MATCH PREVIEW: South East Stars v Lancashire Thunder
Ellie Threlkeld has hailed the development of Hundred winner Tara Norris over the last 12 months, and believes her Thunder team-mate has the ability to perform in a variety of different roles with the ball.
South East Stars v Lancashire Thunder
Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy
Monday August 26, 2024, 11am
Beckenham
SQUAD:
Lancashire Thunder today announced the loan signing of Scotland international Darcey Carter, who goes straight into the squad alongside Kate Cross. Read more about the signing, by clicking here.
Norris has returned to regional duty for the final month of the summer buoyed by her success in London Spirit colours, winning the tournament alongside another Thunder star in left-arm spinner Hannah Jones, though the latter didn’t play.
Left-armer Norris regularly took the new ball for the Lord’s based side, captained by Heather Knight, given her ability to swing the ball.
And while she had success, she did not once bowl her full allocation of 20 balls - the most she bowled was 15. The USA international claimed five wickets in 10 appearances.
Thunder captain Threlkeld, who played for the Manchester Originals in the Hundred, said: “Tara’s massive strength is that she swings the new ball up top, and that’s why she would have been given that role.
“I loved watching her in the Hundred. She did a brilliant job. I think you saw in a number of the games that she took a wicket, and there were some big scalps.
“Spirit had an unbelievable bowling attack through the middle and at the death. It wasn’t a case of Tara not being able to do those roles, it was more a case of Spirit having players with more experience.
“I see Tara as a bowler who can bowl in all formats and at all stages of the game. She’s brilliant.
“But I can also see why, as you get internationals involved in a competition such as the Hundred, it was hard for her to fulfil those roles at different stages.”
Threlkeld was speaking ahead of Thunder’s return to regional cricket on Monday, when they travel to Beckenham to face the South East Stars (10.30am) in the 50-over Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy.
She continued: “Tara had a trip abroad to Australia in the winter and worked with Ash Noffke, the London Spirit coach.
“She did a lot of technical work on her action, came back to Thunder and swung the ball more.
“We’re starting to see that come into games, which is brilliant.
“And she’s a massive confidence player. So having had some good performances in the last few weeks, I think she’ll be ready to go for these last few games.”
Norris has taken 13 wickets for Thunder this season, including nine in the RHFT with a best of 4-18. That came in the victory over Central Sparks at Worcester in early July, the penultimate fixture before the five-week break for the Hundred.
It was actually the last time Thunder took to the field, with their most recent game washed out - against Southern Vipers at Sedbergh on July 14.
Monday’s Stars game is the first of four remaining group games, with Thunder sixth in the table on 16 points from 10 matches having won three times.
In the race for a top-four finish and semi-final qualification, they are nine points adrift of fourth-placed Sunrisers with 20 available to play for over the next few weeks.
Three of their remaining four games are against teams above them in the table - Stars, Northern Diamonds and Blaze - and realistically they will need to win all four to have any chance of qualification. If they do, they should have an excellent chance.
“That was going to be the aim anyway, even if we couldn’t make it to the semi-finals,” continued Threlkeld. “We just have four big games of cricket left, and we want to win them all.
“We’ll take it game by game and try to be in the mix for qualification.
“The Hundred has given everyone a chance to go away and reset.
“We played some really good cricket in that Sparks game, so hopefully we can repeat that. But it does feel like ages ago.
“It’s a funny one, the Hundred, because you get some girls who play a big part and others who don’t. You look at Tara and she was heavily involved, but Hannah didn’t play a game for Spirit.
“As good as the Hundred is and as much exposure it gets, I think - having spoken to a lot of the girls - we’re looking forward to getting back to regional cricket.
“Personally, I can’t wait to get going again with Thunder and try and end the season on a high.”
Wicketkeeper-batter Threlkeld could tick off a notable career milestone on Monday.
The Knowsley-born star is just two away from 200 career dismissals behind the stumps - both List A and T20 - in her senior career.
But, insists the 25-year-old, there are more important things to concentrate on.
“Those personal milestones are pretty cool when they come along, but I just want to win games of cricket for my team and contribute as much as I can, particularly with the bat, which I’ve not really done this year,” she said. “All my focus is on that.
“These kind of things are a bit of a bonus when they come along, but winning is the most important thing.”
On her the development of her keeping, an area of her game which has been mightily impressive for some time now, Threlkeld added: “Consistency is what I’m always looking for, but improvement as well.
“I always want to get better and contribute with those game-changing moments.
“Chris Read coming in as head coach has been massive for me, and I’ve made quite a lot of technical changes. They are things that you probably wouldn’t really notice if you weren’t a keeper, but they seem to be filtering into my game now.
“I’ve done loads of work in the winter, but it’s taken a bit of time for them to come into my game naturally without me having to think about them. It’s more in my posture and my set-up.
“But, to be honest, most of my focus is on my batting. Not that I don’t take my keeping seriously, I do, but I need to get my batting into a place where I can contribute in all formats of the game.
“The game’s moving with the Hundred and franchise cricket around the world, and I have to move with it.”
Threlkeld also admitted that she is unsure how availability for all regions will play out over the next few weeks, with England touring Ireland for a five-match limited overs series between September 7-15. It is likely that tour will be made up from players not in contention for the T20 World Cup in the UAE from early October.
Stars, meanwhile, are currently third in the RHFT table having won six of their 10 matches so far, including beating Thunder at Blackpool in early July.
Opposition player to watch
Seamer Ryana MacDonald-Gay, aged 20, is having an excellent summer, highlighted by England recognition.
She has taken 17 wickets in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy this season and is the competition’s second leading wicket-taker, just one behind Thunder spinner Hannah Jones, who leads the way.
In June, MacDonald-Gay was called into England’s senior ODI squad against New Zealand as injury cover, though she wasn’t called upon to debut.
You get the feeling that senior debut won’t be long off given her regional form and the fact she has already impressed with England’s Under 19s and A sides.
England coach Jon Lewis said, back in June: “We have been really impressed with her skill level and accuracy.”
Previous meeting
This will be the second meeting between the two regions in this season’s Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy, the Stars winning the first at Blackpool at the start of last month.
Captain and opener Bryony Smith top-scored with 67, while Paige Scholfield contributed 56 to an imposing 283 all out, which saw Hannah Jones claim three wickets with her left-arm spin. In fact, seven of the 10 wickets fell to spin, with Sophie and Fi Morris both claiming two wickets apiece.
Naomi Dattani also added two wickets for Thunder, who lost wickets all too regularly in being bowled out for 201. Fi Morris and Ellie Threlkeld both hit 37 apiece, but Ryana MacDonald-Gay impressed with 4-34 from 7.3 overs, sealing an 82-run win.