England beat Yorkshire in last competitive match before the World Cup

The England Women's Cricket team beat County Championship winners Yorkshire yesterday by 80 runs at the Scarborough Festival.

In their last competitive match of the season, and their final chance to impress the selectors before the World Cup, England took the early initiative and retained their grip on the game throughout.

Yorkshire, fielding three in-form senior England players, captain and England vice-captain Melissa Reynard, batsman Kathryn Leng and bowler Clare Taylor, saw their challenge contained by the youngsters filling their places.

Although some senior players were missing from the England team, the teenagers performed as well as they had done against both Ireland and Holland's senior teams with England's Under 19s and Under 17s respectively, and fully justified their selection.

On a day which threatened showers but began in sunshine, Yorkshire won the toss and put England in to bat. Charlotte Edwards continued her excellent form making 60 and Barbara Daniels, the Vodafone Batsman of the Series against South Africa this summer, made 43. Runs were added quickly at the end of the innings with captain Clare Connor making 14 from 11 balls.

Yorkshire were strengthened by some excellent wicketkeeping, Sue Metcalfe completed six dismissals with 5 catches and 1 stumping. Laura Spragg bowled assertively taking 3 wickets for 14 from 4 overs, and Helen Wardlaw took 4 wickets for 23 from 6 overs, including the prized wickets of Edwards and Daniels.

When England and Sussex Captain Clare Connor came in to bat, she was racing against the limited overs and a heavy storm. When the rain arrived in the 43rd over, Connor was left on 14 not out. The teams took an early lunch, the match was reduced to 43 overs a side, and Yorkshire came out to chase what always looked a tough target. Yorkshire finished on 84 for 8.

Helen Wardlaw and Laura Spragg top scored with 20 and 18 respectively following their excellent efforts with the ball but Yorkshire were disappointed to lose their experienced batsmen early on. Cheshire bowler Sarah Collyer enjoyed her England recall, finishing with excellent figures of 9 overs, 4 maidens, 4 wickets for 18 runs and Jackie Hawker with 7 overs, 1 maiden, 2 wickets for 8 runs. Somerset's 16 year old Laura Harper, who made her full England debut against South Africa this summer, bowled tidily conceding only 8 runs from her 6 overs.

Clare Connor was delighted the team had won again, following their win against South Africa in the One Day International Series this summer. Having taken over the captaincy in the middle of a crushing series defeat by Australia and New Zealand in the Winter, Connor admitted: "It was really important to bounce straight back against South Africa and I thought we showed great strength and character to do so. The next step is consistency, and despite major changes and some experimentation with the side, we still beat a strong Yorkshire team.

"With the World Cup only three months away, and this our last competitive game of the season, it was good to win and retain confidence".

Chairman of Selectors Eric Chapman added: "The match against Yorkshire was a good finale to an excellent international and domestic season. There have been many positives in Women's Cricket this year, and we are looking forward to picking a very competitive squad for the World Cup.

"We all know we have some tough decisions to make in September and October as we agree a final 14 - but these are the decisions we want as selectors. It is great that there is strength in depth now in the counties and we have a wider group to chose from."

Melissa Reynard, the Yorkshire captain, was quick to point out that while they comfortably regained the county crown from Nottinghamshire this year, keeping England's top batsman at bay was difficult. "Charlotte (Edwards) and Barbara (Daniels) are in fantastic form - they showed it against South Africa and in the County Championships," she said.

"In addition, there were some very good bowling performances, I thought Sarah Collyer looked really dangerous and Laura Harper was unlucky not to take a wicket. Not such good news for Yorkshire - although Laura Spragg and Sue did really well - but great news for England."

The England XI were: Clare Connor (Sussex) Captain, Jane Cassar (Nottinghamshire), Sarah Collyer (Cheshire), Barbara Daniels (Staffordshire), Leanne Davies (Lancashire), Charlotte Edwards (Kent), Laura Harper (Somerset), Jackie Hawker (Somerset), Hannah Lloyd (Somerset), Nicki Shaw (Nottinghamshire) and Arran Thompson (Lancashire).