Category: Women & Girls

An all-round display from Amy Griffiths helped steer Cricket Shropshire’s Women’s XI to the national final in their Metro Bank One Day Cup campaign with victory in Lincolnshire.

It will be the team’s second national final of the season after they also qualified for their T20 Finals Day earlier in the Summer – and they will once again face Oxfordshire, this time at Kibworth CC.

Their victory on the road at Lindum CC meant they jumped above Northumberland who saw their final game against Cumbria in the Women’s League Three, Division Two North, abandoned without a ball being bowled.

Shropshire finished their 50 over league campaign with a record of three wins and one abandonment from their four games thanks to Sunday’s win before the rain swept in.

Skipper Lara Jones win the toss and asked the hosts to bat first, and they got off to a fast start with a 41-run partnership for the first wicket.

But after Isabella Lawrence Posso claimed the first wicket, Sophia Parton chipped in with two important scalps before Griffiths ripped the heart out of the Lincolnshire middle order.

She returned figures of 4-25 from her ten overs as the hosts slipped from 71-2 to 107-7 to turn the game on its head.

Skipper Jones then nipped in with two wickets in her first over to help finish the innings on 126.

Shropshire were reduced to 38-2 in the reply before Griffiths and Diya Badge combined to calm the nerves and take their side past the 100 mark.

Badge was eventually dismissed for 47 off 53 balls, and Griffiths for 32 off 38, but Millie Parry hit three boundaries on her way to 18 off 15 balls to ensure Shropshire claimed the victory by six wickets with plenty of overs to spare.

Coach Sam Whitney said: “This was possibly the most satisfying win of the season, considering the struggles we had with availability.

“With the weather around, we knew if we could get a fast start, there was a slight chance we could leapfrog Northumberland.

“And everything seemed to fall into place.

“Lara won the toss, and even though Lincolnshire had a great start, we managed to pull it back.

“Fourteen-year-old Sophia Parton really turned the game around with her first over, taking two huge wickets and bowling a superb spell.

“Amy was fantastic. The pitch offered some spin, but she had to put the ball in the right areas and she did that, attacking the stumps and making them play. On another day, she could have had six or seven.

“Izzy Crann again went about her business, keeping the runs down and picking up a wicket, whilst Lara wrapped up things quickly with two wickets in her first over.

“Twelve-year-old Mills Jones took a brilliant catch off Amy on her debut, I think becoming the youngest ever to play for the Shropshire Women’s side, certainly in recent years. A great moment for her.

“With a low total we knew we didn’t have to be overly aggressive as Duckworth Lewis was in our favour and the rain was still a few hours away.

“Libby (Thomas) and Diya gave us a good start, but it was the partnership between Diya and Amy that won us the game. They put the bad balls away and made it look comfortable on a tricky pitch.

“We did have a scare at the end with a couple of late wickets, but Millie Parry came in and batted positively and struck a few boundaries to get us over the line.

“I’m proud of this group. It’s been a long season, but for the girls to keep making themselves available, especially for the long away days, they deserve every success they’ve had.

“It’s a great achievement to reach another national final. One last push on Sunday and hopefully we can go one better than we did in the T20 competition.”

A vital 86-run sixth wicket partnership between Amy Griffiths and skipper Lara Jones saw Shropshire edge to victory against Herefordshire in their Metro Bank One Day cup campaign.

Chasing a modest target of 132, Shropshire were in trouble in their reply when they slumped to 40-5 in their reply at Ludlow CC

But Griffiths (40) and Jones (39) combined to build their partnership and put Shropshire back in the driving seat.

Both fell with the winning line in sight but Shropshire edged home by two wickets with plenty of overs to spare.

Earlier Shropshire had dismissed the visitors for 131, a couple of early run outs from Ava Clive helping to put Herefordshire on the back foot.

Kate Brazier led the attack on her home turf with 3-25 from her six overs, Harriet Shuker took 2-19 and Griffiths 3-31 as Herefordshire were bowled out in the 32nd over of their innings.

Coach Sam Whitney said: “We won the toss and asked them to bat on a sunny day – but the pitch looked like it might be tricky to score on. 

“We bowled tightly and fielded superbly well to keep them to 130 including two run outs showing calmness under pressure to get two of their top players out.

“On a tough pitch to bat on, we probably went too attacking at the start and it cost us wickets, being early on shots on a sticky pitch. 

“At 40-5, Hereford had us on the ropes until the experience of Griffiths and Jones came together. They batted very smartly, putting bad balls away and running well.

“It was a great example for the young players how to build a partnership on a tough pitch. 

“A slight blip at the end made it closer than we wanted, but we got over the line once again.”

The third victory of the 50-over campaign leaves Shropshire joint top of League Three Division Two North with Northumberland after three games, just behind on run rate. 

The top two teams clash in their next fixture at Whitchurch CC’s Heath Road ground this Sunday, September 7.

It proved to be a game too far for Cricket Shropshire’s Women’s XI when they took on Oxfordshire in the Vitality Blast League Three Division Two final at the stunning Wormsley CC in Buckinghamshire.

Shropshire’s Women’s XI have qualified for their Vitality Blast T20 League finals day after two more victories on the road in Cumbria in their League Three Division Two North campaign.

Cricket Shropshire’s Women’s XI maintained their fine run with two more victories in their Vitality Blast T20 Group when they hosted Lincolnshire at Shifnal CC.