Key events
It's stopped raining at Southampton and the players are doing vigorous warm-ups. Still a bit away from the toss though I think.
â€We're a team of staff from England Netball volunteering at the game volunteering as flag bearers,†writes Jodie Anthony. “We wanted to use our volunteering day to advocate for our fellow women's sport and be part of the excitement of the T20 World Cup. It was much sunnier when we walked the flags out for the first game.â€
That is so lovely to see! I can't upload the photo you sent at the moment but I will continue prodding at the buttons.
Stories of women’s cricket in Scotland wanted!
With the support of Cricket Scotland, Fiona Reid and Bunny Warren are trying to find hidden stories of women's cricket in Scotland from the last 150 years. If you have any tucked up your sleeve, please do contact them at Fiona.Reid@bayfirth.co.uk . Find out more here
Update – still raining.
Rain
The weather is not currently playing ball. “Full covers on,†says Raf. “The crowd has retreated under shelter.Should pass fairly quickly but we may get a delayed start.â€
Raf is in position at Southampton – though she has provided no reports of any fancy cheescake yet. “Hello! I'm currently watching the end of a fascinating NZ v Sri Lanka contest. The ground is about half full at the moment – they're expecting almost 10,000 people in for the England game.â€
And in fact Sri Lanka have just won a thriller by five wickets, with two balls to spare.
Preamble
Good evening! Let's get stuck in – England's second match of the tournament after their dicing of Sri Lanka, and Ireland's second after losing rather disappointingly to Scotland by 40 runs. They'll be keen to give England a run from their money today, with much depending on Orla Prendergast, the talented all rounder who plays as the overseas for the Blaze , especially as former captain Laura Delany is missing the whole tournament through injury.
The toss is at 6pm – do send me a message if you're at Southampton, or if you've got any thoughts on what's going on – I'd love to hear from you.
