This week: The issues with NZ’s domestic structure & how the ICC could help Why NZC turned down a Test for the White Ferns, & was it the right call? ECB’s plan to sell The Hundred goes belly up… …as do plans for a Super T10 in Scotland ..read more

New Zealand Cricket turned down the chance to play a Test match as part of their recent women’s tour to England, CRICKETher can reveal. The ECB officially invited NZC to play a Test in March 2022, when tour arrangements were initially being made, but the offer was declined. Instead, the tour – which concluded at Lord’s on Wednesday – consisted entirely of 50-over and 20-over matches. All eight of the games were won by England. New Zealand have not played a women’s Test since August 2004, but the recent revival of the format – with England, Australia, India and South Africa now regularly partic ..read more

England won the 5th and final T20 at Lord’s to complete a clean sweep of sorry New Zealand, who have lost all 8 matches played between the sides on this tour. It was England’s 13th win in 14 games this summer, with the only blemish being the rained-off ODI against Pakistan at Taunton. #ENGvNZ England 155-7 v New Zealand 135-8 pic.twitter.com/5N0LiABowr — CRICKETher (@crickether) July 17, 2024 There was an awful lot of hype around this game, with England players drafted into the marketing efforts at Lord’s, and the BBC going all-out to make a splash with their coverage – the second of the ..read more

By Andy Frombolton Underpinning Project Darwin is the ECB’s belief that ownership and accountability is key to the future growth and success of women’s cricket. But whether a regional or a county-based structure is better will be moot unless the standard of cricket is high enough to attract tv deals and spectators. And with considerable extra funding being put into the women’s game and an ever-increasing cohort of professionals, expectations are quite rightly growing against a rapidly-rising datum. In many areas the results of increased funding are apparent; there’s an abundance of quality bow ..read more

This week: Have England’s dizzying experimental selections gone too far? The return of Capsey The Great What will Tier 2 look like? The ECB’s attempts to fit women’s cricket into a men’s cricket-shaped box ..read more

With drinks being taken at the 10-over mark in England’s innings at the Oval this evening, some of the 16,500-strong crowd began to file out of the ground to beat the queues for the tube. It was a sign of two things, both positives for England – first that we are starting to pull-in those more casual fans who are happy to miss the end of the game to avoid the crush getting into Vauxhall Underground; and second that by that stage, the game was very-much done and dusted. And indeed, 9 balls later Nat Sciver-Brunt-Gate (as she will be known for the purposes of this report, having opened a new gat ..read more

England took a 2-0 series lead against New Zealand, winning a rain-shortened match at Hove by 23 runs on DLS. #ENGvNZ England 89-6 v New Zealand 42-5 (T: 66) pic.twitter.com/aWQimE56zt — CRICKETher (@crickether) July 9, 2024 England made two changes – bringing in Lauren Bell for Linsey Smith, and Dani Gibson for Freya Kemp – presumably with giving Bell and Gibson game-time and the opportunity to show what they can do, rather than dropping either Smith or Kemp. (Smith bowled well at Southampton, while Kemp played a key innings with the bat, and though Kemp didn’t bowl well, England’s manag ..read more

This week: ⁠Afghanistan women in exile ask for help from ICC – will they get it? England v NZ – Returns to form for Capsey, Bell & Kemp ⁠Would this NZ team beat NZ from 2018? ⁠Why Hollie Armitage signing for Durham is good news for everyone! (Except Yorkshire ..read more

For the written press, the Rose Ageas Utilita Bowl is the best of grounds, and it is the worst of grounds. The press box, embedded inside the luxurious Hilton Hotel, is spacious and comfortable, with a panoramic view of the field of play. The media catering is exactly what you’d expect from a 4-star hotel – delicious and plentiful, with cakes and puddings to die for. (Honestly if you ate them every day, you probably would die for it… due to the ensuing heart attack!) Mission Control #ENGvNZ pic.twitter.com/kZauRZWzYO — CRICKETher (@crickether) July 6, 2024 But, there are buts! Because the ..read more

England ground out a win in the foreshortened 3rd ODI at Bristol, despite an improved performance from New Zealand, who put 211 on the board in 42 overs, after having been bowled out for 150-odd in both the previous games in this series. #ENGvNZ New Zealand 211-8 v England pic.twitter.com/gQ2dAu3XCh — CRICKETher (@crickether) July 3, 2024 I choose my words carefully – it was an “improved” performance from the White Ferns, but not a “good” one. Accounting for the lost overs, a typical 1st innings score in an ODI between the ICC Championship sides in this “cycle” would be around 210, so 211 ..read more