Raf Nicholson
@RafNicholson
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Women's cricket journalist and historian. Senior Lecturer in Sport @bournemouthuni. Writer for @espncricinfo amongst others. Editor of @CRICKETher.
SW London
Joined June 2011
RT @CricketMediaUK: Introducing our new name - the Cricket Writers’ Club becomes the Cricket Media Club 🏏
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My take on the first ever Vitality Blast Finals Day weekend - a case of the Haves vs the Have Nots:.
crickether.com
In the end, the first ever Vitality Blast Finals Day weekend was the story of the haves and the have-nots of women’s cricket. Let’s start with Saturday. The disaster of Tier 2 Finals Day at Northam…
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Umm. ECB have just hung Kirstie Gordon out to dry. Kirstie after the semi-final: "It was [Nat & Amy's] decision not to play today.". ECB statement 10 minutes later: "Amy Jones and Nat Sciver-Brunt were both rested. to manage schedules and work load.”.
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My debut for The Observer - a preview of Tier 1 Finals Day. Featuring the hilarious Grace Harris and the always astute Beth Barrett-Wild:.
observer.co.uk
Despite its crunched two-game format the Vitality Finals Day already looks a successful format
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ECB have confirmed the dates of the first ever women’s Test at Lord’s:. *England v India.*Friday 10 to Monday 13 July 2026. Yes you read that right - it’s 4 days only.
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Some intelligent batting from England. Positive signs ahead of the World Cup, IMO.
theguardian.com
India won the third women’s one-day international against England by 13 runs after Harmanpreet Kaur’s knock of 102, sealing a 2-1 series victory
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Ghosts of 3 years ago definitely echoing around the ground today.
theguardian.com
Amy Jones’s unbeaten 46 helped England to an eight-wicket victory over India in the second women’s ODI as Tammy Beaumont avoids controversial dismissal
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I am struggling to believe that Finals Day is 9 days away & the BBC still haven’t grasped the basic rules of the competition. Repeat slowly after me: THERE IS ONLY ONE SEMI-FINAL IN THE TIER ONE WOMEN’S BLAST. Lancashire are NOT “heading to Finals Day”.
bbc.co.uk
Surrey head to Women's T20 Blast Finals Day in fine form as they win their 11th match with a 25-run victory over Bears.
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Musings on today’s match and what Lottie might be thinking, 10 weeks out from the World Cup….
theguardian.com
Deepti Sharma tallied 62 as the tourists chased down their hosts, India winning by four wickets despite an error-strewn spell with the bat
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It was a late one last night so I didn’t post my report from the 5th T20. Also contains a bit of reflection on the series as a whole.
theguardian.com
Sophie Ecclestone scored the winning run off the final ball of England’s innings to secure a five-wicket win against India in the fifth T20 international
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“England sit above India in the ICC’s official T20 team rankings but the manner of this defeat suggests the rankings have not quite caught up with reality.”.
theguardian.com
India made history at Old Trafford on Wednesday night by winning the fourth T20 international by six wickets, sealing their first T20 series win in England
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Phew, that was a late night thriller! England scraped it but only after a head-scratching batting collapse. Here’s my report:.
theguardian.com
England beat India by five runs in the third T20i at the Oval to keep the five-match series alive, with Lauren Filer taking key wickets
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Belatedly (because we got home at 1.30am!) here’s my report from yesterday. Note that NSB may not be fit for Friday - she’s “being assessed”.
theguardian.com
England fell to a second successive defeat against India at Bristol on Tuesday, falling 25 runs short in their chase of 182
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Words from today for The Guardian. As Nat Sciver-Brunt put it: “One person can’t win a game”.
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Finally… if you haven’t seen the Danni Wyatt-Hodge Mankads A Samosa video yet, you’re missing out.
ecb.co.uk
Gurinder Chadha has created a blockbuster film trailer to preview the three England v India series taking place this summer.
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3. For English fans, the big interest surrounds the return of Sophie Ecclestone. How does everyone (coach, captain, the media & Soph herself) negotiate her being back in the spotlight & inevitably being "the story", immediately after a difficult winter & a “wellbeing” break?.
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2. Lots of talk about these being the last ODIs before the 2025 World Cup, BUT this is also a tailor-made opportunity for India to figure out their best T20 team in English conditions, ahead of next year's T20 World Cup. That makes it a HUGE series for Shafali Verma.
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1. Captaincy - both team captains have a point to prove, IMO. NSB - can she keep everyone together in the field when there is genuine pressure?. Harmanpreet - can she keep her cool when faced with difficult diplomatic scenarios (first time back at Lord's since THAT day. etc)?.
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#ENGvIND starts tomorrow at Trent Bridge. In lieu of a formal preview piece, here’s a brief thread instead based on what I think are some of the key storylines / talking points. Feel free to skip to the end if you just want to watch the samosa-mankad video.
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Sorry folks but your live stream is terrible quality - basically unwatchable. Don’t really understand why, given that it’s being done from your main ground! Can you try to reset it?.
We're underway at Hove! 🙌.
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