The Huskies made it two wins from two, defeating Hitchin by 76 runs in a game that tested the team in many different ways.

Getting underway proved an adventure. Despite Harpenden agreeing to bring the start time forward to beat the fading light, it was Hitchin who arrived short-handed. By 17:55, with Isla and Olivia kindly fielding for the opposition, the game was finally underway. The toss brought an unexpected lesson in European currency, after some debate over what you call when flipping a one Euro coin, Emelia and Hitchin captain Maya settled on "one and bird." Harpenden correctly called bird and, with the wicket offering little and bad light looming, elected to bat.

Emelia and Amira had unfinished business after a miscommunication ended their partnership early in game one. They arrived at the crease three minutes ahead of the fielding side, a statement of intent if ever there was one. Not quite at 2025 peak fluency, but with improved running and calling they moved to 51/0 after six overs. A testing middle spell slowed the tempo, but they absorbed it, reset, and delivered when it mattered: 21 runs off the 13th and 14th overs blew the innings open. Amira was unlucky to be caught at mid-off for 47, still swinging hard for team runs right to the end. Emelia got herself over the line seven balls later, retired 50 not out, with a strike rate of 214 across that final passage. Lily and Tamsin did the rest, adding 23 in the final two overs to close on 163/1. Shout out to Ellie who made her formal debut at U15a level for the club. The biggest compliment we can pay her is that there was nothing to report behind the stumps. The value of having a strong and dependable keeper at this level is almost immeasurable. Ellie went about her work calmly, efficiently and at times with great athleticism... and we haven't seen her with bat in hand yet.

The batting numbers from the first two games are quietly remarkable. A strong U15a team averaged 120 runs per innings and passed 160 runs only once during the 2025 season. This team has posted 163/1 and 174/4 in their first two games, averaging 169 runs per innings. The first wicket last night fell in the 16th over with the score on 121 - we had already passed last season's average score with no wickets lost and four overs to spare!

With bowling Plan A binned the previous evening for reasons that we won't got into here, and Plan B not surviving our batting innings, Plan C had a start, but no real middle or end with Emelia given the freedom to react to what was happening out in the middle. Leading wicket taker Holly sat out this game as we rotated the squad for reasons we've covered elsewhere. She handled the news with real maturity and without complaint. Being a great teammate isn't always about what you do; sometimes it's about what you don't. We’re delighted she's back for Sunday and are looking forward to her taking wickets and scoring runs on The Common.

Hitchin's top order arrived in form and having played on the same wicket for Herts U16 the previous day. With no shortage of pace from Amira and Isla’s unerringly consistent line and length, the Huskies got about their work. The key passage came in overs four through seven: Lily and Isla combined for 4 overs, 9 runs, 16 dot balls and 1 wicket, the dismissal of Hitchin's most dangerous batter, pouched well by Tamsin at deepish mid-on. Tamsin then removed Hitchin's aggressive number three batter who swung at everything and missed most, but found the boundary when she did connect. With the light deteriorating fast, Olivia was brought into the attack and asked to bowl her full, four-over, allocation at pace (well…. not pace because she’s a spinner, but you get the idea!), picking up two wickets in her first over and finishing with 2/19 from four overs and most significantly, averaging 2½ minutes per over! The ring fielders, consistently returning the ball to the bowler's end with accuracy and speed, showed they'd read the situation smartly before it fully unfolded. Maya, Hannah, Lily and Tamsin finished things off, holding their nerve under unusual pressure, the game ending with Tamsin bowling an easy, controlled over that conceded only one run and picked up our final wicket of the evening.

Credit to the Hitchin AGM/Umpire who never wavered from his intent to get the game finished, holding both sides to the same account throughout. No histrionics. No favouritism. He deserves acknowledgement for that.

In the moment, it felt like we had plenty to work on. With perspective, this was a performance that will not have gone unnoticed. Can we get off to a faster start? Yes. Can we be more ambitious with our running? Yes. Can we bowl to bring the stumps into play more consistently? Yes. Did we beat a Hitchin team who scored over 195 runs in their last match and won their first game by 9 wickets in 9 overs? Yes, we beat them by 76 runs!

Good things are coming for this team if they apply their talents consistently. The more cricket they play together, the better team they will become, and their ceiling is high. Our job is to keep things calm, not say too much too often, to keep reminding them of what really matters and what winning performances are made of:

Playing Brave — Olivia bowling her full allocation with a gusting tailwind, knowing that the team were looking to her to buy them some time back against the failing light
Playing Smart — Emelia reshuffling the bowling order on the fly to ensure the right people were bowling at the right time, for keeping calm and getting the job done
Being a Great Teammate — Amira sacrificing personal milestones for the greater good.

Onwards to Bishops Stortford on The Common on Sunday morning. The whole day is a celebration of women and girls' cricket: a busy junior training session from 9am, followed by our best U15 girls facing off at 11am against traditionally tough opposition and regular rivals for silverware. All rounded off at 2pm by our all-conquering Women's 1st team, who will again feature several players from the U15 squad. We'd love to see as many of you as possible watching on the boundary rope and look forward to seeing you there!