5th May 2016
| Mallory Gray
The Wales Women's Team
Wales’ senior women began their Division 2 County
Championship campaign with two away fixtures at Essex and Leicestershire over
the bank holiday weekend.
A long minibus journey to Billericay began early on Saturday afternoon, with the girls appearing relaxed and confident for the
following days.
Sunday morning began at
Billericay CC with clear but cold conditions, and Wales were sent in to bat,
with captain Claire Thomas having lost the toss. Following the early loss of
Gabby Basketter, vice-captain Lauren Parfitt (41) rebuilt the innings
positively alongside Megan Burton (23) before the former was out stumped in the
27th over attempting to increase momentum. Assisted by some loose
Essex bowling, gifting Wales with 30 extras, the girls ended up 150 all out within
45 overs.
The pitch had became slower and lower throughout the Wales innings making Essex’s chase more difficult, with Ffion Wynne removing opener Lily
Reynolds lbw early on.
The opposition’s key batsman, Cordelia Griffith (24),
began positively before Naomi Davies held on to a difficult catch at mid-on off
Anwen Morgan, the first of her four wickets in the game. Wales continued to
bowl tightly and executed their skills in the field brilliantly to restrict the
opposition from maintaining the required run rate. Essex’s Emily Smith (29*)
was unluckily left stranded at the end of the innings, having shown
determination to see her side home before Wales repeatedly took wickets at the
other end. Morgan finished the pick of the bowlers with 4-19 off seven overs as
our girls won convincingly by 37 runs, showing real promise for the next day
and the season ahead.
Having travelled to Leicester
the previous night, Wales arrived at Empingham CC full of confidence.
However,
with Leicestershire desperate to prove a point having been skittled for 97 all
out the previous day against Nottinghamshire, it was always going to be a
closely fought game. Wales began positively with Parfitt again playing a key
role with 32 at the top of the innings, as Basketter took charge blasting an
aggressive 48 off 58 balls, including 10 fours. Having put on 88 for the
opening wicket, a brief middle-order collapse followed with Katie Midwood
taking 3-30 and Lucy Higham taking 3-14, having bowled consistently tight lines
to cause trouble for Wales’ batsmen. Megan Burton (16) and Charlotte
Scarborough (19) steadied the ship to take Wales to 150-7 in the 43rd
over, before Wynne (15*) and Anwen Morgan (4*) allowed the girls to post a
final score of 180-9.
Unfortunately, the rain began to pour during the lunch
break and a restart looked unlikely for a while. The umpires decided to attempt
to complete the game, with Leicestershire requiring 73 off 20 overs in order to
constitute a game. However, with a soaking wet ground, Ffion Wynne fell having
bowled one ball and the ground was deemed unfit to play, leaving the game
abandoned.
Despite Monday’s annoyances, the girls showed great
attitudes and determination for the rest of the season, as they prepare for
their next game against Nottinghamshire in two weeks’ time.