Yesterday (as I type this) it would have been possible, if you were in
the right place, to have watched two of the best Test(-type) innings you
will have seen in many a year, and you would have needed to watch two
different matches.
The strange goings on in the men's Test at Trent Bridge
will not fade into history in a hurry. Australia dismissed for 60 runs
in less overs than the average T20 - how likely is that? One of the
Australian women at Beckenham ruefully remarked part way through the day
that Root had in fact scored more than the entire Australian line-up.
And now I've given away the answer to the conundrum I set in the first
sentence - you would have needed to be sitting at Beckenham watching the
men's Test on your laptop courtesy of SkyGo, or perhaps in the pavilion
where I imagine there would have been a television on somewhere, while
watching the goings-on in the middle right under your eyes.
![[Amy Jones © Don Miles]](images/150806_297-Amy%20Jones-EngAc.jpg "[Amy Jones © Don Miles]")
When I sat down to write this piece I debated long and
hard about where to start it. I considered "when you drop a batsman from
your XI immediately after she has just made the team's highest
individual score, there's little you will have accomplished apart from
potentially severely denting her confidence". You would need to be a
remarkable character indeed not to wonder what on earth you had done
wrong! Following that inexplicable decision by those in charge, you then
find yourself in and out - mostly out - of the side thereafter.
![[Amy Jones © Don Miles]](images/150806_305-Amy%20Jones-EngAc.jpg "[Amy Jones © Don Miles]")
Well yesterday (as I type this) Amy Jones made a
statement with the bat the like of which I don't believe I have ever
seen before in the women's game. It wasn't just the score of 155* when
the Academy side declared at 360 for 8, but the manner in which she made
it. If there is a 'right way' to play a Test Match innings, then this
was it - caution at the start, steady build-up, fine shots off front and
back foot in the middle of the innings, and some powerful aggression
later as the century approached with the scoring speeding
yet again as the
declaration seemed imminent. I saw only one false short throughout, an
inside edge that disappeared to fine leg. It did not provide Australia
with the slightest chance. Was this a flawless innings? Although I did
not see every single delivery, as far as I could see it was. It showed a
player not just on the top of her form, but of considerable ability and
perfect temperament.
![[Amy Jones © Don Miles]](images/150806_381-Amy%20Jones-EngAc-150.jpg "[Amy Jones © Don Miles]")
Amy acknowledges the applause having made 150
What in this innings particularly impressed me? Well
there was steady and sensible accumulation at the start, the clean
hitting of the drive later in the innings on the ground or so firmly
over the bowler's head that boundary riders had no chance, and there was
probably
the fiercest pulling of the ball I have seen from anyone so far this
season, rivalling, or perhaps beating that of Nat Sciver for
Surrey against Sussex in the County Championship. Yes, I know timing makes all the difference but you wonder how
the ball can fly so fast from the bat when held by someone with such a
slight frame.
Don't read this and think that any slogging was
involved - these were proper cricket shots played in a text-book manner.
The innings also showed that Amy can read the match situation, knowing
when caution was required, and when runs were more important than the
possible loss of her wicket.
![[Amy Jones © Don Miles]](images/150806_373-Amy%20Jones-EngAc.jpg "[Amy Jones © Don Miles]")
Firm shots to off and leg-side marked a player in
real touch
![[Amy Jones © Don Miles]](images/150806_313-Amy%20Jones-EngAc.jpg "[Amy Jones © Don Miles]")
Those at Trent Bridge, exciting as their day will have
been, will have missed out on an equally fine innings played against a
full Australian attack. I have run a headline on my site for a while
linking to an article entitled "What has Danni Wyatt got to do". My
question is, do I now need to run one entitled "What has Amy Jones got
to do?". At Canterbury this coming week I'll have my answer.
I have typed only occasionally in the last few weeks in spite of what as
been going on in the women's cricket world - or perhaps I should say because
of what's going on...
Taking as many photos as I do at each match - sorting through the chaff in
the hope of finding the odd useful picture - and then processing that
picture for use on the site (bearing in mind the tendency of many to steal
them) takes quite a few hours of work. Also I am well aware that others
write match reports with great speed and (relative) newcomers to the match
reporting world like CRICKETher, Women's Cricket Blog etc. can give you
varied views on the game compared with the reports by players on the
BBC and elsewhere. In other words this side of the game is well covered and
certainly better covered than it has ever been.
However, as far as other comment goes, and the above sites give plenty of
that too, there sometimes stands out something, given the time (and
some would say the expertise with the English language!) I would (could)
have written myself. Firstly, if you watched the women's Ashes Test at
Canterbury, either in the flesh or on the box,
try
reading this for a different point of view from that in the mainline
press.
On the same day I also came across a small bullet list from a County Captain
expressing views that have caused me too a worry for a while, especially since
the Super League was announced.
Bullet Point One : Just consider the case of Amy Jones
higher up this page or try this article by
CrunchCricket
Bullet Point Three : Simply ask any County Women's-Team Coach, or indeed and
Club Coach or Captain. In my many enquiries this summer I have yet to find a
contrary view. This is perhaps the most concerning of the three and, if you
try and think forward five to ten years, the one most likely to have a huge
impact at the top. The county teams might well not agree they are part of
the underbelly, and I would agree with them. They are more and more
frequently deprived of players it is true, but the ECB would no doubt draw
the next players for England not from them but from the EWA. I leave
you to decide what you would call the underbelly.
I have expressed doubts about changes to the structure of the game in this
country before and probably been right and wrong in equal measure. The near
future is both potentially exciting and worrying, also in equal measure. I
must type again on both the 'exciting' and the 'worrying' when I have sorted
through some of the thousands of images sitting on my hard drive.
And One Comment on Canterbury not much Expressed...
The standard of the umpiring was poor and I have expressed that in as
flattering terms as I can bring myself to type. Umpires from what is
supposed to be the top bracket should not be giving lbws when balls pitch
well wide of the leg stump, or catches when the ball deflects from the
helmet rather than the bat. These are just the two most obvious examples and
I have no doubt 'hawk-eye' would have found more. I am the first to say
everyone makes mistakes, but at this level you would hope that basic errors
had been eliminated.
If you want the umpiring standards improved, I would suggest you find a few
women umpires who would relish the chance to stand rather than some men
whose body language suggests they are really bored with the occasion. To give
just one instance stand this lady where she belongs - behind the bowler's
stumps!
![[Lorraine Elgar] © Don Miles](images/050812-0004-Elgar-Lorraine-Ump.jpg "[Lorraine Elgar] © Don Miles")
Lorraine Elgar
A Health Warning to Kent CCC
During the course of the match the electronic advertising boards on the edge
of the ground started to show a red square which flickered rather violently.
Later a second occurred further down the line. I am not epileptic but it set
me wondering that if anyone in the crowd was unfortunate enough to suffer,
the flashing light could have sparked an attack. I trust this has been
corrected and that Kent CCC have ensured the Health & Safety of their
customers.
What Has Jones Got to Do?
Well, I did say (further up this page) that I might have to type this!
Typing following the Test Match, and knowing the manner in which England
collapsed in the second innings, or even the performance of some of the
'top' names in the first, I have to wonder yet again why Amy Jones was not
included in the side.
Would she have done well? Who knows... Would she have done worse than the
England top order? I leave you to decide the answer to that question - you
obviously don't need to ask me mine.
Next Page |