A team of women cricketers from Japan recently made a tour of England to learn techniques of the game.

While information is sparse, Hitchin Cricket Club umpire John Birch has provided some information on the tour.

The first game was against Hitchin Women at Lucas Lane. It provided a rude awakening for the tourists. In a 30-overs per side game, Japan was all out in 10.2 overs for 14 runs. Ten batsmen failed to score and extras totalled 10.

Not surprisingly, Hitchin took only four overs to win by 10 wickets.

In a 20 overs per side game that followed, Hitchin scored 88/4 when batting first to which Japan replied with 59/3 to give the home team a win by 29 runs.

A game against an ECB Development XI is a little sketchy in its results. In a 20-overs per side game the Development XI scored 79 to which the Japan women replied with 76. The numbers of wickets that fell were not available.

Similarly, with the second game played over 15 overs per side. The Development XI scored 101 and the Japanese 59. The two games being won by the Development side by three runs and 42 runs respectively.

The next game was at Shenley Park against the MCC Women's side. The 30 overs per side match saw MCC bat first and score 118 to which Japan replied with 79. Again the wickets to fall in the MCC's 39-run victory were not available.

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