Ladies winning streak continues

Ashford beat Twickenham by 168 runs
Surrey Women’s Cricket League, Division 1, 11 th July 2021

Ashford 235-2 (Katie Butler 117* from 114 balls, Hazel Lovegrove 7-0-45-1)
Twickenham 67 (Charlotte Gallagher 25, Elize Brown 7-3-15-7)

In a matter of weeks Ashford’s season has swung from one extreme to the other, with a
relegation battle becoming a fight for a place in the top two. The day started with a
presentation to Elize Brown to mark her 100th league appearance for the club, but that
achievement was to be eclipsed later on by not one, but two, exceptional performances,
with Brown herself smashing the club’s bowling record.

Put in to bat by the visitors, Ashford gave 15 year old Lakeesha Walia the chance to open
the batting for the first time, and she seized the opportunity with both hands. Despite the
disastrous start of losing her partner in the first over, she soon settled in, and with Katie
Butler, got the scoreboard ticking along at more than five runs an over. They added 119
together in less than 20 overs before Walia was bowled for a very fine 40. That brought the
Ashford skipper Jenny Tippell to the crease, and the run rate climbed even more. Butler
was on a mission, and when she reached three figures it was no more than she deserved.
Fittingly, she got to her maiden century with a boundary, one of twelve in an undefeated
innings of 117. With Tippell not out on 42 at the other end, and the second hundred
partnership of the innings, Ashford posted a formidable total of 235 from their 35 overs.

Ashford would always back themselves with the ball, especially defending such a good
score, but they couldn’t have dreamed of what was about to unfold. Lakeesha Walia and
Jenny Tippell put Twickenham under pressure right from the start, and they had only 12 on
the board when Elize Brown came into the attack in the 7 th over. At the end of her spell,
Twickenham were in disarray at 52-8, and Ashford’s club bowling record had been
rewritten. Five of her wickets were bowled or lbw, with a great catch by Kathryn Ringshaw,
and another by Katie Butler behind the stumps accounting for the other two. Brown could
not be kept out of the action, pulling off a run out to crown an outstanding performance in
the field by the whole team. Needing more than 11 runs an over, by this stage there was
no prospect of a Twickenham win, and Tippell rejoined the attack to clean up the last two
wickets for an emphatic Ashford victory by 168 runs.

If anyone needed proof that hard work pays off, then this is it. The team’s fielding has
improved markedly since the start of the season, and both batters and bowlers are
benefiting from the club’s superb new practice nets. Excellent coaching from Jim
Berressem is producing results, and players are growing in confidence week by week.
Promotion may be a little out of reach for this year, but the second half of the season
promises to be very entertaining at Short Lane.