Match Preview
Bank Holiday Monday see’s the Women’s 1st XI travel to Wadebridge CC to take on Cornwall. This game will mark the start of a new T20 knockout competition which has been dubbed as crickets answer to the FA cup. The competition – Vitality Women’s T20 County Cup sees all the county teams across Tier 1, Tier 2 and Tier 3 compete in one competition.
In Round 1, Berkshire will travel to Tier 3 – Division 2 side Cornwall. The winner will then host a Tier 2 opponent in Middlesex or Kent, in the 2nd round the following weekend. 3 in this competition could give Berkshire the opportunity to take on The Blaze, a fully professional side.
Travelling Squad:
Alex Avoth
Bella Mitchell
Eliza Bristowe
Emma MacEwen
Freya Johnson
Hollie Summerfield
Izzy Storrar
Lily Bowlby
Mary Briscoe
Naaz Asif Iqbal
Poppy Camplin
Shristi Patil
7 changes are made from last time out with 5 players returning having been away with the Vipers Academy last weekend, along with spinner Hollie Summerfield and pathway all rounder, Emma MacEwen who is named in the travelling squad for the first time. Vipers EPP all rounder – Bella Mitchell is also in-line to make her debut for Berkshire having joined us over the winter, having previously represented Hampshire Women before the restructure saw their county team move to being a fully professional side.
Women’s Head Coach – Tom Jackson said “The T20 cup presents a really exciting challenge for the young side to compete in a competition alongside professional sides. 9 of the squad are still involved with U18 County Age Group Cricket which demonstrates the strength of our pathway programmes and the relationships we have with our partner organisations’”
Last Time Out
Last Sunday (27th) saw Berkshire travel to Tring Park CC to take on Hertfordshire Women in gameweek 2 of the Metro Bank 50 Over One Day Cup. The side were looking to pick up their 1st win of the season having lost in a low scoring match against Devon the week before. Another excellent bowling display followed by a well managed run chase saw the Women pick up their 1st win with a 6 wicket win.
Hertfordshire won the toss and elected to bat, which worked into our favour with our plans to bowl first. The innings got off to a great start with Sarah Pearson (2/15), whose loan from Middlesex had been extended for a 2nd week, picked up a wicket with the first ball. Fellow opening bowler, Freya Johnson was also in the wickets and Hertfordshire were reduced to 16/4 after 8 overs with 2 wickets a piece for the openers. 14 year old off spinning all rounder, Naaz Asif Iqbal on debut (along with sister Fiza also on debut) was brought into the attack early on. Naaz finished with impressive figures of 4 maidens from her 8 overs and only going for 28 runs. The middle overs saw loanee leg spinner Anisha Dissanayake (1/30) and off spinner Shayna Chikhlia (3/18) pick up regular wickets. Freya then return to the attack to pick up a further 2 wickets to finish with figures of 4/15. This led to Hertfordshire being dismissed for 128.
Having performed well with the ball debutant Naaz (24), joined Alex Avoth to get the run chase underway. A quick start from the openers saw the innings get off to a flyer with Berkshire reaching 40/0 after 5 overs. With Alex (22) being caught in the deep in the 6 over saw Iqraa Hussain (also making her debut) join Naaz at the crease. From that point on a well-controlled run chase saw the runs steadly knocked off with Iqraa unbeaten on 31 along with captain Ash Muttitt who hit the winning runs in the 24th over. This saw the team pick up 4 points for the win along with an additional bonus point having achieved a run rate 1.25 times that of Hertfordshire. That leaves us 3rd in the table behind the unbeaten sides of Staffordshire and Devon with 5 games left to play. The 50 over competition now takes a break with the next game on Sunday 1st June.