SUMMER OF CRICKET - Our T20 World Cup round-up - The New Women's Sport Magazine

Team TNWSM travelled the country for the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup. We witnessed cricketing brilliance, recordbreaking crowds, un-British weather, and the seeming inevitability of an Australia win.

And it felt amazing.

Here’s the highlights, moments, and team of the tournament, according to TNWSM writers.

Best fans?

Clare McEwen: Hands down, India had the best fans for me. My first matchday was the double header at Edgbaston: Bangladesh v Netherlands and India v Pakistan. The second match was rammed with huge numbers of India fans and a good sprinkling of Pakistan fans. India’s fans cheered every single moment throughout the entire match. It was incredible. A sea of blue – with orange flashes – had the time of their life and brought an atmosphere that was second-to-none for me.

Paul Edwards (Eddie): It would be easy to say that the Indian fans are the best. Don’t get me wrong, they certainly make the most noise and turn up in the most numbers, but I’m going for the Netherlands. As I arrived at Bristol County Ground for South Africa’s match against the Netherlands, I wasn’t expecting either a sparkling match or atmosphere. It was during the sweltering heatwave, so any support would require significant commitment and resilience; and the Proteas would surely make light work of the Dutch. But little did I know I was in for a pleasant surprise.

In 35 degree heat, Dutch fans holding all things orange – painted cardboard signs, rubber dinghies, and other miscellaneous inflatables – cheered every run like they had won the match, and every wicket like they had won the tournament. My admiration only increased further when coach Neil MacRae revealed that they had walked for two hours to be there.

It was certainly no India vs Pakistan at Edgbaston, but that sort of support deserves recognition.

Gethin Thurlow: I’d give a special shoutout to the Dutch and Scottish fans, they definitely had a smaller group, but probably a fanbase that was louder/more passionate than traditional English cricket fans. And they followed their team to every game. Plus, not forgetting how small cricket is in these countries.

Helen M Jerome: Has to be South Africa who brought the vibes and noise and kept going even when things looked hopeless. When the dust settled after their semi-final defeat by England at the Oval, a small group of their fans and one of their stars were still singing, chanting and vibing down in one corner of the ground. They really brought the passion.

Dakota Johnson: Definitely Scotland for me – they made more noise than England, I hate to admit!

Favourite match?

Clare McEwen: I’m going to have to say England v West Indies at Lord’s. Despite the searing heat and me questioning my life choices as I walked to the ground, this was the culmination of a childhood dream. I’d always enjoyed watching the West Indies style of play and having watched the men play Test matches back in the day, I had always wanted to watch the two teams play at the Home of Cricket. Bonus for me that when the dream came true… it was a women’s match!

Helen M Jerome: By far, it was England v NZ at the Oval. It was also my very first T20 experience and really sold me on the entire concept and the World Cup itself. Great atmosphere and record-breaking crowd of 21,018. Classic set-up in the way the match played out, with New Zealand choosing to bat first and England having to chase while the intense South London heat turned into sudden rain, covers out, rainbow above, but spirits still high in the crowd when play restarted. Winning by nine wickets sounds crushing now, but until the batting pair of Wyatt-Hodge and Dunkley hit their stride (128 together), this was by no means certain. I was hooked!

Emerging talent?

Clare McEwen: I was impressed with England’s all-rounder Freya Kemp. I’m not sure we can describe her as emerging as she’s been in and around the England setup for a while, but she put in some important performances. The standout was against Sri Lanka when she took four wickets for 22 runs – the third best figures in the entire tournament. She had a couple of good performances with the bat too, including 44 off 28 balls in the final.

Paul Edwards (Eddie): Darcey Carter. Scotland may have only won one match at the tournament – against Ireland – but it could easily be argued that they should have won more. They had chances against Sri Lanka, New Zealand and especially the West Indies, where they looked comfortable in the chase before losing a flurry of late wickets to fall short.

At the heart of that was young opener Darcey Carter. The 21-year-old finished the tournament as the fifth highest run scorer, and the highest for a team who didn’t advance to the knockouts. In total, she accumulated 208 runs at an average of exactly 52. Opening the batting for the Thistles, Carter showed immense maturity despite her young age. She was often the glue of an innings, allowing others to build their innings around her. Batting all 20 overs against New Zealand, scoring 72 not out in the process, was the highlight of her sparkling tournament.

Personal highlights?

Clare McEwen: Watching captain Babette de Leede score her first T20 World Cup half-century at Edgbaston in the Netherlands first T20 World Cup appearance. From our own experiences at TNWSM and talking to others, de Leede charmed everyone at the tournament too.

Paul Edwards (Eddie): Chamari Aththapathu’s hundred was my favourite moment of the tournament. It was so incredibly Chamari.

To say in a press conference that she was a ‘failure as a captain’, then the very next game go out and become the first woman to score a century in a Women’s T20 World Cup chase – in the process hitting the highest individual score at Bristol – was indicative of the quality of player Aththapathu is.

Having made her international debut in June 2009 and been named captain in April 2014, she has been the backbone of Sri Lankan women’s cricket for well over a decade now. She is her nation’s best player, and the role model for so many young cricketers coming through, so to see a player of such esteem in such turmoil was hard to watch. For her to play with the power and the authority she did was not only a reminder to the world of her quality, but a reminder to herself: she is far from a failure.

Helen M Jerome: Definitely two interviews, the first before the tournament started, with the Netherlands captain Babette de Leede. What a quality person and brilliant interviewee. I’m only sad I didn’t get to see the Dutch play in person.

Second one was with South Africa batting ace Tazmin Brits, straight after they lost the semi-final. She was candid in terms of the team, but also in telling part of her own story, giving me even more than my open questions warranted.

I won’t forget either of them.

Dakota Johnson: I really enjoyed watching South Africa, I have a little soft spot for them.
In general, I’m thrilled at how high the turn-out was. It shows there’s a real appetite for women’s cricket, and a boost for T20. Where I live, cricket is quite popular, so hopefully this’ll translate into young girls and women getting into the game long term – I loved how many girls were at the games I attended.

Unexpected delights?

Clare McEwen: Honestly? Being able to watch an entire cricket match and think of nothing else but the cricket. I’m normally rushing around doing a million things and every cricket day felt like a holiday. Being able to watch top-class cricket over and over again wasn’t necessarily unexpected, but it was a delight.

Most predictable?

Helen M Jerome: Even as a jenny-come-lately T20 fan I could see straight away that the Aussies had the measure of England in the final at Lord’s. Everything they did was just better: fielding, bowling, batting, just basically controlling the game. Australia deserved to win the whole tournament, of course, but it would have made a better closing spectacle if it had been a tighter match – with a hint of jeopardy. This was a ruthless, almost bloodless coup.

Favourite players?

Dakota Johnson: Nadine De Klerk and Sophie Ecclestone
Clare McEwen: Sophie Ecclestone and Babette de Leede
Helen M Jerome: Sophie Ecclestone
Everyone we spoke to: Babette de Leede