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| Simply The Best: England’s investment in women’s cricket is paying off. A scheme was devised to allow talented girls to develop their skills as cricketers as semi-professionals. Half their time they play cricket and develop their skills; the rest they visit schools to help develop the sport among boys and girls. It took time to bear fruit, but women’s cricket now has an established pecking order. “We came back from the World Cup [in Australia three months ago] and we wanted this trophy and now we've got it to show the 50-over wasn't a fluke,” said England captain Charlotte Edwards after an emphatic win over the previously unbeaten New Zealand. England is at the top. New Zealand and Australia vie for second place with India probably fourth, but the gulf in class is such that you could say there is England and seven others. New Zealand has now lost two finals to England this year – the 50 overs variety in Australia and now the Twenty20 as well. Tributes: England and Wales Cricket Board chairman Giles Clarke said the team were fantastic role models. “These girls have raised the profile of women's cricket in particular and women's sport in general,” said Giles Clarke, the Chairman of the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). “They have proved not only to be outstanding sportswomen but also fantastic role models for the many thousands of young girls and women who are coming into cricket. Along the way they have demonstrated to millions of people worldwide what a fantastic team they are and what wonderful cricket they play." It was a one-sided final that England won easily after New Zealand’s captain Aimee Watkins misjudged the pitch and chose to bat first. “We were just outplayed by the better team," she said. “We've had a good tournament and we deserved to be here, but we overestimated the pitch. We thought it was a good batting deck but the England bowlers made it move around well. Our bowlers did well but we just didn't have enough runs on the board.” The White Ferns’ coach Gary Stead, a former international accepted that his charges had been beaten by the better team, “They've won two World Cups and today felt a little bit like the amateurs playing the professionals,” he said. “Overall they are setting the standards at the moment.” Watkins at least raised a smile when reminded that her team had outperformed their men’s team, although she acknowledged that the standard of their cricket was higher. The Final: Aimee Watkins won the toss for New Zealand and chose to bat, but the decision soon backfired. Katherine Brunt showed the Kumar Sangakkara’s views that it is a bowler’s game is accurate as she gave a Player of the Match performance with the ball that strangled the White Ferns’ innings. Laura Marsh was the first to strike with off-spin – a brave decision by Charlotte Edwards to open the innings with her. It quickly paid dividends as Suzie Bates was stumped by Sarah Taylor for 1. Aimee Watkins came into the final vying wit h Claire Taylor for the title of Player of the Tournament. She did herself no favours as the Lord’s occasion appeared to get to her. She was bowled by Brunt who was on her way to figures 3 for 6 from her four overs, which included two maidens. She then removed Lucy Doohan and Rachel Priest to leave New Zealand reeling at 23 for 4. It soon got worse as Nicky Shaw bowled Nicola Browne for 1. It was left to Amy Satterthwaite and Sara McGlashan to try to repair the damage. Satterthwaite top-scored with 19, which was never likely to be good enough. She was involved in six partnerships, but only outscored one of them – an odd statistic. She also possesses the best ever bowling analysis in Twenty20 internationals 6 for 17 against England at Taunton in 2007. Jenny Gunn, Marsh, Holly Colvin and Nicky Shaw gave Brunt ample support, proving that a well-balanced bowling attack is vital to Twenty20 cricket as New Zealand were all out for 85 from the last ball of the innings – Sophie Devine was run out trying for a second run that was never there. “Lord's suits my bowling and we want to keep coming here,” said Brunt. “The crowd were amazing. It wasn't a high score to chase, but they put us under a lot of pressure and we got a bit twitchy at one point.” Coasting: Had New Zealand’s fielding been better they may have made a match of it. Edwards was bowled following an uncharacteristically poor shot against Sian Ruck after two boundaries, but Rachel Priest lacked the dexterity of Sarah Taylor behind the stumps. Kate Pulford was the unlucky bowler to catch the edge Player of the Tournament Claire Taylor’s bat before she had scored only for Priest to fail to cling on. It was a costly error, even though Priest subsequently made amends of sorts by catching Sarah Taylor for 23. Pulford got her wicket and both Beth Morgan and Lydia Greenway fell cheaply, but despite the jitters Claire Taylor had all but won the match by then. She completed the formalities with a lofted drive for four off Browne with three overs remaining. It was a comprehensive win that emphasised the gulf in class, caused in part by the support and investment that the ECB has put into women’s cricket. |
