Welsh Teams - Senior Womens

Wales Women played their first games of the ECB County Championship Division Two against Staffordshire in Bloxwich CC. Staffordshire won the toss and elected to bowl on a very wet wicket. Bethan Moorcraft and Joanne Westwood opened the innings and got off to a steady start putting on 47 before Joanne was caught after top edging a sweep shot for 26. Bethan continued to bat well before being caught on 21. The middle order continued to steadily build an innings on a very difficult wicket before a flurry of quick wickets. A quick fire 13 from Rebecca Struthers helped Wales post a challenging score of 128 for 9 off 50 overs, on a wet wicket and long outfield.

 

Wales took to the field with Gwenan Davies and Naomi Williams-Wadley opening the bowling. Gwenan got an early breakthrough removing the Staffordshire opener for 4. After a good opening spell from Gwenan and Naomi, Rebecca Struthers came into the attack and bowled superbly to return figures 10-2-27-3. Staffordshire were 48 for 6 after two run outs, one exceptional bit of fielding by Claire Thomas at cover and another by Naomi Williams-Wadley at backward square both direct hits at the bowlers end. At this stage of the game Wales were dominating and Staffordshire, looked in real trouble before Francesca James came to the crease and really brought Staffordshire back into the game. Francesca hit a quick aggressive 63 which contained four 4’s and four 6’s, before she was stumped by Joanne Westwood off Marsha Davies who bowled exceptionally well returning figures of 9.1-4-16-4. Staffordshire finished up 109 all out. Wales won by 19 runs and are off to a great start in the 2012 season. 

The fixture that was due to be played against Worcestershire on Monday 6th May was called off due to bad weather.

Aimee Rees - Wales Senior Manager

Wales Women’s Development XI is made up predominantly of Under 19s with a few older and younger players. They are yet to play a game this year. The first fixture they were scheduled to play at Radyr CC was against the MCC. The last three years this fixture has been affected at some point by the weather but this year the game was called off the afternoon before, as Radyr was underwater.

It was a similar case with the Army Women’s fixture also due to be played at Radyr CC on Friday 6th July. it was called off the afternoon before as Radyr was once again under water.

We are hoping to get some play against the Wales Over 40 men on Tuesday 10th July at Radyr CC weather permitting.

The Jubilee Bank Holiday weekend saw the Wales Senior Women’s squad make the long trip to Durham and Lancashire where they enjoyed mixed fortunes. 

The team left South Wales at Midday on Saturday 2nd June and the journey to Durham took nearly seven hours. The players got plenty of rest Saturday night and woke refreshed ready to make the journey on Sunday morning to Eppleton CC. It was very cold and there had been some rain about over the previous couple of days so the wicket was wet. 

Durham won the toss and decided to bat which was good news for us as we wanted to bowl first. Wales started off well with Naomi Williams-Wadley getting an early breakthrough and bowled an excellent opening spell of 7-2-19-1. Gwenan Davies took the new ball at the other end and was unplayable at times continually beating the bat finishing with figures of 10-4-27-2. Wales continued to bowl well and make it difficult for Durham to score. The off spinners Claire Thomas (10-4-17-2) and Gemma Mumby (10-1-26-2) bowled in tandem with Marsha Davies’s medium pace away swing making it difficult for Durham to score through the rest of the innings with Wales taking wickets at regular intervals. Durham eventually finished on 146 for 9 off 50 overs. Durham managed to remove the two Welsh openers early on but a partnership of 82 between Kath Taylor and Gwenan Davies put Wales back on track with the score on 117 for 2 when Gwenan Davies was caught for an excellent 55 off 67 balls. This was Gwenan’s best innings for Wales women in her career so far and her two wickets saw her pick up the man of the match award. A quick fire 25 off 19 balls from the captain Claire Thomas saw Wales home by seven wickets.

After the game in Durham the squad made their way to Haydock where we would play Lancashire on Monday 4th June. It was a similar weather situation in Haydock it was cold and wet. Lancashire won the toss and elected to bowl which proved to be a vital toss to win. It was a very difficult wicket to bat on; the Lancashire bowlers bowled well but were also assisted by the conditions and the pitch. Wales were in real trouble at one stage at 54 for 8 until Ffion Wynne and Gemma Mumby were at the crease and managed to put on a partnership of 41 before Gemma Mumby was caught trying to hit over cover. Ffion Wynne then batted the remainder of the innings with Ffion Cartwright to finish on 25 not out, an excellent innings which gave Wales a competitive score to of 110 for 9 off 50 to defend. 

Wales bowled well to put Lancashire on the back foot, Naomi Williams-Wadley and Gwenan Davies both taking an early wicket to put Lancashire in trouble they were 10 for 2. Lancashire recovered to 84 before loosing their third wicket an excellent bit of fielding, a direct hit from the boundary by Rebecca Struthers to run out Lancashire’s danger batsman. Lancashire eventually won the game by seven wickets reaching the target of 111 for 3 wickets off 40 overs. Wales did exceptionally well in the field sticking to the task, showing great determination and made Lancashire work really hard for their win.

 

Bethan Moorcraft (St Fagans CC) (right) and Gwenan Davies (Clydach CC) (above) have been selected for the England Women’s Development Programme U19 Competition, which will take place from 20th-24th August at Wellington College. The competition will see the top thirty-nine Under 19 girls throughout England and Wales compete in a 50-over  competition and a T20 competition.  The thirty-nine girls will be split into three squads and play against each other as well as playing against a boys' county age group side, adding another dimension to the competition.

The EDWP U19 was previously known as the Junior Super 4s but after a restructure now sits directly under the England Women’s Academy which, in turn, feeds the England Women’s team.

This is a great achievement for Bethan, Gwenan and Cricket Wales to have two highly talented cricketers representing Wales in this squad. We all wish them the best of luck at Wellington College.

February 2013 will see a first for Cricket Wales: a girls' Under 19 squad will travel to Dubai to compete in the inaugural girls' Arabian Challenge (ARCH) trophy.  The ARCH tournament is run by Sport Arabia Ltd. based in East Sussex; they have run many successful Under 16, Under 19 and men’s tournaments in previous years. This is the first time they have held a girls' U19 tournament, which has been fully endorsed by the MCC.

The tournament will take place in Dubai and Abu Dhabi between February 16th & 24th 2013.  Wales will compete against Sussex, Devon, Lancashire, Durham, MCC and the United Arab Emirates playing at some world-class stadium venues. The girls will be working hard over the next eight months preparing for the tournament physically and mentally. They will be also be attempting to raise money to help towards the cost of competing in the tournament.

This is an excellent chance for the girls to develop their cricketing skills and become better players; it will also prepare them for the transition to Senior Women’s cricket over the coming seasons. Nine of the players selected were part of the Cricket Wales Elite Performance Programme, which just shows the impact it’s having on the girls’ game in Wales. 

Gwenan Davies (Clydach CC)

Naomi Davies  (Whitchurch Heath CC)

Isobel Day (Dyffryn CC)

Nerys Evans  (Johnston CC)

Ellie Hopkins (St Fagans CC)

Nicola McCabe (Mumbles CC)

Bethan Moorcraft (St Fagans CC)

Anwen Morgan (Drefach CC)

Lauren Parfitt (St Fagans CC)

Nicole Reid (Newport CC)

Kelly Rogers (Carmarthen Wanderers CC)

Rebecca Struthers  (St Fagans CC)

Jeska Ward (Newport CC)

Ffion Wynne (Newport CC)

Wales U19s entered the second ever U19 challenge cup festival at Malvern College between August 23rd & 25th with a good young squad. They were undefeated over the three days and were eventually crowned winners on the Saturday afternoon.

The week leading up to the festival the weather forecast was one of the main concerns as it has been all summer. The forecast was ok for the Thursday and then horrendous with the possibility of thunder and lightening Friday and Saturday not what you expect for the end of August.

We arrived on the Thursday morning and there was no sign of any rain but the pitch was saturated from a downpour on the Wednesday evening. We did manage to get underway on time after loosing the toss to Surrey who elected to bowl as expected. Wales openers Lauren Parfitt and Kath Taylor got Wales off to a solid start on a difficult wicket putting on 50 for the first wicket. Kath Taylor was then dismissed for 19. Wales then lost a succession of quick wickets with Lauren Parfitt holding the innings together aided by Ffion Wynne who contribution with a quick 10. Lauren Parfitt batted the whole innings and was the final wicket to fall after scoring a fluent 57. Wales finished on 122 off 40 overs loosing out on 10 overs of batting.

Wales knew they needed to bowl and field well to dismiss Surrey for less than 122. Wales made an excellent start with Naomi Williams Wadley (9-2-25-3) taking three early wickets she was supported well by Rebecca Struthers at the other end. The slow and turning nature of the wet wicket made spin key and with the introduction of Ffion Cartwright (9-0-16-2) bowling off-spin and Lauren Parfitt (5.3-1-9-4) bowling her first ever spell of slow left arm they ripped through the Surrey batting line up dismissing them for 82 giving Wales a 40 run victory.

The forecast was for rain from 1.00pm on Friday so no one expected to get a full days play in, but we started on time loosing the toss to Gloucester who predictably choose to bowl. Gloucester got off to a good start getting the run-out of Nicola McCabe off the first ball of the innings which brought Megan Burton to the crease she started to build a partnership with Lauren Parfitt who was then caught by second slip. Rebecca Struthers who was feeling a little under the weather arrived at the crease and put on an excellent partnership of 165 with Megan Burton. Rebecca Struthers was eventually dismissed for 69 her best innings of the season. Megan continued to bat confidently striking the ball cleanly bringing up her century in the 47th over and eventually finishing on 106 not out with Wales posting a challenging score of 233 for 4 off 50 overs.

The rain had stayed away and unexpectedly Gloucester’s innings got under way with Wales making early inroads with excellent opening spells from Cerys Thomas and Naomi Williams-Wadley (6-1-8-3). Lauren Parfitt (6-3-6-2) bowled a second spell off good slow left arm on another helpful wicket leaving Gloucester all out for 74 and Wales winning by 159 runs. This second win put Wales in a commanding position for the final day of the festival where the opposition would be Yorkshire, who had also won their opening two games so in effect the Saturday was finals day.

On our way to dinner on the Friday evening the heavens opened and the there was torrential rain for four hours which continued on and off throughout the night. This meant the chances of play on the Saturday were looking unlikely as the pitch was already wet. Saturday morning came and the pitch was soaking so the start was delayed till 12.30pm and with the forecast the decision was taken to play a T20 fixture instead of a 50 over game that was unlikely to finish. Yorkshire won the toss and decided to bowl Wales posted a solid score of 95 for 8 off 20 overs in very difficult conditions on a pitch with huge boundaries. Megan Burton top scored with 45 and was well supported by Ffion Cartwright 15. The conditions were not ideal as it was looking like it could rain at anytime but the Yorkshire innings started and Rebecca Struthers bowled and excellent spell of (4-0-16-2) along with Lauren Parfitt (3-0-10-2). Some excellent fielding by the Wales team Ffion Cartwright getting two vital run outs saw Yorkshire bowled out for 78 off 18.4 overs which meant Wales won the game and the festival. The game couldn’t have finished at a better time as the players were walking off the field the rain started along with violent thunder and lightning flooding the whole ground within minutes.

This was an excellent end to the season for the U19 team and for Welsh Cricket; the girls who were there played some excellent cricket and were impeccably behaved as always. Well Done!

Wales U19 Squad Malvern 2012

Naomi Williams-Wadley ©

Megan Burton (WK)

Ffion Cartwright

Naomi Davies

Nicola McCabe

Anwen Morgan

Rhiannon Morgan

Lauren Parfitt

Katherine Taylor

Rebecca Struthers

Cerys Thomas

Jeska Ward

Ffion Wynne

Wales Senior Women Achieve Aim

Warwickshire were our opponents on Sunday 22nd July at Port Talbot Town where the sun was out and both teams received an excellent welcome. Warwickshire won the toss and decided to bat and scored 223 for 5 off their 50 overs, which was a very challenging score. Claire Thomas was the pick of the bowlers with figures of (10-3-17-3). Warwickshire bowled well and made it difficult to score but and excellent 49* from Megan Burton left Wales finishing on a respectable 160 for 8 off their 50 overs. Warwickshire were undefeated over the 2012 season and were easily the best team in the league with a number of England Academy players in their squad.

The last two days of July saw the annual ECB T20 competition, which was once again held at Newport CC. Wales were in the performance division with Berkshire, Somerset and Devon. Berkshire and Somerset are both Division one counties. Wales played Berkshire in the first fixture and watched England Player Heather Knight score a superb 106* off 61 balls and Berkshire score 187 off 20 overs. In reply Wales scored 129 for 5 off their 20 overs giving Berkshire a 58 run victory. Bethan Moorcraft 39 and Rebecca Struthers 31 were the main contributors. The afternoon fixture was against Devon who won the toss and decided to bat scoring 110 for 7 off their 20 overs, with some excellent bowling by Ffion Cartwright (4-0-11-4). Wales managed to pass Devon’s total in the 16th over with aggressive batting from Gwenan Davies 37 and Rebecca Struthers 39 and record a five-wicket win. The second morning saw Wales play Somerset. Wales scored 103 for 7 off their 20 overs with Joanne Westwood 22 and Megan Burton 21 the main run getters. Somerset won by 9 wickets in the 16th over with England Players Anya Shrubshole 52* and Frances Wilson 42* seeing their side home. The 3rd v 4th play off, Wales v Devon which was due to take place in the afternoon was a washout. Wales eventually finished third after beating Devon comfortably in the group stages.  The two days were a good experience for the young welsh squad who got to rub shoulders and the see the standard of current England players.

The next two ECB 50 over games at the beginning of August saw a Sunday and Monday double header against Cheshire and Netherlands respectively. The Cheshire fixture was due to be played at Lisvane CC but it was apparent the ground was not fit on the Saturday afternoon. As Cheshire had already started to travel some ringing around allowed the game to be moved to Newport CC. Mike Knight and Newport CC always show the girls and women’s game incredible support. The teams arrived and were fully warmed up and ready to go when the heavens opened and heavy rain fell for just over an hour flooding the ground and the game was cancelled without a ball being bowled.

The fixture on Monday against the Netherlands was in doubt with the amount of rain that had fallen but an incredible effort by Sudbrook CC saw the game start on time. Wales won the toss and decided to bowl with not one of our best bowling and fielding performance Netherlands managed 177 for 9 off their 50 overs. Netherlands bowled tightly and made runs difficult to come by, a patient 34 from Joanne Westwood and 31 from Megan Burton was the main stay of the Welsh innings.  Wales came up 35 runs short handing Netherlands their first win of the season.

There was one fixture remaining, the fixture that should have been played on Sunday 15th July at Bronwydd CC against Devon but was cancelled due to unplayable pitch would now be played at Kings College Taunton a half way venue to accommodate both teams. Devon won the toss and decided to bowl. Devon bowled well and Wales were in real trouble at 75 for 9 before Naomi Williams-Wadley and young Isobel Day put on 68 for the last wicket taking Wales up to 143 all out and with something to bowl at. Naomi Williams-Wadley 44 played some excellent straight drives and showed she has plenty of ability with the bat; she was ably supported by Isobel Day who scored a patient 15. It became apparent quickly in the Devon innings that 143 was not going to be enough and Devon past the total with two wickets down in the 35th over.

The aim this year was to finish mid table and remain in ECB Division 2 for the 2013 season, as our very young and talented squad are still developing. Wales Senior Women managed to achieve this by finishing seventh and avoid the relegation play offs, a good achievement.