SUSSEX WOMEN V ESSEX
WOMEN’S LONDON CHAMPIONSHIP
BRIGHTON ALDRIDGE COMMUNITY ACADEMY GROUND
SATURDAY 09 SEPTEMBER | 11AM START
Essex Women face their final London Championship fixture of 2023 as they travel to the south coast to take on Sussex in a meeting of the two remaining unbeaten sides in this year’s competition.
The Eagles have already seen off Surrey, Kent, and in their last match, which was played at The Cloud County Ground, Middlesex, to currently sit atop the five-team table.
With the Spitfires and the Brown Caps both having completed their respective campaigns, it is only one of the sides which will meet on Saturday who retain a chance of winning the competition.
Aldridge Community Academy in Falmer, in the shadow of Premier League football club Brighton and Hove Albion’s Amex Stadium, will host the clash.
THE OPPOSITION
Sussex’s season in this competition has been a little disjointed, with the Sharks only able to play two of their four fixtures so far and still having a tie with Middlesex outstanding.
However, they have come out on top in those two matches, seeing off Kent by 35 runs in Maidstone at the beginning of July and then earning a 59-run win over Surrey in Brighton a week and a half ago.
They have been similarly dominant in their other two competitions this season, finishing joint-top in the South Central Regional Cup, and winning at Finals Day for Group 5 of the Women’s County T20.
The former competition is a six-team single group, in which the Sharks finished level with Hampshire not just on points but also on net run-rate.
Meanwhile, the Sharks won on Finals Day for Group 5 of the Women’s County T20 at the County Ground in Hove, again versus Hampshire by 25 runs, having secured a 64-run thrashing of Berkshire in the last four.
LAST TIME OUT
Jess Bird crunched an unbeaten 88 as Essex completed a comfortable seven-wicket victory against Middlesex in the Women’s London Championship at The Cloud County Ground last month.
Bird’s knock held together the Eagles’ chase and was ably supported by 49 from captain Kelly Castle alongside Scarlett Hughes’ 22 not out, with the latter striking the winning runs.
It was a chase that the Eagles barely ever failed to look in control of throughout, and it had been teed up by a tight bowling performance led by Castle, Grace Poole, and Tilly Callaghan, who all claimed two wickets apiece.
WOMEN’S LONDON CHAMPIONSHIP TABLE
LAST TIME WE MET
It was a nail-biting finish on the last occasion that these sides met in the 50-over format, in last season’s London Championship, as the Sharks sneaked over the line to defeat Essex by one wicket.
Jasmine Westley top-scored from number nine with an unbeaten 33, and Tilly Callaghan contributed 26, but Chiara Green’s 4/21 saw the Eagles bowled out for 160.
In response, Hollie Dring-Richardson claimed 5/30 from eight overs, but a crucial fifth-wicket stand of 79 between captain Green and Emily Spooner saw Sussex fight back from 67-4.
Hopes were raised again when Dring-Richardson took two in three balls to leave Sussex 157-9, but they were finally dashed once and for all in the next over when Beth Harvey struck four to seal the narrowest of wins.
TICKETS
Entry to this fixture will be free of charge, with no need to reserve any tickets in advance.
While this is the final game of 2023 for Essex, there is one more chance to watch women’s cricket in Chelmsford before the winter as Sunrisers welcome Central Sparks to The Cloud County Ground the following day, Sunday 10 September.
Tickets for that match are still available, free for Essex, Middlesex, and Northamptonshire Members and priced at just £10 for non-member adults and £5 for Under-18s, and can be purchased by clicking the link below:
