7th over: West Indies 42-2 (Matthews 36, Grimmond 4)Here’s Em Arlott on debut. Matthews clips for two but is then bounced by Arlott. Good response from the debutant. The bowler gets one to jag back into Grimmond and there’s a decent appeal… NOT OUT – heading down leg. Nice first over from Arlott, that’ll settle her nerves. Five off the over.
6th over: West Indies 37-2 (Matthews 33, Grimmond 2)Dean lands it on a postage stamp for the first two balls but is then lined up by Matthews. Three fours in a row follow – two swipes to the leg side fence and a crunching drive to finish! England will be very aware that they need to get her out pronto.
5th over: West Indies 23-2 (Matthews 15, Grimmond 1)Matthews is in prime form and counterpunches for West Indies - Smith is driven for four through mid-on. It’s lovely cat and mouse stuff between bowler and batter, Smith trying to second guess and Matthews very keen to crack some boundaries. A single is a victory to the bowler.
4th over: West Indies 17-2 (Matthews 15, Grimmond 0)A double wicket maiden for Lauren Bell. The ball is hooping about and England buzz around in the field.
Klang! Bell gets another in the over! Horrible shot from Zaida James, a real waft outside off stump to a ball shaping away, the nick is swallowed by Amy Jones and it’s smiles all round for the ladies in red*.
*Not now Chris.
Gone! Bell comes back after a change of ends and it works immediately – Joseph looks to flick to leg and gets a big leading edge that loops to Linsay Smith at backward point. Well caught, that was a swirler. England have their first scalp.
3rd over: West Indies 17-0 (Joseph 2, Matthews 15)Change of bowling – Linsay Smith replaces Bell. Close! A big heave into the leg side from Matthews and the ball somehow misses the off stump. Another dot is followed by a slog sweep for SIX! A real crack off the bat as Matthews gets hold of Smith and the ball clears the rope comfortably. Smith gets out of the over without any further damage.
2nd over: West Indies 11-0 (Joseph 2, Matthews 9)Charlie Dean with the second over and she starts well, sliding one past the edge of Joseph’s blade and bowling to her tight field. Just two singles off it.
1st over: West Indies 9-0 (Joseph 1, Matthews 8)Joseph taps a single off the first ball to open her account and then Bell sends down a real loosener to Matthews – a juicy full toss that the batter slaps away to the point boundary with disdain. Bell drags her length back and joins two dots with a hit of swing. Bosh! A short ball is pulled away in style by Matthews. Scrappy first over from England, productive one for West Indies.
It looks a bit blustery and grey down in Canterbury but is thankfully dry. Definitely jumper weather. The players emerge onto the outfield and Lauren Bell is going to start with the new white ball. Hayley Matthews and Qiana Joseph on strike for the visitors.
No Sophie Ecclestone or Sarah Glenn for England then with those in the know suggesting that the former would have been dropped had she not been recovering from injury.
Fast bowler Issy Wong returns to the set up after a lengthy time out of the camp struggling with her form and all-rounder Emily Arlott gets a deserved debut after strong showings in the early part of the season. Charlotte Edwards has spoken about how she wants to get more competition for places and shake up what was a bit of a cosy system. This first XI seems to be evidence of exactly that.
Here are the teams:
England:Danni Wyatt-Hodge, Sophia Dunkley, Nat Sciver-Brunt (capt), Heather Knight, Amy Jones (wk), Alice Capsey, Em Arlott, Issy Wong, Charlie Dean, Linsey Smith, Lauren Bell
West Indies:Hayley Matthews (capt), Qiana Joseph, Zaida James, Realeanna Grimmond, Shabika Gajnabi, Aaliyah Alleyne, Jannillea Glasgow, Mandy Mangru (wk), Cherry-Anne Fraser, Afy Fletcher, Karishma Ramharack
Nat Sciver-Brunt’s first act as captain is a success as she wins the toss and chooses to bowl first on a flat looking pitch. She looks a wee bit nervous and admits as much.
“I’ve been a bit nervous all day, but excited to get going. I’m still growing into the role and hope to get more comfortable.”
Hello and welcome to the opening salvo of the summer between England and West Indies from Canterbury.
Humiliated and whitewashed 16-0 in the Ashes – who you gonna call?
Charlotte Edwards! (It sort of scans doesn’t it Ray Parker Jnr?)
Today’s T20 in Kent marks the start of the Charlotte Edwards and Nat Sciver-Brunt era, one in which the Head Coach and bona-fide ‘England legend’ will look to raise standards and drive this talented bunch of players onwards and upwards from a period of stagnation, selectorial sameness and even accusations of poor fitness and standards of professionalism. Not exactly and empty in-tray then.
Raf Nicholson wrote recently about how the new regime is likely to shape up in comparison to the previous one:
“This new era of England women’s cricket will be driven forward by Edwards: she will set the standards and write the plans, and the captain will implement them. Sciver-Brunt described her role as “focusing on pitch things and winning games for England”. That is a 180-degree shift from her predecessor, Heather Knight, whose voice on and off the pitch was heard more loudly than either of England’s previous head coaches, Jon Lewis and Lisa Keightley.”
I spoke to Edwards just before she was offered the joband was impressed with her steeliness and passion. The players seem to love her and she is going to demand a lot from them – she’s already announced that minimum fitness standards are on the horizon. Today’s opponents are West Indies and the last time the two sides met the women in maroon knocked England out of the T20 World Cup before the knockout phase.
Plenty to get into then as a new era begins.Play starts at 6.30pm and we’ll have news of the toss and teams imminently.As always, feel free to drop us a line at the link on the left of the page.