CHESHIRE WOMEN’S LEAGUE Trinity easily beat Didsbury in final day decider in Eastern Division Summer Series Eastern Division – August 23: Stockport Georgians v Leigh – Cancelled due to rain and never re-arranged, 8pts each September 6: Stockport Trinity 87-7 (22; Ellie Mason 47, Emily Thomas 4-21, Lucy Neill 2-5) (25pts) Stockport Georgians 80-6 (22; Natalie Bell 22) (8pts) (Restricted to 22 overs per side due to rain) • For the second time this season, Trinity beat their near neighbours by a small margin, and just as in the earlier encounter, their win owed a great deal to Ellie Mason. This set up the Eastern Division decider the following week. September 13: Didsbury 59 (30; Leesa Mellon 22, Emma Royle 2-3, Ellie Mason 2-5, Sophie Coates 2-14) (0pts) Stockport Trinity 60-0 (14; Mason 41*, Jenny Dunn 13*) (25pts) • Trinity recorded a decisive victory in this final day winner takes all decider and are the Eastern Division winners for 2020. Didsbury were previously unbeaten, and the previous encounter between the two sides ended with only four runs separating the teams, so this was a very different affair. Emma Royle carried on what she has been doing all season – taking crucial early wickets and conceding very few runs, and Ellie Mason also struck early to have Didsbury under pressure from the very start. Mason then played the senior role in ensuring the run chase was completed swiftly and without alarm. Ashton-on-Mersey 55-9 (30; Beth Caunce 12, Kasey Bentham 2-9, Millie Baldwin 2-9) (2pts) Leigh 56-4 (22.5; Emma Capper 20*, Amelia Sammons 3-11) (25pts) • A feature of Leigh’s campaign this year has been the depth of their bowling attack, and not only did they keep Ashton down to an overall scoring rate of less than two per over, but none of the seven bowlers used conceded runs at more than 2.33 per over. Leigh completed their run chase relatively comfortably, although Amelia Sammons was able to record one last excellent set of bowling figures in what has been a fine first season in the league for her. Summer Series Eastern Division (FINAL) P w l t c BatP BowlP NRR Pts 1 Stockport Trinity 8 7 1 0 0 2 5 1.32 182 2 Didsbury 8 6 1 1 0 0 0 1.53 165 3 Leigh 8 3 4 0 1 13 10 -0.41 106 4 Stockport Georgians 8 1 5 1 1 13 18 -0.59 79 5 Ashton-on-Mersey 8 1 7 0 0 15 15 -1.79 55 Unbeaten Lindow clinch Development Division Summer Series Development Division – September 6: Lindow 114-4 (20; Claire Ashworth 46*, Phoebe Howle 3-29) (25pts) Wistaston Village 86-9 (20; Jen Regan 41*, Ashworth 3-10, Ashlee Barnes 2-9) (7pts) • Lindow completed an unbeaten season as winners of the Development Division, compiling a formidable total with Claire Ashworth’s 46 in as many deliveries leading the way. Ashworth was not finished there and contributed a fine spell with the ball to seal the victory. Heaton Mersey & Cheadle 85-5 (20; Charlotte Appleyard 20, Jenny Wallace 2-18) (7pts) Langley 86-4 (20; Anette Wallace 17*) (25pts) • This was the match involving the two teams without a win, and it was Langley who sneaked home off the final ball for their first ever victory in a competitive fixture. September 13: Chester Boughton Hall 2nd XI 95-5 (20; Jenny Marvel 37*) (25pts) Heaton Mersey & Cheadle 34 (13; Gemma Rose 2-3, Emma Inchley 2-3) (3pts) • Staging a double header of first and second team matches, Chester’s seconds won comfortably here to secure a second-place finish in the development division. Summer Series Development Division P w l BatP BowlP Pts NRR 1 Lindow 4 4 0 0 0 100 1.36 2 Chester Boughton Hall 2nd XI 4 3 1 3 3 81 1.37 3 Wistaston Village 3 1 2 10 4 39 -0.93 4 Langley 3 1 2 6 5 36 -1.2 5 Heaton Mersey & Cheadle 4 0 4 11 10 21 -1.15 Nantwich finish runners-up to Porthill in Western Division Summer Series Western Division – September 6: Chester Boughton Hall 52 (26.3; Nicole Fisher 22, Ellie-Mae Davies 4-8, Lucy Shenton 2-5) (4pts) Porthill Park 53-7 (25.5; Olivia Chorlton 15, Ali Cutler 4-6) • Batting second for the first time this year, divisional winners Porthill were given another scare by Chester’s bowlers, and by Ali Cutler in particular, who claimed four wickets for six runs in her six over spell. However, Porthill’s bowlers have been in stupendous form all season, and after Cutler and Nicole Fisher had added 32 for Chester’s first wicket, Porthill’s attack dominated, with Ellie-Mae Davies bagging a hat-trick in the middle order. Nantwich 111-4 (30; Grace Michel 34, Beth Hughes 32, Hannah McGowan 3-26) (25pts) Upton 66 (29.2; Lily Scudder 17, Abbie Adams 3-3, Bethan Robinson 3-10, Hughes 2-1) (3pts) • A decisive win for Nantwich, with Bethan Robinson taking three early wickets and Abbie Adams three late wickets. September 13: Porthill Park (25pts) w/o Oxton (minus 10pts) Nantwich 107-6 (30; Beth Hughes 35, Charlotte Neal 24, Ali Cutler 2-15, Tilly Buss 2-24) (6pts) Chester Boughton Hall 110-4 (23.2; Kate Coppack 48*, Seren Smale 31, Kelsey Barker 2-24) (25pts) • Chester completed a strong end to the season here. On a day when both their first and second teams won, they triumphed in the first team match after getting home with all of 40 deliveries in hand, as Kate Coppack took 40 balls to score her 48 runs, while Nantwich just gained enough points to secure a second-place finish ahead of Upton. Summer Series Western Division (FINAL) P w wcn l lcn BatP BowlP NRR Pts 1 Porthill Park 8 7 1 0 0 0 0 2.39 200 2 Nantwich 8 4 0 4 0 6 11 0.36 117 3 Upton 8 4 0 4 0 3 13 -0.48 116 4 Chester Boughton Hall 8 3 0 5 0 11 12 -0.37 98 5 Oxton 8 1 0 6 1 12 17 -1.97 44 The ECB National Playing Survey is now live – your chance to have your say about your experiences of playing recreational cricket. OTHER NEWS The ECB have designated September 2020 as their ‘Women’s Big Cricket Month’. The month culminates in two momentous television events for women’s cricket over the same weekend: • On Saturday September 26, England’s third T20 international against the West Indies will be televised live on BBC TV – the first time a women’s cricket match has been shown live on UK terrestrial television since the 1993 World Cup Final. The other games in the five-match series, between September 21 and September 30, will be live on Sky Sports • The following day, there will be live TV coverage of the final of the Rachael Heyhoe-Flint Trophy, the new 50-over competition between teams representing England’s eight regions. While this match will be exclusively live on Sky Sports, it will still be the first occasion on which a TV network has committed to covering English domestic women’s 50-over cricket and to screening a UK match that will not involve many of the international star players. Hopefully the match will also be screened on the Sky Sports Mix channel which, while not available on Freeview, is available to all Sky and Virgin customers, regardless of whether they have a Sky Sports subscription The ECB asks clubs and anyone else with an interest in promoting the women’s and girls’ game to consider how they can support Women’s Big Cricket Month. Examples of how this might be done include: • Sharing stories of what they are doing for women and girls at their club • Sharing stories of individual women and girls within their club who have progressed through the pathway or have unique stories to tell • Hosting and promoting women’s and girls’ activity, for example a softball game, a girls’ only All Stars Cricket session or a traditional women’s cricket match • Encouraging their members to watch the live matches over the weekend of 26-27 September • Using #WomensCricketMonth to promote any of the above via social media SENIOR REPRESENTATIVE CRICKET Rachael Heyhoe-Flint Trophy - Selected Results – September 5: Thunder 166-8 (50; Natalie Brown 27, Georgie Boyce 27, Laura Marshall 25, Ellie Threlkeld 22, Alice Dyson 21, Clare Boycott 4-40, Thea Brookes 2-43) Central Sparks 167-2 (38.1; Evelyn Jones 90, Gwenan Davies 37, Marie Kelly 21*) • A dominant innings from Evelyn Jones led the way as Sparks had no difficulty in chasing down the modest target. Former Appleton and Astley Bridge player Laura Jackson made her first appearance of the competition for Thunder and bowled an economical spell. Lightning 226 (49.1; Sarah Bryce 51, Teresa Graves 37, Abi Freeborn 34, Bethan Ellis 21, Nancy Harman 21, Hollie Armitage 2-24, Alex MacDonald 2-31, Jenny Gunn 2-45, Beth Langston 2-48) Northern Diamonds 229-8 (48.5; Gunn 50*, Ami Campbell 43, Langston 37, Armitage 30, Lucy Higham 3-38, Harman 2-54) • Former England players Jenny Gunn and Beth Langston supplied wickets and late order runs to edge this high scoring encounter, in which another former league player in Shachi Pai made her competition debut for Lightning.