Following the announcement of the Vipers 2024/25 Academy & EPP cohorts, we are incredibly excited to see the number of Berkshire players continuing to grow.
Vipers Academy 2024/25
2024/25 will once again see three Berkshire players on the Academy, all of whom join the Academy for the first time. Having played regularly for the Academy throughout the 2024 summer, Finchampstead CC raised pace bowler – Molly Bulteel officially joins the Academy for 2024/25. Joining her are Slough CC pair Shristi Patil & Phebe Salter. Shristi Patil joins the Academy after another successful season with the bat having played for the U15 and U18 county sides, while also regularly representing the Women’s 1st XI. Phebe Salter played regularly for the U15 and U18 teams, picking up 11 wickets in the 14 overs she bowled for the U15s.
Vipers Emerging Player Programme (EPP) 2024/25
Eight Berkshire players have been named as part of the ‘Central Hub’ with Izzy Storrar, Poppy Camplin, Katharine Collie and Mary Briscoe all being retained. Emma MacEwen joins the EPP following a strong first season in U18s cricket. Lily Bowlby, who following her change over the winter to left arm spin and picking up 10 first team wickets in her debut season as an U15, progresses onto the EPP. The final two new names on the EPP are spin bowling pair Naaz Asif Iqbal and Tanvi Ravikumar. Both of whom despite it being their first year of U15s cricket made several appearances for the U18s side, who would reach the T20 quarter finals.
Lily, Naaz and Tanvi all formed part of Berkshire’s 2023/24 Extra Provision Group which provides a fully funded additional weekly provision for high potential players to support them on making the jump from County Age Group cricket to a regional EPP. This news continues to demonstrate the effectiveness of the programme with five players progressing onto a regional EPP in the two seasons it has been running.
Paul Bew – Female Pathway Manager said “We are delighted to see so many of our players gain places on regional programmes this winter. Every player selected has worked hard to develop their skills to now keep progressing their cricket journey. I want to thank all our pathway coaches who have supported the players over a number of years. Several players have been involved in the pathway since u11s and its testament to all their hard work that we now see all these players doing so well.
The players themselves continue to be role models for our pathway and we wish them all the best.”
T20 Competition
Played 7
Won 3 (Surrey, Kent & Suffolk)
Lost 4 (Herts, Sussex, Middlesex & Essex)
Cancelled 1 (Bucks)
It was great to see the progress the side made through the competition. After a difficult start on a wet May day at Falkland that saw the team post a score of 60 and game 2 get washed out, to too agonisingly close defeats, before 2/2 against Surrey and Suffolk and then concluding with strong batting displays against Kent & Herts.
Throughout the competition, the side excelled with the ball in hand ending up being the best bowling side in the group. In Game 1, despite defending a score of 60, the bowlers gave Sussex a tough time of it needing 15 overs and loosing 5 wickets in the chase. Games 3 & 4 vs Essex & Middlesex saw 2 excellent efforts with the ball almost defending a score of 106 and restricting in the other to 98/9 before being unable to chase the score. Games 5 & 6 saw the back-to-back wins, first dismissing Suffolk for 94 before going one better, defending 98 against Surrey by dismissing them for 83. Games 7 & 8, were played on a pitch that was far more batter friendly but on the whole, the bowlers continued to perform well.
Off Spinner, Shayna Chikhlia and Seamer Poppy Tulloch ended up as the groups joint leading wicket takers taking 13 wickets each. A special mention also goes to U15 Lily Bowlby who in her debut season picked up 7 wickets.
Game by game, the performances with the bat gradually got better and better as the season went on. Having been dismissed cheaply by Sussex and not being able to chase a score of sub 100 against Middlesex the campaign had not got off to the best of starts. However, following a nerve low scoring run chase getting by with 1 wicket to spare and posting 98 against a strong Surrey attack, the batting unit started to figure out an approach. The last 2 games saw the players hard work pay off with a good run chase against Kent, winning by 6 wickets and posting a season high of 156/8 in a losing run chase against Hertfordshire. Reflecting after the final game of the season, thinking where the side was at Haberdasher’s School after two rounds of games to where we ended the season was a long way off.
As well as producing with the ball, Poppy Tulloch also finished the leading run scorer for the side with 142 runs @ 20.29, finishing as the 6th highest run scorer in the group.
50 Over Competition
Played 4
Won 2 (Bucks & Northants)
Lost 1 (Hertfordshire)
Opposition Conceded 1
The 50 over competition, having moved back under the control of the ECB having previously competed in a Southern Vipers Regional competition, was a stop start season. Berkshire were in a group of 10 teams but were only scheduled to play against 4 of them. With the final game of the 50 over competition ending up in our visit to Huntingdonshire being cancelled due to a concession, the side only had 3 fixtures. The side finished 3rdin the group.
The season got off to a fantastic start, with an 8 wicket win at home to Bucks. Having bowled Bucks out for 191, the score was chased down in 27.5 overs with the opening partnership worth 166 between Poppy Tulloch & Mia Rogers. This set a record opening partnership for the Women’s 1st team, beating that set by Heather Knight & Asha Smith, 12 years ago.
Game 2 saw another strong bowling performance, reducing Northants to 133ao. The side would later secure the win by 4 wickets with 12 overs to spare thanks to a 54-run 7th wicket partnership between debutant Poppy Camplin & Ceski Clarke. Game 3 would see the side make it 3 from 3 on the bowling front dismissing Herts for 157. Unfortunately, the batting innings never got going against the Herts spin attack with the innings ending on 78ao. This would spell an abrupt end to the 50 over campaign with the 4th scheduled game not taking place.
Poppy Tulloch finished the 50 over campaign as our leading run scorer with 134 runs @ 44.67 with a best of 84. This would also earn her a 3rd place finish in the group and a top 10 finish across the competition. Ceski Clarke would finish as the leading wicket taker picking up 7 wickets @ an average of 6.71.
Across the summer there were several debutants
1) Mary Briscoe – A seam bowler, still only U16, Mary made her debut on the first game of the season and went on to play 8 games picking up 2 wickets across the season.
2) Poppy Camplin – An U17 Wicket Keeper batter, Poppy made her debut away to Northants and played a key role with the bat on debut before making 7 appearances across the season.
3) Lily Bowlby – Still an U15, Lily made the switch to bowl left arm spin this winter. Having been invited initially to bowl at the 1st team squad in February, Lily went from strength to strength and was then added to the first team squad for the summer. Having made her debut against Sussex, Lily would play the rest of the season racking up 9 appearances, taking 8 wickets and scoring 65 runs in 4 innings.
4) Francesca Sweet – Having moved to the area, Cesca had previously played age group cricket for Sussex. A powerful all-rounder, Cesca was involved mainly across the T20 campaign playing 7 games across the season.
As well as 4 debutants, Wicket Keeper Batter, Mia Rogers also received her 50th cap.
Conclusion of Women’s 1st XI Season
Sunday 11th August saw the 2024 Women’s 1st XI season draw to a conclusion. Cookham Dean CC played host to the final round of T20 fixtures which saw games against Kent & Hertfordshire.
Game 1 saw Berkshire take on Kent. Having won the toss, Berkshire elected to bowl first hoping to restrict Kent to a score that we could later chase on a ground that looked hard to defend on. At the end of the powerplay, Kent had reached 39/1 with Ava Lee picking up the sole wicket. At the half way stage Kent were 72/1. However, the off spin of Ava Lee (2/22) & Shayna Chikhlia (1/23) restricted Kent to 135/4 (20). Young left arm spinner Lily Bowlby (1/22) would picked up the other wicket. The reply got off to a difficult start with a wicket falling in the 1st over. However, Poppy Tulloch was joined by Ariana Dowse who built a good platform for the remainder of the powerplay. After an explosive start, Poppy would fall for 21 off 13 balls on the final ball of the powerplay ending on 42/2. Ariana continued to anchor the innings before falling for 37 in the 17th over with Berkshire needing 26 off 22. This left captain, Ash Muttitt at the crease joined by Ava Lee. Having struck the 18th over for 13 and then the 19th over 12, that left the score levels. Ash (34* off 29) then struck the first ball of the last over for four to seal a 6 wicket win with Ava finishing 10* (6b).
Having watched Kent & Hertfordshire battle it out in the 2nd game of the day, Berkshire then faced Hertfordshire in Game 3. Having lost the toss, Berkshire would bowl first again. On what was continuing to prove to be an excellent wicket for batting despite being into the 3rd game of the day, the ball raced to the boundary. Hertfordshire’s 1st two partnerships both put 50+ runs on the board leaving them on 123-2 in the 16th over. Thanks to wickets in hand & tightened fielding restrictions, due to time penalties, Herts added a further 43 runs in the final 3 overs, posting a score of 179/6. The off spin of Shayna & Ava continued to be the most economical both picking up 2 wickets and going for 30 & 31 respectively off their 4 overs.
Berkshire’s innings got off to a good start with Poppy & Mia Rogers guiding the side to 46-0 at the end of the powerplay. Poppy Tulloch once again at her explosive best striking 39 off 30. The middle order also produced a strong performance with Izzy Storrar top scoring on 41(32b), Ash 18 and Ava 11. A flurry of late wickets would see Berkshire end up on 156/8 (20), 23 runs short of the eventual group winners Hertfordshire’s score.
Sunday August 11th
The Women’s 1st XI host Kent & Hertfordshire in the final T20 round of the season at Cookham Dean CC on Sunday 11th August.
Head Coach Paul Bew has named a 13-player squad for the games.
Mia Rogers
Poppy Tulloch
Ariana Dowse
Izzy Storrar
Ash Muttitt
Ava Lee
Poppy Camplin
Lily Bowlby
Kali-Ann Docherty
Freya Johnson
Shayna Chikhlia
Mary Briscoe
Shristi Patil
Four players come into the squad following our last outing in the T20 competition that saw us secure wins against Surrey & Suffolk. Keeper batter’s Mia Rogers & Ariana Dowse returning to the squad. Following a busy start to the summer balancing exams and Southern Vipers playing commitments, spinner Ava Lee also returns to the side. Having been involved in the 50 over competition earlier this season, top order batter, Shristi Patil also comes into the squad.
Elsewhere, three of our players have been participating in this week’s regional academy festival at Oakham School. Poppy Tulloch, Ava Lee & Molly Bulteel have all been representing the Southern Vipers Academy in the T20 competition. Molly Bulteel made a big impact in game 2 helping the Vipers win by 1 wicket striking 24* (18b) in a 34 run 10th wicket partnership having taken 1-16 (4). Poppy Tulloch helped guide the Vipers to a 9 wicket win in the 1st game scoring 43*. Poppy also picked up 5 wickets across the week. Ava Lee also played an important role in game 1 finishing with figures of 4-9 (4) before going on to pick up 10 wickets across the week.
SUNDAY JULY 28th
The Women’s 1st XI travelled to Chipstead Coulsdon & Walcountians CC in Surrey to face Surrey & Suffolk in T20 action. This was the 3rd round of the Women’s T20 competition having lost 3 and had 1 game abandoned. The last 2 results saw the side fall agonisingly short having produced excellent bowling displays in both games against Essex & Middlesex.
Berkshire first involvement in the day was in Game 2 against Suffolk having seen them fall short chasing Surrey’s total in Game 1. Having won the toss, Berkshire elected to field first hoping to produce another strong bowling display. After a steady start in the powerplay from Suffolk, the bowlers managed to get a squeeze on, creating pressure and resulting in regular wickets. The introduction of spin into the innings saw Shayna Chikhlia (2-11) pick up a double wicket maiden. More spin came into the attack in the form of the left arm spin of Lily Bowlby (3-12 off 4 overs). Lily also picked up 2 wickets in her first over and after 2 overs had figures of 3 wickets for 3 runs. Seamer Poppy Tulloch (3-16) then returned to close the innings out picking up a further 2 wickets before completing a run out off her own bowling to dismiss Suffolk for 94 off the last ball of the innings.
Initially, Berkshire’s batting challenges in the 20 over format continued with the side falling to 26/4 at the end of the powerplay. However, it was the turn of pathway players Izzy (11), Poppy C (16) and Lily to stand up and recover the innings. Poppy playing only her 2nd game & Lily put on an important 7th Wicket partnership of 34 to move the score to 77-7 before another 2 quick wickets fell leaving Berkshire needing 14 runs with 1 wicket remaining off 18 balls. The final wicket partnership managed to find the required runs with 2 balls to spare completing a 1 wicket win.
This left Lily, who is still an U15, 32 not out to go along with her bowling figures of 3-12.
Following a quick turnaround, Berkshire lost the toss and would bat first in game 3 against a strong Surrey side with an array of players with regional experience at both senior & academy level. The team set out looking to improve with the bat and set a score that the bowlers could defend on a well-used pitch. The innings got off to a much better start thanks to openers Poppy Tulloch (15) & Cesca Sweet (23) who navigated an all spin powerplay, which included the left arm spin of Bethan Miles who you might have seen in action this season for the South East Stars when they played the Southern Vipers at Falkland this season, to finish 29-0. At the half way stage, Berkshire were 41-2 a good platform with wickets in hand to be able to accelerate as pace on entered the attack. Lily Bowlby who after her innings in the previous game had moved up to 3 anchored the middle phase of the innings with a further 23 runs. Abi Avery (7) and Poppy Camplin (12*) made an impact at the end of the innings to take the score to 98/6 (20). While only being a few runs more than game 1, it was a very encouraging batting display that was restricted by some high-quality bowling and excellent fielding from Surrey.
With runs on the board on a wicket that was into its 6th innings of the day, the side were confident they could defend the total. The score at the end of the powerplay would further encourage the side. A devastating opening bowling spell from Poppy Tulloch (3-12) & Molly Bulteel (1-8) who both bowled with real pace and accuracy reduced Surrey to 20/5 at the end of the powerplay. The other wicket coming from a brilliant run out seeing Kali-Ann execute a diving stop in the ring to save it from going to the boundary, allowing Cesca to shy at the stumps only for the keeper Poppy C to be arriving on the scene to deflect it onto the stumps. Spin was once again quickly introduced outside the powerplay in Lily (1-13 off 4 overs) and Shayna (2-17) that managed to provide the control in the middle phase along with the seam of Mary Briscoe. With the required rate at over 8 an over Surrey’s no. 9 looked to make a final attempt to get her team back in it taking 15 off the first 4 balls of the 17th over. However, Kali-Ann Docherty (2-17) held her nerve to dismiss the batter with Lily Bowlby capping off a fantastic day personal with bat, ball and now in the field with a catch under pressure at long on. Shayna then completed the job in the 18th over dismissing Surrey for 82 to complete a 15 run win.
That leaves the Women with 2 wins, 3 losses and 1 cancelled sitting mid table in the T20 competition. Berkshire host the final round of the T20 competition with both Kent & Hertfordshire at Cookham Dean on Sunday 11th August.