0:00

Well, hello and welcome to the latest

0:02

edition of the Daggers and Lids podcast,

0:05

a strand of the Sky Cricket podcast

0:08

series. I'm Charles Dagnall and as

0:10

ever, Lydia Greenway. Oi, oi, Greenway.

0:13

How are

0:14

you? Oi, oi, Dagnall. Yeah, I'm

0:16

good. Thank you. The season is in

0:18

full swing, isn't it? It certainly is. Usually.

0:20

We're having a way. Yeah, usually

0:22

we are sort of going over the week

0:24

that was, but the week that was,

0:26

we've been together the majority of the time anyway,

0:28

just covering the T20 blast,

0:30

which has been fantastic fun.

0:33

How good was that Roses evening

0:36

when we went up to Headingley and covered that game? That was

0:38

just an absolute stunner. What it's all

0:40

about, isn't it?

0:41

Yeah, it is. And, you know, even as

0:43

a Southerner, I look forward to that fixture.

0:46

You know, you can see it on your... It's got nothing to do

0:48

with you as a Southerner. It's got nothing to do.

0:51

Exactly. I know. I love it. I look

0:53

through the fixture list and I always look out

0:55

for that one especially. And

0:57

they're always close games as well, aren't they? And

1:01

the atmosphere was amazing. Absolutely.

1:03

Yeah, yeah. And what

1:05

was really interesting this week was

1:07

that I got to the majority of the games,

1:09

if not all the games, on time.

1:12

Was

1:14

that the case with you, Lyn? Well, I'd

1:17

love to say it was, but you know very well

1:19

that it wasn't. What was I? 15 minutes

1:22

late after the start of a game.

1:24

And in my defence, so you know me, I'm

1:28

quite early to

1:29

a lot of things. You are. In fairness, you

1:31

are. You're quite organised and geeky

1:33

like that. I have to say, I

1:35

am in the same bracket, so that's fair enough. I

1:38

see. I'm sympathetic

1:40

to that, but do continue.

1:43

Yeah, so in my mind,

1:45

if you're three hours early, then

1:47

that's OK. I prefer

1:49

to be three hours early than a

1:52

little bit late or an hour early. Anyway,

1:55

I was driving down to...

1:57

where were we? The Aegeus. Aegeus. Down in Southampton.

1:59

And honestly, I would

2:02

have been getting there for 4pm for a 7 o'clock

2:05

game. So

2:08

left myself plenty of time. I

2:10

was five miles away from

2:12

the ground, which equates to about 15

2:15

minutes on the M27, which a

2:17

lot of people will be familiar with. Unfortunately,

2:20

there was a crash. And so we all

2:23

grounded to a halt. And you know when

2:25

it's bad when people start getting out of their

2:27

car. And

2:29

then you know it's bad when sort of an hour goes

2:31

and you're still in your car. So I was chatting

2:33

to our producer, Jilo,

2:35

just saying, look, I might not make the

2:37

news cross that we were going to do. Then it was

2:39

like, OK, don't worry about that. Then I said, right,

2:42

I might not make the toss. He said,

2:44

OK, don't worry about that. And then I said,

2:46

I might not make the start again. OK,

2:49

we're trying to eyebrows it. But

2:51

well, the other thing as well that people, I

2:54

don't know if anyone's experienced it, but the toilet

2:56

situation as well being stuck on the back. That

2:58

was one of my concerns. I genuinely

3:00

thought how if you are sort

3:02

of caught short in that situation,

3:06

what's the form? Well,

3:07

I can tell you what the form was, Daggers,

3:09

because I was I was caught short

3:12

and there

3:13

was a caravan behind me. And

3:15

I saw these two other women

3:18

who were walking up

3:19

the motorway who would clock the

3:21

caravan like I had and

3:24

they knocked on the car

3:26

of the caravan. And

3:28

I've just seen them going into the caravan. I thought,

3:30

OK, that could be my opportunity.

3:33

But I didn't have the guts to do it. So

3:35

I had to make my

3:36

way. Really? Tell you what, you could

3:38

make an absolute fortune if

3:41

you've got a caravan in a traffic jam. You

3:44

can just charge people a couple of quid to use your facilities. And

3:46

away you go. There's a scene

3:48

in the film Two Weeks Notice that

3:50

Sandra Bullock has is very, very similar type

3:53

of affair. And she goes into an RV

3:55

or a campervan and does exactly what you suggested.

3:58

But what I am looking for. forward to is because of

4:01

that situation and the way that you are and

4:03

the way that I am at in that current

4:05

second vein, is that the next

4:07

T20 you've got, you'll be turning up at like one o'clock

4:10

in the afternoon for a seven o'clock start just

4:12

to make sure that nothing like

4:14

that happens again. So look,

4:17

we've had a busy week with my talented T20 blast,

4:19

but this is of course the number one

4:22

women's cricket podcast in the

4:24

ether. I've just made that number up,

4:28

which we're allowed to do because we can do that. But

4:31

I can tell you that we are two weeks,

4:34

two days and at the time of recording

4:36

two hours away from the

4:38

start of the women's ashes.

4:41

All gets underway 22nd of

4:43

June. The five

4:46

day test at Trent Bridge

4:49

and then 3T23, 1 Day Internationals,

4:51

the normal multi format point system.

4:54

And I wonder, Lydia,

4:56

if there has been an ashes series

4:59

that has been as eagerly

5:01

anticipated as this one.

5:03

I don't think there is. I

5:06

don't think there has been one. We've all

5:09

in the past, of course we've looked forward

5:11

to them and we've enjoyed

5:13

working on them and covering

5:16

them, etc. But I can't remember

5:19

an ashes series that has

5:21

had, or not more riding

5:23

on it, but that has got people just

5:26

buzzing for it. Is that

5:29

fair? Yeah, 100%. And I think it's

5:31

because of a few different reasons. I think

5:33

one because of the grounds

5:36

that the games are being played at.

5:39

The other factor is the ticket sales already.

5:41

I think last time we were spoke, they were up

5:44

at over 70,000 tickets sold across

5:46

the venues. I saw recently

5:48

that the Ajiis have sold over 10,000

5:51

tickets. And

5:53

then the fact that it is England and Australia

5:56

and the way that it's been promoted alongside

5:58

the men's ashes

5:59

as well.

5:59

feels like the platform similar

6:02

to the 100 isn't it? I think you give

6:04

women's cricket a platform. It's

6:06

amazing what happens. The people

6:08

will come you know if people are aware

6:11

of it happening and they're at these venues

6:13

and then the public want to be there so yeah

6:16

I'm with you Daggers it's going to be exciting.

6:19

Well as I've often said

6:21

build it and they will come it's from Field

6:23

of Dreams and if you give

6:25

people the product you give them the right

6:27

venues and give it that sense of occasion you

6:30

are going to get 70 000 plus

6:32

tickets all and that's just advanced

6:34

ticket sales as well in the build

6:37

up we've got two more weeks to go I am

6:39

assuming that many more will get sold

6:41

then and also you know

6:43

whilst it's in the mix whilst things

6:45

are going on whilst the series is taking place

6:48

the take up

6:49

of tickets I'm absolutely convinced

6:51

will be will be even more than that I'll be staggered

6:55

if the number doesn't hit 100 000 by

6:57

the time that the women's women's

6:59

ashes is completed but we're going

7:02

to talk about it you are a

7:04

former ashes winner let's get someone

7:06

from the other side yes

7:11

ashes winner ashes centurion

7:14

uh australian international and world-class

7:16

commentator she goes around the world talking

7:19

about the game of cricket and she will be

7:21

over on Sky Sports covering the both

7:23

the men's and the women's ashes

7:26

and I'm delighted at six o'clock in the evening

7:29

Australian time that

7:31

Mel Jones will be suffering jet

7:33

lag very very soon when she comes

7:36

over to the shores Mel thank you

7:38

so much for joining us um great

7:40

to see you I trust you're

7:42

in good form

7:43

fighting fit I've missed

7:46

your faces I've been thoroughly enjoying the

7:48

things that they've podcast

7:50

though so yeah the one with Nani the

7:52

other week I thought was absolutely brilliant and

7:55

when you talk about the

7:56

excitement around the ashes it's exciting

7:59

but it's also a little bit sad when you're missing some

8:01

of the big stars have recently gone,

8:04

and your shrub soul played in the last one, she won't be there, Rachel

8:06

Haynes, Meg Ladding, we'll probably talk about that. But

8:09

there is a buzz, and I think a lot of that is around the

8:11

fact that

8:13

the next gen are coming through, and that's

8:15

exciting. There's a huge buzz

8:17

here, Mel. How is it over

8:19

in Australia? What's the sort of coverage like

8:22

that?

8:23

Yeah, it's mixed in the sense,

8:25

because I think Australian cricket fans

8:27

are summer fans. It's

8:30

slightly different from Australia to

8:32

England, because we're in the depths of winter

8:34

at the moment, so it is footy, footy

8:36

and footy, whether it's NRL or League

8:39

or Aussie rules. So there's

8:41

the sense that the ashes are on, and the World

8:44

Test Championship is on as well. So

8:47

once it gets on the TV, I think things will certainly

8:49

ramp up. Yeah, I was just going to ask,

8:51

like Lydia said, in that sort of alignment,

8:54

really, once it starts getting, I mean, the

8:56

World Test Championship will

8:58

obviously, in the Australian public's

9:01

mind, get their minds attuned

9:03

to cricket and what's going on there,

9:05

and then the realisation that

9:07

the men's ashes start

9:11

soon after. So is it just that little switch

9:13

that needs flicking, just

9:16

to have the awareness, really,

9:19

of

9:20

cricket in the winter again? Yeah, 100%. And

9:23

once it's on, it's on a reasonable time the

9:26

Island England Test Match started at 8pm the

9:29

other evening. So it's actually sort of some prime

9:31

time viewing for fans. So

9:33

they'll get the first sessions in in

9:35

terms of the test matches, and then it's down

9:38

to your diehard, true

9:40

ashes cricket fans who are going to get up early for

9:42

the evening sessions and one

9:45

day, guys. Mel,

9:47

one thing I wanted to ask you, I think

9:49

just looking at the ashes as a

9:51

whole, and you look at the two

9:53

squads, obviously England haven't

9:56

announced theirs yet, Australia have,

9:58

I suppose the biggest...

9:59

headline at the moment is obviously

10:02

no Meg Lanning. I'm

10:05

interested to know how the news has been

10:07

received back home. Obviously you know some of

10:09

the players pretty well. Elisa Heade is going

10:11

to come in and feel that void

10:13

and take on the captaincy. What's the

10:15

sort of vibe with that news?

10:18

Yeah, I suppose it's blindsided

10:20

really in a sense, wasn't it? Because

10:23

you see that Meg

10:24

posted the Commonwealth Games, decided to take a little

10:26

bit of time away from the game just to figure out where

10:29

her headspace was at in terms of cricket and life

10:31

and everything. She

10:33

took that time off, realised that

10:35

she wants to come back and she wants to play

10:38

and invest absolutely everything back into

10:40

the game, into the Australian team. Missed

10:42

the tour of India, came back

10:44

for the T20 World Cup, did what Meg Lanning

10:47

does, leads the team so brilliantly

10:49

through that campaign. And

10:52

everything was pretty much ramping up then to

10:55

the Ashes. They've

10:57

had three camps, the Aussie girls up in Brizzy in

11:00

preparation and Elisa Heade

11:02

was getting ready to be the dutiful

11:05

vice captain and basically

11:06

had her head in just

11:08

getting herself primed for keeping

11:10

and batting and then this news

11:13

hit as well. So I just got

11:15

off the phone with Shelley Nitschke today

11:17

talking about it all. I said to Shell, she

11:19

got in, Rachel Haynes retired

11:21

about a week after going to that, then Benny Sawyer

11:24

left and coached New Zealand. She just keeps

11:26

getting bombarded with challenges

11:28

as a new time coach and she said,

11:30

Moni had nothing. It

11:32

was all smooth sailing for him. So

11:35

it's a challenge for absolutely everyone.

11:37

Yeah. And what about Elisa Heade

11:39

taking it on? How do you think she'll be

11:41

as a captain? Obviously it's a role that she's used to

11:44

doing anyway, but I

11:46

did read about recently

11:48

just how it might affect her position

11:51

in the test side, specifically

11:53

her batting position, whether she will, she's

11:56

captain, she's keeping with it and opening

11:58

the batting as well. Maybe

12:00

there is that conversation about where she, what

12:03

do you think, what's your sort of perception

12:06

on how she coped as a captain, but also

12:08

maybe how a role might change, I suppose.

12:11

Yeah, she's only really captain New South Wales

12:14

breakers within the WNCL because

12:16

at least Perry's captain, the Sixers during

12:18

the WDBL, she's been

12:20

a leader within the group. You know, that goes without

12:23

saying over all the time, which she's been in the side. So

12:25

it was her first taste really was going to India and then

12:27

she did a calf and Tarlie McGrath took over.

12:30

So in a way, it was almost like

12:32

just a trial run for both of them,

12:34

both in terms of that vice captaincy and potentially

12:37

captaincy for TMAC if something happened as well.

12:40

Midge is a completely different captain to

12:43

Meg Lanning to start with. I will get to your question about

12:45

workload. Midge

12:48

is a little bit more relaxed. She's more

12:50

sort of bringing

12:52

everyone on the journey with her. So there'll be

12:54

a lot more conversation and she'll allow people to have

12:56

their space. She'll want advice

12:58

on the field and everything. Meg was very

13:00

much, she did a lot of planning prior

13:03

to the game and once on the field, you see,

13:05

as she is just,

13:06

and she'll take bits in, but there is

13:08

Meg Lanning's show. So

13:10

that will be different. And I think the players

13:13

will enjoy, they enjoy both. You

13:15

know, it's just a refresher. I think that could be actually

13:17

quite good for the Aussie team on that

13:19

front. The workload question will

13:22

be a critical one because you think she's got the

13:24

gloves. She has opened in all three formats.

13:27

And the other piece of the puzzle too, in

13:29

terms of workload is, Midge Stark

13:31

is over for the men's ashes as well. And she's invested

13:33

obviously with her husband in that and wanting to

13:36

sort of stay involved and support where she can

13:38

on that front as well.

13:40

And it's a tight turnaround between it all.

13:42

So look, it'll be

13:44

a massive challenge. I think that's one of the sort

13:46

of the pieces to the puzzle is to just

13:48

how well Australia goes will be how well,

13:51

at least at Helion, the leadership group can just

13:53

juggle and manage all that and support each other through.

13:56

Yeah. I just want to go back

13:58

to Meg for a moment.

14:01

And of course, her

14:04

not playing in this Ashes series is devastating

14:07

on numerous fronts. Meg,

14:10

if you are listening, the whole of the creative family

14:12

hope you're okay and that you

14:14

get back to playing as soon as possible

14:17

because we're going to miss you. One of the massive

14:19

draws to this Australian team. For

14:22

me, I just love watching a bat. She's

14:24

elite. She is, for me, another

14:26

level on the bat in front. I

14:28

think in world cricket, I think, you know, when you saw

14:30

what she did in the WPL for

14:32

the Delhi Capitals and she just

14:34

oozes class wherever she goes. And

14:37

that tactical mouse, she has a great,

14:40

great cricket brain and,

14:42

you know, very unflustered and she is calm

14:45

but in a slightly different way to

14:47

Alicia Healy.

14:49

Are you surprised

14:52

that a replacement,

14:54

I realise Australia A are over

14:57

at the same time on tour, but

14:59

are you surprised that Australia

15:01

didn't actually name a specific

15:04

replacement in the squad? They just left

15:07

the squad as it was and just removed

15:09

the landing name?

15:11

Yeah, not really. I think what

15:13

we're seeing with Aussie tours

15:16

and they also went up to Brisbane for

15:18

the camp recently as well with

15:20

the Australian group. So they had both squads up there for

15:24

three-day games and fitness

15:26

and skills and the like. So they're

15:28

quite a cohesive group.

15:30

And I think what it says to the Aussie group

15:33

is that it's open. It is, you

15:35

know, so one is on performances.

15:38

Two is that, you know, it also allows

15:40

someone within the squad, the Australian team,

15:43

to step up into that position and

15:45

whether that's an Alese Perry just sliding up a

15:47

spot and someone else coming in there or someone just taking

15:49

Meg's spot. And it just

15:52

keeps everyone on their toes a little bit, I think,

15:54

and doesn't mean that all doors

15:56

are shut so early. And that's the

15:58

beauty of having...

15:59

A tours and it's something that I would love to

16:02

see more and more in the

16:04

global and not just when Australia

16:06

and India and England are touring. Because

16:10

you just get to see young

16:12

people getting opportunities and in the

16:14

name that sort of springs to my mind for the Australian

16:16

A team is Tae Bolemic.

16:19

You know she's back in fit and

16:21

firing. Doesn't have probably the overs under

16:23

her belt at the moment. So

16:26

who's to say that it

16:27

can't be a quick that comes in to

16:30

put a spot in the squad and not specifically

16:32

a banner.

16:33

Okay we're 15 minutes in

16:36

and this is the question that actually

16:38

we've been pretty much building up to. Don't

16:43

worry about it. I don't know what it is either. When

16:48

I say it Lydia you will. Okay.

16:51

Does this leave Australia open

16:54

with Meg Lanning not part

16:56

of that middle order. Not does

16:58

I mean it obviously weakens. She

17:01

her absence will weaken

17:03

any side in the world. But does this

17:05

leave Australia open. Is there a crack

17:08

because of the dominance and the only reason I say

17:10

this is because of the dominance of this

17:12

side for the last 10 years

17:15

in whatever format of cricket they play.

17:17

They are the best team in the world and I don't just

17:19

necessarily think in the cricketing world. I think

17:21

in the sporting world their dominance

17:24

is pretty much unmatched. England

17:26

are a very very fine side. The

17:29

truth is is that Australia come

17:31

over to these shores and they are going

17:33

to be favourites to retain

17:36

the women's ashes. So the question then is

17:38

is this a little chink

17:40

for England. Is this an opening that

17:42

they can that they can try and

17:45

use and give them that that much

17:47

better chance. Does it weaken Australia.

17:50

I wouldn't say it well I

17:53

was gonna say it wouldn't I wouldn't say it weakens Australia but

17:55

you take Meg Lanning out of any side. Yeah. But I there's

18:00

a couple of points. I look back to 2017 when Meg

18:02

had a shoulder injury during the Ashes here in Australia

18:05

and Ray Chanes took over.

18:06

Yeah, oh yeah, remember that series while

18:08

we were at it. It was just people just step

18:11

up and I think that's one of the reasons why the Australian

18:13

team has been so dominant for so long

18:15

is that there's not a reliance specifically on

18:18

one person in that role within the team for that

18:21

end success. The other thing

18:23

I look at is that it starts, the Ashes starts

18:25

with the Test match and I look at Meg's

18:29

involvement in the Test match. She got a 97, she got close to that

18:31

elusive 100, it's probably the only thing she hasn't really done

18:34

in World Cricket at the

18:34

moment in that last

18:37

Ashes and you think but her input

18:39

with the bat probably hasn't been as dominant

18:41

as it has been in White Ball Cricket in

18:44

the past and for captain CES that last

18:46

hour at Marnica was just something that you

18:48

know you can go back and watch over and over again and sort of

18:50

forget what the result was. It just

18:52

keeps throwing all that time

18:54

and you know a little bit of that was you know conversations

18:56

with Annabelle Sutherland come around the wicket

18:59

but then that was also Elise Perry coming

19:01

in with

19:01

that as well. So you go the Test match into

19:04

the T20s and then I look at how well

19:07

Australia played in India against India

19:09

last season without Meg Lanning.

19:12

Elise Perry's strike rate improves,

19:15

Talia McGrath comes up. So

19:17

yes the team is weakened without a Meg Lanning but

19:20

it also plays into their strength

19:22

of their accountability and how they react

19:24

and find a solution to

19:26

filling that void as well.

19:28

And what about Shelly Midski

19:31

obviously she's been

19:33

around the coaching group for a long

19:35

long time when Matthew Mott was at

19:38

the helm and obviously as a player as well

19:40

she was world cast.

19:42

What's she like as a coach because Matthew

19:45

Mott from what I saw was pretty relaxed.

19:48

Let Meg Lanning take control of the

19:50

side. I don't know you never know what it's like behind

19:52

closed doors do you and me and things like that.

19:57

What's Shelly Midski like as a head

19:59

coach?

20:00

Yeah, I think there's some similarities

20:01

in that sense of Shelbing,

20:04

you know, it's a bit of a layback kind of character.

20:07

She's been on a very steep learning

20:09

curve, as I mentioned before, you know, coming into this

20:11

side, it's sort of been back to back major

20:14

tournaments. We think the 2020

20:16

World Cup coming off the back of not

20:18

making the final in 2017, that was

20:21

the teams, you know, that was their driver.

20:23

That was, you know, that four years of build up to

20:26

that moment. And then mentioned, you know,

20:28

big retirements, Meg Lanning coming

20:30

into Commonwealth Games

20:31

is a big one for the Australian team, because it was

20:33

a, you know, a title

20:35

that no one had ever played in before. So it was

20:38

up for grabs. So she's been

20:40

on a massive learning curve. And she's had

20:42

a bit of a shift in personnel around the staffing

20:44

as well. But

20:47

if you know Shelly Nitschke, she

20:50

takes things in a stride

20:51

very well. She's very thoughtful about

20:53

it. She would have planned to the end to agree, but is still

20:55

very much. She knows as a player,

20:58

you can plan as much as you like,

20:59

but you know, things can just go right.

21:02

And then, you know, and then it's

21:05

the more you

21:06

plan for what you'd like, and then possibly

21:09

this or that. And I'm not

21:11

tipping now because of all the things she has faced. She's probably

21:13

thinking, what if this happens? What

21:15

if Megan Schud and Nasi Brown go down or

21:17

something along those lines that, you know,

21:21

she'll try and cover off as many bases as

21:23

she possibly can.

21:24

But at the end of the day, she also

21:26

knows it's a game and you've got to enjoy

21:28

it. And it's about entertainment too. And I think

21:31

that the women's ashes are starting

21:33

to get its head around that as well, that

21:35

we are there to entertain. And that's why we see these magnificent

21:39

ticket sales already going about

21:41

it because both teams are, they're

21:43

entertainers. And that's

21:45

something that she'll have front of mind as well. Just

21:48

interestingly, you mentioned that

21:50

and the venues are,

21:53

of course, they are

21:55

the test venues that you traditionally

21:57

associate with the men. They're now being used with the women.

21:59

Again, is that something

22:02

that is

22:02

daunting perhaps in

22:05

one series? It's going to be a very partisan

22:07

crowd, and I'm sure that

22:10

the England fans will be right

22:14

behind the team and almost

22:16

wanting to create that intimidating

22:19

type of atmosphere for

22:23

the women's ashes. When you consider that the

22:25

test is at Trent Bridge, the

22:27

T20's edge baston,

22:29

oval and lords, which

22:32

you know these are daunting venues,

22:34

these are big major international and

22:36

historic venues. Is that again

22:38

something that could assist

22:41

England in that or will Australia take that

22:43

in the stride? Could it actually inspire them too?

22:46

Yeah, well it's interesting, like I've strategically

22:48

placed the little poster in the background

22:51

there and I think it's the 1998 we

22:53

played there. That's

22:55

going back dinosaur

22:58

years. Then I think for

22:59

Ashes or a

23:01

game within the Ashes, I think it was 2013 maybe? You would have

23:05

been playing in it, there was a

23:09

game there that Australia won.

23:12

England haven't had the best of record

23:14

at Lords because of the enormity

23:17

of the occasion as well. Yes, they won

23:19

the 2017 World Cup Final there against India. So

23:23

I think it goes both ways on that

23:25

front. I think it's absolutely brilliant that they're playing

23:28

at the big grounds because

23:30

perception's reality isn't it in so

23:33

many ways. So all of a sudden you say this is

23:35

Ashes, it's women's Ashes, you're at the big ground,

23:37

everyone just goes right, okay well here we go, we pack our

23:39

lunch and put our champagne in and off we go. That's

23:43

what we do and the more

23:45

that can happen year after year, I think

23:47

that's just wonderful for the competition.

23:49

Okay then let's get into

23:51

the nitty-gritty

23:52

and start talking players then

23:54

because England's last Test match and

23:56

Lydia I'm going to come to you was against South

23:58

Africa

23:59

and it was rain-affected. We saw some fantastic

24:03

individual performances on both

24:05

sides. England lining up

24:07

with Emma Lamb at the top alongside Tammy Beaumont,

24:09

Heather Knight, Nat Silverbrunt, Sophia Dunkley,

24:12

Amy Jones with the gloves, Alice Davidson

24:14

Richards who picked up that wonderful unbeaten

24:17

century, Sophie Eccleston, Kate Cross,

24:19

Lauren Bell and Izzy Wong.

24:22

Lids, do you see a massively different side

24:24

to that, taking the field at Trumbbridge?

24:27

I'm

24:28

taking notes by the way Lids. Sally

24:33

Mitzki is probably just on speaker

24:35

and without, you know,

24:38

she's just not meant, she's muted a microphone

24:40

and she's actually on speakerphone in Mel's

24:42

apartment. It's

24:45

a tough one isn't it? I was actually thinking about

24:47

what their starting 11 will be

24:49

and

24:51

my general sense is I don't think it

24:53

will be too different to what we've

24:56

seen but the only caveat

24:58

I will throw in is I get

25:01

a vibe from the England camp with

25:03

obviously the new coach John Lewis and

25:06

with how the men have been playing

25:08

their test cricket is my sense

25:10

is that maybe that is something they want

25:12

to look at trying to bring in in terms

25:15

of that slightly more aggressive style

25:17

of play. So with that in mind

25:19

it could open up an

25:21

opportunity at the top of the order.

25:24

I thought Emma Loud played

25:26

brilliantly by the way against South Africa

25:28

in their last test match and

25:31

looks completely at home, completely

25:34

comfortable but one

25:36

of my question marks was around that opening spot

25:38

mark and then the other was just

25:40

in the balance of the sides with the

25:43

bowling or rounder. So I'll go through

25:45

my 11 shall I daggers? Yes. You

25:48

and Mel can see what you think. So

25:50

I've got Tammy Beaumont, she's a shoe-in

25:53

for me, then I've got a question mark and I'll come back

25:56

to some of the names that I've thrown in the mint

25:58

and I'll take this.

25:59

I was just

26:02

thinking,

26:02

go on. Then

26:05

we've got Heather Knight, Nat Sibberbrand, Saphir

26:07

Donkley, Amy Jones, which I think

26:09

is the core of that batting line-up.

26:12

Then we've got another question mark and that's

26:15

between Alice Davidson Richards, who

26:17

got 100 on debut against

26:20

South Africa last year, but this

26:22

comes back to the balance of the side and maybe

26:24

who they might open with. So I've got a slash

26:27

Charlie Bean as another

26:30

spinning option. Then I

26:32

feel the bowlings pretty settled in

26:35

Sophie Eccleston, Kate Cross, Izzy

26:37

Wong and Lauren Bell. So

26:39

that means the names at the top

26:42

that are in the mix are Emma

26:44

Lam, and these are

26:46

slightly not necessarily left field

26:48

but more in line with the whole basketball thing,

26:50

is Alice Capsley,

26:53

Dally Wyatt, who's never played a

26:55

test match but we all know what she can

26:57

do at whiteball level. Then Maya

27:00

Boucher, who's just a real out

27:02

there sort of pick. And

27:06

then obviously Emma Lam as well. So at

27:09

the moment, if I was John Lewis, I'm

27:11

trying to get inside his brain, which is

27:14

quite a tough thing to do. Obviously,

27:16

they've been having warm-up games and training

27:19

sessions at Trent College. I think they've got a

27:21

three-day game starting in

27:23

a week or so. So

27:26

that's where I'm at, guys. I don't know what

27:28

you've seen. You've given us a very

27:31

accurate 15-player side

27:34

in that. She's not interested. Now,

27:36

I mean, do you concur?

27:44

It is like you sort

27:46

of get snippets of Rachel

27:49

Hayhoe, hopefully, Cup going

27:51

on and who's doing what there and sort of seeing

27:54

who's in form and the likes. The other one, I don't

27:56

think you mentioned it, was Lauren Winfield-Hill, who's

27:58

had a pretty good 18-player.

27:59

months I think in terms of just,

28:02

she just feels, looks as if she knows her game

28:05

now. And there's just not

28:07

a

28:07

lack of care factor, but like a care factor about

28:09

results, so she can just go out and then play the game,

28:11

which is the headspace you want every

28:14

player almost to be in. I

28:18

like an Alice Capsi in

28:20

the England side because she's a game changer, she

28:23

can shift things. So

28:25

how you

28:26

squeeze, what are we up to 24 players into? The

28:32

other one I do is interesting

28:35

is that

28:36

five-day test, the weather looks as if,

28:38

couple of them saying this, recently good in England at

28:40

the moment and looking ahead as well, so

28:42

it looks as if you're going to get the five

28:44

days in, is that

28:46

fast bowlers and fitness

28:48

in bowling and test matches.

28:51

So if you get down to the last day, Izzy Wong's

28:53

basically bowl, sort of T20 short format, short bursts

28:55

of bowling, likewise Lauren Bell. How do you

28:58

protect those bowlers?

29:02

Then also for

29:04

the remainder of the Ashes series

29:06

as well. So how much weight do you put on the test

29:08

match? How are you going to get

29:11

through that? You're

29:11

going to play to win it, yes 100%, but

29:14

I look at Megan Schuch who didn't play the test match at

29:17

Mornica, the Ashton came back in the

29:19

white ball as well.

29:21

It's interesting you say

29:23

all of these things and actually I think there's

29:27

more of a question

29:30

mark than people perhaps may think and

29:32

for that reasons that you say, Lydia, at

29:34

the top of the order and this is no slight

29:37

on Emma Lam at all, but I

29:39

just wonder that that engine

29:41

room and your batters down

29:43

the order, the bowlers bat as

29:45

well, so you have Sophie

29:50

Eccleston who can bat, you have Izzy Wong

29:53

who can bat, you have Kate Cross who can

29:55

bat. So theoretically do you actually

29:57

want to put an out and out bowler

29:59

in the there as opposed to

30:01

an all-rounder. You've got an all-rounder in Net Silver

30:03

Brunt. Arguably, Heather Knight can give

30:06

you a few overs as well should

30:08

she need to. So I'm just wondering with

30:10

some left-handers in the

30:12

Australian camp as well, if

30:14

it is actually worth bowling your genuine

30:17

offy

30:17

and bringing Charlie Dean

30:19

into the side and the names

30:22

at the top of the order, theoretically Amaland

30:24

can bowl you off spin as can

30:27

Alice Capsey. I doubt

30:29

they're gonna go with Danni Wyatt. I'd be surprised

30:31

she's going to be too valuable in the shorter forms

30:34

I think and maybe that time

30:36

has passed given what

30:39

she brings to England in the shorter

30:41

format and again Lauren Winfield-Hill

30:43

is pushing her claim. Again,

30:46

is it going to be a fraction late for

30:48

her given her previous England

30:50

performances as opposed to her last 18

30:52

months of batting which has been

30:55

absolutely stellar. So I think there's

30:57

a few more headaches than people might

30:59

actually think but I also

31:01

take on board your point now

31:04

is that

31:05

Kate Cross is going to be playing Test

31:07

match cricket. I'm assuming she'll

31:10

be playing in our side. She'll be playing

31:12

in the Test. She'll be probably playing in the one-day internationals

31:14

as well. Probably not as

31:17

it stands at the moment in the T20.

31:19

She's not part of that T20 side but

31:21

if you're Lauren Bell and Izzy Wong,

31:24

my guess is that they're going

31:26

to want those two fit for

31:28

pretty much every single format

31:31

of international cricket and their health is

31:35

something that's going to be going

31:37

to be absolutely on top

31:39

of John Lewis's sort of worry list.

31:42

That they are going to be able to give

31:44

absolutely everything to each and every single game

31:49

that they play because they're going to be, they'll

31:51

want them.

31:52

I'm very much guessing in all of the ODIs

31:55

and I'd be surprised if one doesn't play with the

31:57

retirement of Catherine Silverbrunt

32:00

all of the T20s as well. Is that

32:02

the way that you would see it?

32:06

Yeah. Me or Lids? Sorry, sorry,

32:09

sorry. Lids. Yeah,

32:13

absolutely. And I think with

32:15

the test match being first, it's

32:17

such an interesting schedule because it

32:19

doesn't take a natural

32:22

decline or increase

32:24

towards a certain format.

32:26

What I mean is that it's going test series,

32:29

test match, the longest format. Then it's going

32:31

to T20s and then it's going

32:34

to ODI. So that's a tricky thing to

32:36

manage

32:36

in itself. But I think in

32:38

terms of fast folding fitness, absolutely.

32:42

That will be something that England will have to

32:44

manage because if the test series, test

32:46

series, I keep saying test series, if the test

32:48

match is at the back end of

32:51

the Ashes series, then sometimes

32:53

that's a bit easier to manage because

32:56

you know, which players you've got less who have

32:58

fit and you just wheel them out and say,

33:00

look, girls, one big push. Whereas I

33:02

think with the test match being first,

33:05

you have to look ahead. And as you say, Daggers,

33:07

someone like Izzy Wong, we've

33:09

seen a lot of her. I would

33:12

gobsmacked if she doesn't play a role in all

33:14

formats of the series.

33:17

And so they will have to manage that. So

33:19

yeah, it's a really tough one. And

33:22

that's why the Charlie Dean and

33:24

ADR debate is an interesting one

33:26

as well. Yeah.

33:26

I mean, with the strength of that Australian

33:29

batting lineup now, would you actually play

33:31

the out and out bowl? You've got to take 20 wickets.

33:34

You've got to take 20 very difficult

33:36

wickets. So would your temptation be

33:38

to play your best

33:40

five bowlers? Because you've always got nats of

33:43

a Brunt and Heather Knight anyway to

33:45

fill in for some overs should you need to?

33:47

Yeah, I would. And the other name

33:50

and I've only seen her play live

33:53

a few times. Certainly heard a name around a little

33:55

bit and it might be left field to you guys.

33:57

But you look at someone who maybe the Australians

33:59

haven't seen.

33:59

too much of who's taken wickets is

34:02

Levick as well. So you sort of,

34:05

it's interesting, I

34:07

would, if I'm England and I

34:10

want to win the Ashes back and I know

34:12

it's five days, there is a massive opportunity

34:15

of getting four points up and

34:17

then you go into what

34:18

I think England are probably thinking to themselves is their best

34:20

chance in the T20s of knocking

34:23

Australia off as well because you've got to remember

34:25

they didn't match up in the T20 World Cup

34:27

in South Africa recently and they didn't come

34:29

across each other in the comp dance. So there's been a

34:31

bit of a

34:33

break in T20

34:35

sort of matchups and I think with the

34:37

form of England players and the WPL

34:40

recently, you look at Moong and that's Siva Brunt

34:42

and the like, I think

34:43

in the back of their mind they're like we

34:45

win the test, we jump in Australia

34:48

in the first couple of T20s and all

34:50

of a sudden hello, you know, it's packed

34:52

up every single game. And

34:55

then you bring the country along with it and you

34:58

so you've got to take the 20 wickets, I

35:00

would say get on that front foot because you've got four

35:02

class batters

35:03

at the top of the order there. Okay,

35:06

the other thing is as well, sorry daggers, just

35:08

to jump in, just with the test match

35:10

at the start, a team is going to walk

35:13

away with four points like with

35:15

the weather, assuming it's good,

35:18

there is going to be a result, I'm

35:20

certain of that and so that's why again

35:23

it's so important.

35:25

Let's turn our attention to Australia

35:27

then, the most recent

35:29

test side that they put out was against

35:32

England at Canberra in that thrilling test

35:34

match where England were nine wickets down

35:36

at the end at one moment they thought they were going to

35:38

win and then Australia, it was such a top

35:41

C-turvy event at Canberra. They

35:43

lined up Rachel Haynes, Alicia Healy,

35:45

Beth Mooney, Elise Perry, Meg Lanning,

35:47

Talia McGrath, Ash Gardner, Annabelle

35:50

Sutherland, Jess Jonathan, Alana King

35:52

and Darcy Brett, jeez that's a good sign, so

35:55

there are going to be changes.

35:57

Mel and you mentioned about...

36:00

the potential at the top of the order.

36:02

How do you see this test side

36:05

lining up?

36:06

Yeah, it changes galore and a good side that still

36:08

didn't have Megan Chute in it as well, mentioned before

36:10

she was rested coming into

36:13

the white ball series. So

36:15

with no Rachel Haynes at the top of the order

36:18

with Elisa Healy, the other question is does

36:20

Elisa Healy open as well now that she's got

36:22

the cat and sea. So we could well and

36:24

truly see what is now

36:26

Australia's white ball opening pair with no Meg Laning

36:28

for the Pakistan series, which would be Beth Mooney coming

36:31

up

36:32

and opening, which she has done

36:34

in white ball cricket for quite some time.

36:37

And then, you know, probably tipping

36:40

most people will be thinking that Phoebe Litchfield gets

36:42

an opportunity of opening up the batting

36:45

with Beth Mooney. She's done it in the 50

36:47

over already. So debutante to open

36:50

in the Ashes and the new Ashes opening pair

36:52

for Australia as well.

36:55

Leeds, the way you see that?

36:57

Yeah, I had that. I had Phoebe

36:59

coming in to make a debut. And

37:01

then I think the other thing, obviously

37:03

with no Meg Laning is how they

37:06

feel that spot as well and

37:09

what spinning options there to

37:11

go with. Because obviously, Alana King had

37:13

that amazing, well, debuts,

37:16

like three debuts in not

37:19

in a very short space of time. And

37:21

she really made the most of it. But I don't think

37:24

Georgia Wareham was fit at that time either,

37:27

though. So maybe that's why she got

37:29

the nod. So I just wonder whether they're

37:31

bringing

37:32

someone like Georgia Wareham instead

37:35

of Alana King, which would be tough on Alana.

37:37

But I think with Wareham, she does give you

37:39

a little bit more batting. Mel,

37:41

you would have seen a lot of her, but I really

37:44

rate her with the bat as well. And then obviously, there's

37:46

Kim Garth as well, if they want to bring in

37:48

a little bit more bowling support

37:52

to support the likes of Tanya McGrath

37:54

and Abell Sutherland and Darcy

37:56

Brown. So they've certainly got options.

37:59

But I'm not sure.

37:59

excited for Phoebe that's good actually.

38:02

I really enjoyed the way that she plays the

38:04

game. Oh look, she's

38:06

a gem of a human being to start with.

38:09

Yeah. I totally enjoyed getting amongst

38:11

the Australians set up and you know 50 on

38:14

ODI debut as well is pretty

38:16

classy.

38:16

The replacement

38:18

for Lending, because Lending came in at

38:21

five for that last test match.

38:24

So my take on it would be

38:26

that Perry slots up a

38:28

spot will come in at number three. I

38:31

don't think there's anyone will go, she'll struggle

38:33

there. I think that'll be okay. Talia

38:37

McGrath slots in at four, Gardiner

38:40

at five. I think if they're going to

38:42

give Healy that buffer you can put

38:44

her at six, which is exciting I

38:46

think for Alyssa Healy because you know if the

38:48

new ball does come, if they bat through

38:50

and get the new ball and she's in, she can go have

38:52

that opening opportunity

38:55

and she can bat with a pretty impressive

38:57

tail. Sub-on comes

39:00

in there. The interesting one is I think is

39:02

around the spin. So

39:05

JJ was in there at the moment. Shoot actually

39:07

comes in for Lending, if that makes sense. Not

39:09

that it's a lot for light. Everybody

39:13

shoots at one, yeah. Yeah, Shoot

39:15

comes in and you're right, Lids. It's that

39:18

King V, V, Werham spot.

39:20

I'm of the,

39:22

you want to pick your best bowler

39:24

for test match cricket. You want to pick

39:26

a bowler who can set players up,

39:28

who can beat both sides of the bat.

39:31

If it comes down to them being 50-50

39:33

in that, then it probably does shift towards

39:36

Georgia Werham's spot to take

39:39

because

39:39

she is better with the bat and

39:41

she is an absolute jet in the field

39:44

as well. So she covers off those

39:46

two pieces there. So that'll be the

39:49

challenge there for Healy and Michiki

39:51

and then Brown comes in as you quick.

39:53

It's obviously a pretty serious

39:56

side when you look at it and you do have

39:59

as well. mentioned about England's bowlers

40:02

and the additional bowlers

40:04

that can actually pick you up, you know,

40:06

can bowl you seven or eight overs in innings

40:10

and that is exactly what Australia

40:12

have as well. It's an embarrassment of riches

40:14

when you consider that your picking between

40:17

Alana King and Georgia Wareham and

40:19

Amanda Jade Wellington is also on the

40:22

A-Tour as well and she doesn't, you

40:24

know, not even getting a look into this test

40:26

side. Is there, there's

40:29

a playful part of me led

40:32

that in this

40:35

Australian side as strong as it is,

40:39

is there room for a luxury

40:41

pick?

40:42

And the one I'm looking at is

40:45

Grace Harris. I'm just trying to

40:49

think, I'm just trying to think that

40:53

of course we know the quality of

40:56

the batting lineup throughout the

40:59

top sort of six or seven or eight of

41:02

Australia when you think of Jess Jonathan where she's going

41:04

to be batting, yeah, when

41:06

she, was it Test Match 99 I

41:08

think at Canterbury back

41:12

in 2015 and so

41:14

they have an embarrassment of riches when

41:16

it comes, when do you think about a player who can just

41:18

literally take a game away from you, you

41:20

know, tired bowlers 40, 50, 60 overs

41:23

into a, into an innings. I

41:25

mean that would just completely

41:28

sap you if Grace Harris

41:30

just came in and had an hour's worth of fun. Is

41:34

there room for a luxury pick like that?

41:36

Do you think, Lyd? I'd bring

41:38

her in just to be on the mic for a day. Yeah. I think

41:41

that would be extremely entertaining for everyone but no,

41:43

I see if I'm honest, I think when

41:52

you look at the firepower that they've

41:54

already got with someone like Healy

41:56

potentially coming in at you

41:58

know seven and a half. I think

42:01

they would keep their sensible

42:03

head on. And especially with the

42:05

quality of the spinners that they've got as well.

42:08

I know you're grimacing at me, Daggers. Sorry, I'm

42:10

being boring.

42:11

No, you're not. You're being particularly

42:13

sensible. I just think it was fun to see.

42:16

I don't think they'll do it. I don't think they'll do it at all

42:18

either. And I don't think they should do it, but

42:20

goodness me, it would be fun to have a

42:22

luxury pick like that in there. Yeah.

42:26

Mel, it's not gonna happen,

42:28

is it?

42:29

Not unless there's an injury

42:32

or something coming prior to an

42:34

illness or something on those lines. Because the

42:36

two spots you're probably looking at is either the

42:40

all-round positions of Sutherland who

42:42

played so well in the last test. And I'm thinking

42:44

Trent Bridge. You

42:47

need a bowler that can bowl hard into the deck

42:50

a little bit, and you'd love that, Daggers. And

42:53

the other one is probably JJ, because

42:55

Grace can

42:56

bowl office, but you're also, it's

42:58

handy having Gardner who finger

43:00

spin her in to the right hander. JJ,

43:02

the finger spin her in the right hand. You

43:04

forget about Ash Gardner as well, don't

43:06

you? You can't do a bowler. And how much of

43:09

a good bowl is she eating? Yeah.

43:10

Geez. Are you coming? Yeah,

43:13

I mean, it really is a hardcore

43:16

side and one that is gonna take absolutely

43:18

every ounce of England to overcome in the

43:20

test series. The other thing about Trent Bridge is it

43:22

does swing. It does swing at Trent Bridge.

43:25

And so Meghan Schuttle enjoyed that. As

43:28

will Izzy Wong, Kate Cross

43:30

and Lauren Bell. There's so much

43:32

to look forward to in just the

43:34

test match. That's outside of the three

43:37

T20s and three 1-day internationals that are gonna

43:39

be happening in July.

43:40

We could continue talking-

43:43

Daggers, sorry, just on that too, just very,

43:45

very quickly to wrap up the test side of things is we've

43:47

gotta remember too, both equally talented

43:50

sides,

43:52

but it's test match cricket and they don't play a lot

43:54

of it. And that's what that last hour of Marnaca

43:56

gave us was, where do we set

43:58

fields? And we might have to- even see in the men's test

44:01

as well, you know, if Baz ball goes off and or

44:03

the Australians do a bit of Baz ball, you know, how do you set

44:05

a field where there's no restrictions and to try

44:07

and limit things and that's where

44:09

the art of cricket brains and

44:11

smarts come into play and that's what I'm

44:14

thoroughly looking forward to.

44:15

Yeah very much so. There was no better, I mentioned

44:18

about that India game

44:20

that England played and watching Sophie

44:23

Eccleston bowl into the dirt

44:25

with fielders around the bat in the women's game

44:27

was one of the most thrilling things to

44:30

see because obviously we very rarely get

44:32

to see them in red ball action wearing the whites

44:35

of the greens and setting fields

44:37

like that it was an absolute buzz

44:40

to watch that type of cricket in the women's

44:42

game and hopefully we're going to see plenty

44:44

more of it. Mel,

44:45

we could talk for hours, we're going

44:47

to be talking for hours, we're going to have to talk

44:50

for hours on your journey once

44:52

you arrive

44:53

in the UK but we

44:56

look forward to seeing you.

44:57

We thank you so much for your time as

45:00

ever. You will be convinced appearing

45:02

on many more daggers and lids podcasts throughout

45:04

the course of the summer and you will have

45:07

no say in it as well.

45:08

We're just going to crowd you, absolutely we're

45:10

going to crowd you with

45:13

microphones and make you talk but we're

45:15

really looking forward to seeing you have a safe

45:17

trip over and look

45:19

after yourself. We'll see you in a week's

45:21

time also.

45:23

Thank you so much and if I can just bookend the start

45:25

of your conversation was about lids's journey, unfortunate

45:28

journey and a little bit of an issue with a toilet

45:30

stop. Lids you need to go and

45:32

google she we they've

45:34

been in the market

45:37

just keep one in your car for any future trips

45:39

it'll come in very very handy. That's

45:42

a good festival tool isn't

45:44

it? That's now. Maybe I can give you

45:46

a new sort of horror. Well

45:49

she just had

45:49

to lower the tongue before she went. I've

45:51

seen those advertised

45:54

as well but hey yeah

45:56

yeah we couldn't we couldn't leave

45:59

it without the Australian

45:59

the true Australian coming out. Well,

46:02

great to see you. Thanks so much. Please guys, I'll see

46:04

you soon.

46:06

I don't know about you, Lyds, but,

46:08

you know, we were lucky enough to, to,

46:10

you

46:11

know, travel the world and have

46:13

many, many friends in cricket. And no matter whenever

46:15

you see them, you sort of they pop into your

46:17

life

46:18

and then in and out and then, you

46:19

know, and seeing Mel again, even

46:21

albeit via a Zoom

46:24

call and, you know, we'll get to

46:26

see her in a week's time. It's always joyous, isn't

46:28

it? She's such great value and such

46:31

a complete fount of all

46:33

knowledge when it comes to when it comes to the women's

46:35

game.

46:36

Oh, yeah, she's brilliant, Mel is. And

46:38

yeah, I'm the same with you. Just when you see their

46:40

face pop up on the screen, it always brings a

46:42

smile to your face, isn't it? And

46:45

it'll be so good to have Mel over as

46:47

well. See, she'll be part of our coverage

46:49

with Skye and giving us the insight

46:52

from an Aussie point of view. And

46:54

I think people often forget as well how much

46:57

of a good play she was to. Was

46:59

she mentioning that 90? Yeah,

47:02

that 98 test

47:02

where she actually scored 130 odd in that 98 test.

47:07

But serious play. You made your

47:09

debut when she was still playing. Is that right?

47:11

Yeah. So she was in this amazing

47:14

Australian side that had Belinda

47:16

Clark, Karen Rolton, Catherine

47:18

Fitzpatrick. You know,

47:20

the list goes on. Julia Price

47:23

was keeping. So that was always back in 2003

47:25

now at the at the gabber. But

47:28

yeah, she was a fantastic

47:30

player. And I think people who are pretty new

47:33

to the women's games sort of just see her as this

47:35

wonderful commentator, don't they?

47:37

But yeah, she's great, great

47:39

value. Well, it was great to have her on.

47:41

And as you mentioned, she will be across all

47:43

of the coverage on Skye Sports

47:46

cricket this summer.

47:49

Just going back to domestic issues, we

47:52

are building up to the crescendo of the

47:54

Charlotte Edwards Cup. The

47:56

finals day is happening on Saturday.

47:59

And there is one game left at

48:02

time of recording.

48:03

There is one game left and that is Wednesday

48:05

the 7th of June. Let me give you an indication

48:08

of how things stand at the moment. The Blaze

48:10

are there. They have played

48:12

6-1-6. They have 28 points. They

48:14

are having a ridiculous season at the

48:17

moment. It's who will join them in

48:20

the fight. We're going to have a playoff that second and

48:22

third will play. And the winner of that

48:25

will go on to play the Blaze. Vipers

48:27

are second on 17. Diamonds

48:30

on 17. Thunder could

48:32

still make it. They're on 13 points. And

48:35

the Storm on 12. Those who won't make it. The

48:37

Stars, the Sparks and the Sunrisers. And

48:39

it might very well come down to net

48:41

run rate. And in that order, Vipers,

48:44

Diamonds on 17. Vipers

48:46

lead by about 0.6. 0.6 and

48:49

the Thunder on 0.06. So

48:53

there's still things to get sorted

48:55

out. The upcoming fixtures. Thunder versus

48:58

Diamonds, 11 o'clock Blackpool

49:00

on Wednesday. The Southeast

49:02

Stars versus the Sparks. Nothing

49:05

really can happen with that game. That's

49:07

at 2 o'clock at Canterbury. And then the Storm versus

49:09

the Blaze, 2.30 at Cardiff.

49:12

So the question is, can anyone stop

49:14

the Blaze? Because

49:16

they have been so dominant, both

49:19

in the Rachel Hayhoe Flint and also

49:21

the Charlotte Edwards Cup. And

49:23

I think that's pretty much the

49:25

headline from this particular competition, is

49:28

who can stop them, let's.

49:30

Yeah, it is. And I actually went to

49:32

watch their game on Sunday

49:34

after my mammoth day in the car, driving

49:37

to the Southampton back. I

49:39

wheeled myself out to Trent Bridge with

49:41

matchsticks between my eyes. Watched

49:44

them play. But they actually,

49:47

well, the first thing to say, actually, is the

49:49

crowd that was at that game. It was

49:51

a double header. They were playing before

49:53

the men. And they were playing

49:55

the sunrises. And I was going

49:58

to Trent Bridge, not really expecting that.

49:59

to be amongst many

50:02

people in the crowd, which is probably

50:04

poor for me, but I just wasn't quite sure

50:07

of how many people would come and watch. But I

50:09

tell you what, Daggers, I couldn't

50:11

believe it how many people were there, not

50:14

halfway through the game, to have watched the start

50:17

of the men's game, but actually before

50:19

the start of the men's game, because

50:21

they wanted to watch the women play.

50:24

So that was the first thing to sort

50:26

of highlight and point out. And

50:29

then the second thing is the quality of the

50:31

blaze side. Obviously, Nat Sibabran,

50:34

Sarah Glenn, Tammy Bowman, were all

50:36

back to make a full strength side.

50:39

And just watching Nat bat again, it's

50:42

just such a joyous thing. She

50:44

hits the ball as hard as any other

50:46

batter, I think, in the women's game,

50:49

if not the hardest. But

50:52

the pleasing thing for the blaze, just looking at

50:54

their campaign, is it hasn't always

50:56

been those big names. I think Sarah

50:58

Bryce batted beautifully

50:59

the week before. Yeah,

51:02

she did. When no other England players

51:04

were around, she sort of stood up. So

51:07

that's always a good sign of it aside, isn't

51:09

it? When other players start chipping in. But

51:12

I suppose the other side, the Vipers, Diamonds,

51:15

you would always expect to be there and thereabouts.

51:18

Is that fair? I mean, the surprising one is

51:20

maybe the Thunder, they're doing better

51:22

than they have done, haven't they? Yeah,

51:24

it would be nice

51:25

as a neutral to see the Thunder

51:28

actually get to A finals. They've had it pretty

51:30

tough over the last couple of years or so. And

51:34

obviously, the England players are

51:36

all together now. And, you know,

51:39

how much availability there will be, we'll

51:42

have to wait and see. But it would be nice for the Thunder

51:45

to at least get a place. I don't think they

51:47

would challenge. I don't think they would challenge against

51:49

the Blaze. The side

51:51

I think is worth keeping an eye on is the Diamonds.

51:54

After their win in the Rachel Hayhoe Flint last

51:56

year, Holly Armentage has got 216

51:58

runs in the... this season,

52:01

Katie Lebix got 11 wickets. They

52:04

have quality throughout and they have this

52:06

sort of unity, I fancy,

52:08

the Northern Dine. They've got a great feeling about that

52:10

side. I like watching

52:13

them play and I just think

52:15

if any side... Something

52:19

hasn't quite clicked for the Vipers this

52:21

year, I'm not quite sure what it is, but

52:23

I just don't feel that

52:26

they are playing the cricket that they necessarily

52:28

want to play and I just fancy... I'm

52:31

just thinking about sides that could possibly

52:33

upset the Blaze and I just

52:35

wonder if that feeling and that

52:38

unity from

52:40

the Northern Diamonds is the thing that can actually overcome

52:42

them in the final. But we shall wait until you talk about

52:45

Nat Silverbron. Only four innings, almost 200

52:47

runs striking at 174. Tell

52:50

me about 187 runs, five

52:51

innings played striking at 142 and

52:58

you mentioned that other members

53:00

of that Blaze side are helping

53:03

out but

53:04

when you're England players are standing up

53:06

and putting in performances domestically,

53:08

that's got a huge bearing on it. But we're

53:10

looking forward to... I can't wait, I'm going to the Charlotte

53:13

Edwards Cup final. That'll

53:16

be at Worcester on Saturday

53:19

and things kick off there at midday.

53:21

So if you fancy coming down, have a look

53:23

on the Easy B website. I'm sure there are tickets

53:26

available if you want to come down and

53:28

the weather is supposed to be absolutely

53:31

scotchio

53:33

on Worcester. So no better

53:35

place to be on Saturday if you fancy

53:37

the doubleheader. Oh for Charlotte Edwards

53:40

Cup lids, we're done

53:42

for another episode. What great

53:44

fun it has been as always and

53:48

I shall see you in due course unless you're on a

53:50

motorway somewhere. And don't forget

53:52

we are two days, sorry two

53:54

weeks,

53:55

two days and now one hour away

53:58

from the start of the women's Ashes.

54:00

This has been the Daggers and Lids podcast,

54:02

part of the Sky Sports Cricket podcast.

54:05

We look forward to your company next

54:06

time.