Global Game: Sarah Bryce lights up the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy

Drafted into the Lightning side for the English 50-over tournament, Bryce capped her season with a match-winning 136* on Saturday, which took her to second on run charts for the round robin phase with 395 in six appearances. She had previously hit four consecutive fifties in the first four matches.

Her sister Katherine also had an impressive tournament, collecting 14 scalps to top the wicket tally, and chipping in with 141 runs. Despite the Bryce sisters’ heroics, Lightning won only two of their six matches.

Netherlands’ Sterre Kalis was another Associate representative in the tournament, with consecutive fifties in the last two matches helping her side, Northern Diamonds, to seal top spot in the group stage and a place in the final against the Southern Vipers. The runs were a turnaround in form for the Dutch opener, who suffered a miserable hat-trick of ducks in the preceding three matches.

Nepal’s Bhandari on the road to recovery

The Nepal cricketing community has rallied to support Lalit Bhandari, who had been seriously injured in a motorcycle accident while travelling within the country on Sunday, 13 September. The left-arm opening bowler's post-operative recovery continues in a Kathmandu hospital.

Former captain and General Secretary of the Cricket Players Association Nepal, Paras Khadka announced a fund-raising drive to provide assistance to Bhandari and his family.

After initially undergoing treatment at Nisarg Hospital in Dhangadhi the day of the accident, Bhandari regained consciousness and was transported to Kohalpur Medical College in Banke for further treatment, before he was taken to Kathmandu via a chartered helicopter and was admitted to one of the capital’s best-equipped hospitals.

Central Europe Cup cancelled due to COVID-19

The upcoming Central Europe Cup, which was due to be held in the Czech capital Prague has been cancelled. Scheduled for 24-27 September, local organisers were forced to make the decision with COVID-19 cases spiking in the country. Along with the hosts and defending champions Czech Republic, the tournament was set to bring together Austria, Belgium, Hungary, Luxembourg and Malta. All matches were to have been full T20Is, and with crucial ranking points at stake, the teams expressed their disappointment at the news.

Bermuda All-Stars

Elsewhere, in the Americas, Bermuda’s domestic season wrapped up with the All-Star Classic attempting to fill the void left by the cancellation of this year’s Cup Match. The historic two-day fixture is a public holiday for the island nation and traditionally sees thousands congregate for big parties alongside the match. However, due to the pandemic, it was deemed a public health risk. Instead of the traditional East-West split into St. George and Somerset, the Bermuda Cricket Board assembled the top performers from the club season into the President’s and Vice-President’s XIs. The morning fixture, featuring First Division players, saw the President’s XI claim a comprehensive victory. It was a team effort with both bat and ball, with the top four passing 20 on the way to 160, and six bowlers claiming a wicket as they restricted the Vice-President’s XI to 131/7.

Kamau Leverock opened the batting for the Vice-President’s XI in the afternoon match but failed to score big and was dismissed for just seven. He was just first in the procession that saw the VP’s men skittled for 79 as only Ras Solomon Burrows (27) and skipper Onias Bascombe (21) got past double figures. Joseph Basden was the hero with the ball, claiming 5/17. It ended up being a one-sided affair as President’s XI ran down the meagre target inside seven overs with U19s star Dalin Richardson blasting a 23-ball 48*.

More turf facilities for Netherlands and Nigeria

Dutch Hoofdklaase club Hermes became the seventh turf venue in the Netherlands, with an upgrade to their Sportpark Harga facility in the Western town of Schiedam. Set to be overseen by Hermes’ long-serving Kiwi Gavin McRae, the square fits six pitches and could eventually see Sportpark Harga become the country’s fifth ODI venue.

Hermes’ new square is the latest in a series of pitch upgrades in the Associate world, with Nigeria recently engaging with the ICC’s development team for an educational course on pitch curation. The knowledge is already in application at the Tafawa Balewa Square Cricket Oval in Lagos, where the astroturf strip is being replaced by a grass square, with drainage and irrigation channels complete.

Global Game is a collaboration between the ICC and Emerging Cricket.