8th July 2012
| Mallory Gray
It has been a difficult start for the Wales Under 17 girls their first friendly fixture against Somerset which was due to be played at Newport CC on Friday 8th June was rained off along with their first championship fixture against Worcestershire on Tuesday 26th June which was due to be played at Drefach CC. This fixture will now be played on Monday 13th August at Drefach CC. The ECB has arranged an extension to allow for fixtures to be played until 19th August because of the inclement weather.
In the hope that we might play our first game of the season we made the long trip to Bradford to play Yorkshire. We travelled on Tuesday 2nd July in preparation for the game on Wednesday 3rd July at Undercliffe CC. The game was due to start at 11.30 am so we were up and ready to go early to the ground as we were getting in the cars to go to the ground we received a text to say the game was off, which seemed frustrating as we hadn’t had any rain overnight. We travelled to the ground, as it was less than ten minutes from the hotel. When we arrived at Undercliffe there were two puddles on the pitch one of which was on the wicket so it was unplayable.
The Yorkshire coach could see our disappointment and pulled out all the stops to find us another ground that was playable in Harrogate, Bilton CC. We made the forty-minute journey to the new ground, which was considerably dryer than the previous one. The weather forecast was awful for late afternoon so we decided to play a 20 over game to ensure we got a full game in. We were extremely grateful to Bilton CC and Sue Haley form Yorkshire for getting the game on in very difficult circumstances.
Wales won the toss and elected to bat. Ffion Wynne 26 and Ellie Hopkins 20 opened the batting and got Wales off to a good start putting on 58 for the first wicket. A couple of quick wickets saw Yorkshire fight their way back into the game and a quick fire 16 from Jeska Ward saw Wales finish on 83 for 9 off their 20 overs.
Yorkshire got off to a steady start before Ffion Wynne and Kelly Rogers removed the Yorkshire openers leaving them 18 for 2 off 6 overs. Isobel Day came into the attack and took 3 for 15 off her 4 overs and Wales looked in a strong position. A direct hit run out by Anwen Morgan put the game in the balance but an excellent partnership by Agnes Firth and Hope Jennings saw Yorkshire pass the target of 83 with one ball to spare. It was an exciting finish to the game when at 10.30am we didn’t think we were going to play at all.
The fixture against Derbyshire that was due to be played on Friday 6th July at St Fagans was cancelled due to the awful weather once again. The fixture has been re-arranged for Friday 17th August and will be played at St Fagans.
The next fixtures are away to Durham on Wednesday 11th July and Lancashire on Thursday 12th July. We are hoping for some sunshine.
Women’s Development XI hindered by the weather
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.