AUCC Women`s Cricket Update It`s been a busy and successful week for our women`s cricket players both at club and provincial level. Women`s Provincial Cricket The latest round of the provincial cricket season took place at the weekend and two of our players, Katie Gurrey of Northern Districts and Courtney Buckman of Canterbury, recorded personal bests with the bat. Buckman opened the batting for the Magicians and scored 30 against the Wellington Blaze while Gurrey struck an unbeaten 54 against an Auckland Hearts side containing three more Varsity players Anna Peterson, Victoria Lind and Sara McGlashan. Gurrey`s half century in Friday`s T20 was instrumental in Northern Districts upset victory over the Hearts, but Gurrey`s bragging rights didn’t last long as she was dismissed for a duck the very next day as the Hearts went on to win the 50 over game thanks in no small part to McGlashan`s unbeaten 96. Women`s U21 National Tournament While five of our cricketers are playing key roles for their respective provinces AUCC will also be well represented at the National U21 Tournament, which begins today down in Lincoln. After making a senior half century at the weekend Katie Gurrey will be expected to score heavily for Northern Districts at the age group tournament and she will be joined in the ND side by left arm seamer Jayda Tainui who has impressed in AUCC`s Emerging Hearts side this season. Like Gurrey, Courtney Buckman will combine senior and U21 playing duties for Canterbury while Victoria Lind is coaching the Auckland side who are looking to win the competition for the sixth time in the last seven seasons. Seam bowler Abigail Morgan is a member of the Auckland squad as a non-travelling reserve. AUCC Premier Women Our Premier Women`s side made it four consecutive victories with a nine-wicket win over Papatoetoe at Colin Maiden Park in the T20 competition last Wednesday night. The visitors batted first and amassed 119 in their 20 overs, which appeared to be a very competitive total on a slow surface. At the half time interval heavy rain struck CMP but with both sides keen to play on despite the wet conditions Varsity were set a reduced target of 90 for victory in 15 overs. In the absence of key batsmen Sara McGlashan, Victoria Lind, Anna Peterson and Ingrid Cronin-Knight, Rebecca Ellison was given a rare opportunity to open the innings alongside Katie Gurrey and the makeshift opener got the side off to a flyer scoring 14 runs from just seven balls before she was dismissed. Yasmeen Kareem then joined Gurrey at the crease and the pair combined to lead Varsity to the target as the visiting bowlers were unable to adjust to the left and right hand combination. Gurrey finished with 42 not out from just 36 balls while Kareem also put her foot on the accelerator scoring 28 not out from just 30 deliveries to seal the win. Papatoetoe 119 (C McKavanagh 2/13, R Ellison 2/23) lost to AUCC Premier Women 91/1 (K Gurrey 42no, Y Kareem 28no) by nine wickets on D/L Method. AUCC Emerging Hearts Our Emerging Hearts completed an excellent first half of their first ever season with a victory over Cornwall at Walker Park. Cornwall batted first and were able to post a solid total of 141/8 from their 40 overs. The undoubted pick of the Varsity attack was left arm seamer Jayda Tainui who celebrated her call up to the Northern Districts U21 side by returning figures of 4/12 in eight overs. Jesse Prasad and Rebecca Ellison got the Varsity reply off to a solid start with a 38-run opening stand before Prasad was dismissed for 18. Ellison (26) and Isabel Mills (22) then combined for a 42-run second wicket partnership before Hetali Patel`s 25 took the team to within touching distance of the target. It was then left to joint captains Natasha Reddy and Lauren McLay to guide their side to victory by five wickets, improving their own captaincy record to a perfect six wins from six games between the Premier and Emerging Hearts sides, whilst the teams record improved to four wins from six matches leading into the Christmas break. Cornwall 141/8 (J Tainui 4/12) lost to AUCC Emerging Hearts 144/5 (R Ellison 26, H Patel 25no, I Mills 22) by five wickets.