This weekend sees the semi-final phase of women’s cricket’s premier domestic competition. The eight regional teams have played each other home and away in 50 over cricket over a marathon five months, beginning way back on 20th April when the bitter winds and grey skies of Spring caused fielders to ruefully keep hands in pockets and those hardy, begloved folk in the crowd to reach for a fourth and fifth layer to ward off hyperthermia.
Through the glorious long days of early July, when sunlit hours stretch seemingly endlessly, (unless interrupted by thunderstorms - in reality five of the 16 fixtures in this phase of the competition were abandoned or required the help of Messrs Duckworth, Lewis and Stern to adjudicate a result), and finally into the slightly damp, melancholy days of early Autumn when cricket becomes part of “the view of the last smiles of the year upon the tawny leaves and withered hedges”.
Of the eight teams that began the competition, four remain. Northern Diamonds, soon to become (or be replaced by, depending on your point of view), Durham, against Sunrisers, who at the dawning of next season will have metamorphosed into Essex. And Southern Vipers, who will shed their skin to become Hampshire in 2025 against South East Stars, who will revert to being just plain, but plainly well-heeled Surrey. However, some unfortunate scheduling of international cricket has diminished the pool of players available for these matches, which, just possibly, has increased the chance of some surprises.
Northern Diamonds v Sunrisers. Headingley. 14th September 2024. 10.30am
Northern Diamonds have had a very good 50 over competition this season. Astute leadership from Hollie Armitage, the solid professionalism of senior players such as Katie Levick and Lauren Winfield-Hill, and the emergence of some talented youngsters, such as Sterre Kalis and Phoebe Turner have been key to their success. They came top of the table after the 14 group games, with some amazing wins, such as their win at Edgbaston against Sparks. Hollie Armitage took on the responsibility of bowling the final over, conceding only two runs and taking three wickets to give Diamonds the most unlikely of wins by one run.
The unheralded Phoebe Turner goes into the semi-final as the competition’s leading wicket taker. After taking a couple of early season 3-fers against Storm and Vipers, Turner’s season quietly developed. She only played one Charlotte Edwards Cup game, was not chosen in the Hundred, but she continued to take significant wickets in every game she played - and this is the key with Phoebe Turner - she tends to get out top six batters rather than tailenders. So when you look at the scalps she as accumulated this year, it’s Bryony Smith, Maia Bouchier, Georgia Adams, Ella McCaughan, Seren Smale, Sophia Smale, Fi Morris, Kira Chathli, Abbey Freeborn, Courtney Webb - all very dangerous top-order batters capable of hitting big runs. Her 23 wickets are not disproportionately inflated with a load of cheap wickets down the order in the final couple of overs, which indicates her value and the danger she presents to the opposition.
Sunrisers qualified in fourth place, needing to bowl a nail-biting final over against Southern Vipers in their final game. Having set Vipers a very challenging 282 to win, the rain came down and it seemed that the game would be abandoned, giving Sunrisers the two points they needed to qualify. However, very late in the day, the rain stopped and the umpires ruled that Vipers could bat for 10 overs and chase 94 to win. After 9 overs, Vipers needed 13 to win and deny Sunrisers a place in the last four. It was Sunrisers captain Grace Scrivens who took responsibility, just as she did in the semi-final of the under 19 World Cup in 2023, to bowl that final over, restricting Vipers to just three runs from the first five balls, and guiding her side to a fourth place finish.
It has been a remarkable twelve months for Scrivens, who took over the captaincy of Sunrisers in September 2023, leading them to victory in their final four games of last season, after they had only won two games in the entirety of the previous two years. Reaching this semi-final is the first time Sunrisers have qualified in any of the competitions in any of the previous five seasons of regional cricket. Scrivens is seen by many as the future long term successor of Heather Knight as England captain. Although yet to make her England début, lifting this trophy will only increase the credibility of this viewpoint and would be a fairytale ending for the regional game.
Sunrisers don’t really have superstar players other than Scrivens. Sophie Munro, who is on loan to Sunrisers from The Blaze, has had a really good season for them, taking 21 wickets from 10 games, including a couple of 3-fers in their recent games against Storm and Diamonds. All-rounder Jodie Grewcock is another very consistent performer with both bat and ball.
So, who will win? On paper, Diamonds ought to prevail, but they will be missing two key players. Hollie Armitage will be in Dublin playing for England on Saturday - in fact three of the four captains who ought to be featuring in the semi-finals will be in Dublin rather than leading their regional teams. Bess Heath is also missing, as part of England’s T20 World Cup squad. Sunrisers will be missing Mady Villiers, but one could argue that she is of less importance than Armitage and Heath. For this reason, I’m backing captain Scrivens to lead the Sunrisers to the final.
South East Stars v Southern Vipers. Beckenham, 14th September 2024. 10.30pm
It is indicative of the distribution of resources in women’s cricket that whereas the first semi-final is lacking three players because of England call-ups, the second semi-final lacks 12 players who are either in Ireland or the UAE. South East Stars are missing captain Bryony Smith, plus Paige Scholfield, Ryana McDonald-Gay, Alice Capsey and Sophia Dunkley. Southern Vipers are also missing captain Georgia Adams, plus Lauren Bell, Maia Bouchier, Charlie Dean, Freya Kemp, Linsey Smith and Danni Wyatt. It would be extraordinary for Vipers to prevail whilst missing those seven key players.
So, of the players who remain, who are the potential match-winners?
For South East Stars, two players have made multiple match-winning contributions over the past couple of weeks. Kira Chathli missed the entire season until 26th August, but the wicketkeeper-batter has made up for lost time since then, accumulating three half centuries in her first three games of the season. She is captaining the side in the absence of Bryony Smith and clearly is relishing the responsibility as well as the opportunity to play after so many months on the sidelines.
Alice Davidson-Richards may possibly feel a little peeved not to have been chosen to be part of England’s tour of Ireland, having been part of their ODI team who played Sri Lanka this time last year. If so, she has translated that frustration into some excellent end of season form, hitting back to back half centuries in Stars’ recent victories over Sparks and Diamonds. One of the few women in the game who has hit a test century (against South Africa in 2022), she oozes class at the crease and her fluent scoring can quickly take a game away from the opposition.
So which players remain for Charlotte Edwards to select for the Vipers? Can they, against the odds, defend this trophy which they lifted at Northampton last year? They have ended the season with four defeats - something unheard of in the history of this most successful of teams. Missing Georgia Adams for this game seems like a real blow for them as she has always been the constant beating heart of the team as they have had to rotate around England call-ups in the past.
If Vipers are to triumph, Georgia Elwiss is going to be key. A vastly experienced player and one of the top batters in the tournament, she has accumulated over 450 runs from 11 innings in 2024. She is leaving Vipers at the end of the season to join The Blaze and she will be determined to go out on a high by reaching the final of this competition. As Elwiss leaves, Naomi Dattani arrives. Joining the Vipers on loan only two weeks ago, she has made an instant impact, hitting 44 runs on début and then taking a 5-fer in her second game against Vipers last weekend. Both efforts were in a losing cause, but here is someone clearly capable of pushing Vipers over the line in this most crucial of games.
So who will win? It seems to me that all the momentum is with South East Stars. They are missing some players, but not to the same extent as the Vipers and I think the experience of Chathli and Davidson-Richards will carry them through to the final.
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