 runs with the innings floundering, then pace returned and 48-50 went for 46. Pakistan’s fielding left much to desired with Aliya Riaz the standout culprit with several shocking examples.
England 5 Pakistan 0
An inevitable scoreline with England way short of their best, and Pakistan showing no signs of improvement.
Roll on New Zealand towards the end of June.
India duly complete a 3-0 ODI win in the first part of their home series against South Africa. Two crushing wins either side of a competitive second match where both sides posted well in excess of 300. Unfortunately, the closeness of that second match was purely down to centuries from Wolvaardt and Kapp. Theirin lies the South African problem – they don’t have the strength in depth to compete on a regular basis with the likes of India. Quite a task ahead for Wolvaardt, the newly appointed captain, particularly as she doesn’t appear the most demonstrative of figures. Smriti Mandhana the outstanding player of series with two centuries and a 90. It really should have been three centuries as she ended up rather throwing it away today. These games were quite a step up from anything produced in the England v Pakistan series.
Series against New Zealand began today with the first of three ODI’s in Durham. The series against Pakistan delivered next to nothing, and this one started in very similar vein. The scores say everything about how competitive it was – New Zealand 156 (33.3 overs) and England 157/1 (21.2 overs). New Zealand just pathetic with Bates, Kerr, and Devine contributing just 39 between them. Wickets just tossed away without England having to do anything special. England, Australia, and India aside, the other countries don’t have anything like the same depth, and they are not getting any closer. The only other thing of note was the very strange decision to bring in the boundary ropes to a huge extent. Let’s hope that doesn’t happen again, and the second match is better. It couldn’t be any worse. Looking at the New Zealand squad, Mair remains injured, so hard to see how changing the side could make much difference at all.
Deja vu in the second ODI with England demolishing New Zealand again. It would have been even easier, but for a contrived finish enabling Bouchier to complete a century. New Zealand used Rowe as the scapegoat for the first defeat, but were just as bad. They appear to be at rock bottom, and in need of radical rebuild. They are playing with fear, and a total lack of confidence. Of course Bates and Devine are first names on the teamsheet, but what difference are they making beyond clogging up two places which could be used to blood new players? It might help long term if both of them stepped aside now.
In the one-off test between South Africa and India having been forced to follow on the tourists are making a decent fist of trying to save the game. On the verge of a century Wolvaardt is probably the key to achieving the draw. Mandhana had earlier registered her third century in four innings. The cricket here is a different level to that being played out in this country.
Wolvaardt duly completed her century, but once she departed, there was minimal resistance and the home side knocked off the runs to win by 10 wickets, and gain another impressive win. I have a feeling that India have now moved ahead of England as the main opponents to Australia. South Africa are fourth in line, but as these results indicate there is a very big gap to the top three.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.