ECB Development XI retain European title

The ECB Development XI retained the Women's European Cricket Championship title after a series of emphatic wins in Deventer recently.

This latest victory represents the ECB's fifth success in the eight tournaments staged since the inaugural event in 1989 and their unbeaten record in 2007 reflects their continued dominance of European cricket following their win in Cardiff in 2005.

In the final match against Scotland, captain Jenni Halstead won the toss for the third time in a row, and elected to field which yielded immediate benefits when the Scottish batsmen found scoring extremely difficult against the ECB attack, mustering only 87 - including 26 wides – in their 50 overs.

Kathryn Cross removed Kathryn White and Kari Anderson, the most experienced members of a generally young Scottish team with just 23 runs on the board. Opener Catherine Smaill resisted resolutely and battled her way to 29 before she became Cross’s fourth victim having made 17.

Apart from Smaill, only keeper Charlotte Bascombe reached double figures for the Scots, while Georgia Elwiss took 2-13 for the ECB XI, bringing her tally for the week to nine wickets at an average of 6.00.

The English batsmen took just 15.3 overs to knock off the runs for the loss of just one wicket. Anna Stevenson was trapped leg-before by Abbi Aitken but Halstead (30 not out) and Rebecca Williams (43 not out) made sure of the bonus point.

ECB Development XI captain Jenni Halstead

In their official ODI against Ireland, hosts The Netherlands suffered a spectacular batting collapse after their bowlers had recovered well to bowl their opponents out for 179.

Having won the toss and put Ireland in, the Dutch seized the initiative early with two wickets for seamer Jolet Hartenhof before an 84-run stand between Nicola Coffey (43) and Isobel Joyce (46) put the Irish back on top.

Spinner Annemarie Tanke then removed both batsmen, but Jill Whelan, supported by her sister, skipper Heather, saw the total through to 170 for five. At that point there was another twist to the game with Caroline de Fouw capturing her second wicket by trapping Heather Whelan leg-before. Tanke and Hartenhof then ran through the tail, the last four wickets producing just nine runs with Tanke finishing with 5-40, her best figures in 25 ODIs, while Hartenhof’s 3-32 was also a personal best.

Their efforts put The Netherlands in the frame for a second victory in 15 ODI against Ireland but both openers fell to Heather Whelan before teh total had reached double figures and there was no recovery from such a disastrous start.

Only 36 runs came from the bat in 29.5 overs helped by 20 wides and The Netherlands managed to reach 56 before they were all out.

Leg-spinner Ciara Metcalfe was the most successful of the Irish bowlers with 5-18 (also her first five-wicket haul in ODIs), with Jill Whelan taking 3-7 and Heather Whelan 2-10.

The Dutch total of 56 all out was the second-lowest recorded against Ireland in ODIs, just beating the 52 made by West Indies at Amstelveen in 2003.

These results mean that the ECB Development XI are again the European Women’s champions, while Ireland take the three-team Women’s World Cup first-round qualifier, with The Netherlands in second place.