Lancashire stroll to quarter finals after Lamb and Jones half-centuries

Lancashire (167/4) beat Glamorgan (86 all out) by 81 runs

Photo Credit: Lancashire CCC

They will plunder willy-nilly,

Say the bells of Caerphilly.

They have fangs, they have teeth

Shout the loud bells of Neath.

To the south, things are sullen,

Say the pink bells of Brecon. 

Idris Davies, “Gwalia Deserta XV”

It was Lancashire Thunder who did plunder “willy-nilly” on the playing fields of Brecon today as the Tier One giants avoided any giant-killing upset with a dominant display against a plucky Glamorgan side, thanks to the batting of Eve Jones and Emma Lamb and the bowling of Grace Johnson.

The venue today was Christ College, Brecon, a very nice (and very welcoming) independent school on the outskirts of the small town of Brecon (population 9000) on the winding A40 between Abergavenny and Llandovery in South Wales. On another beautiful, blue-skied May afternoon, with a red kite hovering over the pitch keeping its beady eye on the game, a reasonable crowd of curious locals, friends and family of players, school staff and pupils came along to support Glamorgan, and in particular the local hero and Christ College Sixth Former Eve Jackson, who was playing her third senior game for the county.

It was a Lancashire side which featured Sophie Ecclestone, one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year for 2024 and ranked the leading bowler in world cricket, alongside Emma Lamb, the leading run scorer in Women’s Tier One cricket this season and recently recalled to the England team, not to mention Seren Smale, possibly the world’s best Welsh female cricketer, someone who has also played for England in the past 12 months. (Round these rugby-loving parts they say that playing for Glamorgan is like playing for Wales and playing for England is like playing for the Lions).

Lancashire won the toss and batted. Emma Lamb and Eve Jones began cautiously as they took time to assess the merits of the two opening bowlers, Gemma Porter and Katy Cobb, taking a few singles and seeing how the ball was coming onto the bat. However, this level of cautious respect did not extend into their second overs, as both batters accelerated with a series of dashing boundaries through the covers. Emily Burke, on loan to Glamorgan from Surrey, bowled a very tidy over of right arm medium pace, but again, once Jones and Lamb had the measure of her, she was taken apart for 17 runs in her second over. By the halfway point of the innings, Lancashire were 87/0 and it seemed possible that Jones and Lamb could bat all the way through. 

It was the introduction of Nicole Reid that brought about a change.  27-year-old Reid, a veteran of the days when Wales played in the women’s county system, only conceded two runs from her first over, plus she created a chance, a very sharp caught and bowled opportunity from Eve Jones, which she did not take, but it was the first time the Lancashire batters seemed vulnerable. This was the perfect time to bring on Eve Jackson. The teenager, turning 18 next week and (I presume) also sitting some rather important exams next week, came on to bowl and a buzz circulated the crowd. Her opponent? Emma Lamb – the most prolific batter in the English domestic game in 2025. Lamb, on 48 not out, went to pull a short ball from Jackson, but it was quicker than she expected and rose sharply. The resulting top edge went up in the air, over wicketkeeper Georgia Parfitt’s head and raced away for four runs. The fortunate Lamb had her half century; the crowd was deflated. Jackson, undeterred, sent down her next ball, a good length on off stump. Lamb attempted to slap the ball over mid-on but could only find the grateful hands of Emily Burke. Lamb was dismissed, Jackson was mobbed by her teammates and cheered by her classmates – a wonderful moment and a great illustration of why the County Cup is such a fantastic tournament.

Jones, having been joined by Smale, reached her 50 and the two accelerated until she was finally dismissed for 60 in the 17th over. Sophie Ecclestone added some batting fireworks for the final three overs and Lancashire ended their 20 overs on 167/4.

Glamorgan’s reply got off to a flying start. The impressive Daisy Jeanes, fresh from hitting a century against Derbyshire in the One Day Cup, hit Grace Potts for three back-to-back fours in the first over, cracking the pace bowler through the covers each time. Lancashire’s lead bowler in the absence of Kate Cross and Mahika Gaur had been made to look ordinary and was withdrawn from the attack for the next ten overs. If Potts failed to impress in the powerplay, one could not but help be impressed by the amazing bowling of Grace Johnson. The twenty-year-old right arm medium pace bowler, making her first appearance of the season, was nothing short of sensational. She bowled 17 dot balls out of 18 deliveries, taking three wickets in the process including Lauren Parfitt and Bethan Gammon, arguably Glamorgan’s two best batters. Expect to see a lot more of her as the season progresses. 

Ecclestone was her usual brilliant self, bamboozling the batters with her fizzing left arm spin, picking up the wicket of Bea Ellis, the hero of Glamorgan’s first round victory over Gloucestershire. It must have been a difficult week for Ecclestone, having missed out on England selection, but she is clearly a well-loved member of this team who seems really at home playing cricket and gives everything when playing the game. One imagines that many cricket superstars who can earn six figure sums in the WPL would be reluctant to turn up to a game on a school pitch in Brecon – there was no sense of that at all from Ecclestone. If she is indeed being given cricketing penance by Lottie, she is taking her medicine well and doing all that can be expected.

By the start of the 10th over, with Glamorgan 43/5, it was quite clear who the winner of this game would be. However, Emily Burke had no intention of submitting quietly. She launched Darcey Carter for back-to-back boundaries, including a huge six which bounced off the roof of the mock Tudor pavilion. She was joined for 20 minutes or so by Eve Jackson, who rotated the strike well to allow Burke to press on before Jackson skied a catch to Ecclestone from the bowling of Emma Lamb.

By the start of the 18th over, Glamorgan were 85/9, but Burke had reached 49 and had manipulated the strike well so that she was facing Darcey Carter. She nudged the ball for a quick single to claim her 50. Unfortunately, Katy Cobb was a little slow in going for the run and had not grounded her bat in time when the throw came in from Sophie Morris. So instead of raising her bat to celebrate the milestone, Burke had to suddenly and unexpectedly shake hands with her opponents. She had run out of partners on 49 not out. The match was over. Lancashire had won by 81 runs.

Having attended all three rounds of this competition, I have to say that it is a marvellous addition to the women’s cricket calendar. Most of the Glamorgan team we saw today, I would expect, will not end up playing Tier One professional cricket, even when Glamorgan are given Tier One status in 2027. However, what an experience for them to play against a team featuring Sophie Ecclestone and Emma Lamb! It boosts the grass roots of the game to be linked so closely to the professional game and for the couple of hundred in attendance today, with a tea and cake tent, an ice cream van and a burger truck in a remote field in a barely known corner of Wales, it gave them a reason to come back and watch more cricket in the future, maybe to see Welsh Fire in the Hundred, or to see England play at Bristol. We look forward to more of the same in the quarter-finals.