Preston CC first Women’s Tourno…!

Preston Women’s Squad took part in their first indoor tournament.

Squad

Laura Ponder, Anna Wyse, Sophie Featherby, Cat Cattermole, Weronika Duffin, Katrina Goodman, Ruth Nye, Julie Buckland, Charlie Clark, Kate Sherwood

Luke Ponder – Umpire/Scorer

An odd split square sports hall with a dodgy green curtain separating two pitches, but nonetheless a good Sunday evening out for some good practice. Scoring was unfamiliar but the umpires/scorers learnt quickly as did we, with getting those quick 1 run boundaries on the left and running quick between the wickets to earn some
extras. We have also learnt much about the pairings.

Preston v Abbots Langley

Preston started the first innings fielding with some good bowling from Charlie and Catters, followed by Sophie and Weronika. An impressive start from Ruth only giving
away 4 runs with Anna in support. Final pairing and a second chance for Charlie and Catters who had gained in confidence meant only 6 and 7 runs scored respectively
and a wicket from Catters…howzat!. A decent start. Opening the batting were Kate and Julie with Kate facing the first ball. A nice hit to
the boundary wall for 1 run. Good start! Some accurate bowling by the opposition meant Julie bowled but she quickly responded with a nice hit to the boundary wall. A
nice strike rate in the end on a small pitch which was quickly resembling that of a 20/20 game. Catters and Charlie took to the wicket with some quick scoring but unfortunately Charlie was caught twice off 2 decent strikes. Catters found her form quickly and struck gold with a decent shot to the back boundary wall…..”6” and we were off. Weronika and Sophie faced a few wide balls from the first bowler, but Sophie dug deep to hit a decent strike to the right boundary wall. The second bowler was decent
but we managed to get 19 runs in total, so a great effort. Ruth and Anna, our final pairing entered with a determined look about them and Ruth was keen to get the job done. Unfortunately, a quick wicket but Anna nicked a cheeky boundary plus run in retaliation. A few more quick shots and runs meant they came away with 26 runs (Anna 22!) What a pair.

Score – Abbots Langley 88, Preston 55

Preston v Kings Langley

Preston having won the toss again opted to field. Laura opened the bowling with the first two delivered wide, with better balls to follow. Katrina stepped up with some nice tidy bowling and a decent run out courtesy of Kate on the boundary with “Safe Hands” Julie at the wicket. In steps; Catters……Middle stump, first ball! Get in
there…. Finished off with some great fielding from Laura. Julie and Ruth followed with Julie bowling and taking a running catch, followed by a some quick fielding by Kate and a run out. An impressive low catch from Catters and we we were finding our feet. Ruth’s first game for Preston Ladies and she certainly delivered with some lovely straight balls – tight! Some consistent bowling came next from Sophie and also Charlie whose confidence and ability has grown significantly with no runs off her first 4 balls and a stumping. Sophie also got a stumping and Luke got hit in the leg..should have been paying attention. Laura and Katrina opened the batting with excellent running between the wickets, which made up a little for the 2 wickets Laura gave away. This bowler was rapid. Kate and Cat came in second with some power hitting from Kate and great running from the pair. Cat gets a 4!! Julie and Ruth were next with a couple of running mix-ups but nevertheless a good effort. Charlie and Sophie completed the innings and provided some crowd pleasing running between the wickets. Sophie lost a wicket but hit back with a power shot down square leg. We were gaining in confidence and the score reflected that.

Score – Preston 90, Kings Langley 100 – improvement all the way!

Preston v Harpenden

By this late stage, we were all a bit weary: tired, thirsty and definitely hungry and craving Jude’s “home-cooked” nibbles.. Who thought it was a good idea to play cricket on a Sunday evening?! Preston opened the fielding and it was a riveting innings with balls flying all over, begging to be caught. The deadlock was broken from a Julie Buckland bowl, with nifty fielding from Anna Wyse giving Julie the opportunity to stump the facing batter. A catch for Julie followed and then Charlie took a great catch from Laura’s bowl. All round improvement as Preston got into the swing of the indoor rules and tricky green netting. A close miss from Catters could likely be blamed on an excellent Saturday. Strong bowling from a very focused Harpenden side gave them 5 points through a catch from Weronika, but the partnership with Charlie was profitable. Anna and Katrina face a similar bowling barrage, but some good defensive and offensive batting saw runs achieved. A good catch on the final ball of their over evened their batting wickets. There were gasps when Ruth and Cat took to the crease with Cat smashing back to back 6s, only for the second to be ruled out as she hit it too far?! Great offensive play and running from both batters. And that left Laura and Kate as the final pair, with a little determination from both boasted some quick scoring boundaries and quick running.

The end of an enjoyable evening of fun cricket.

Score – Preston 75, Harpenden118