They fell short last season, finishing in third position, but made no mistake this time round, winning seven matches on the trot while barely breaking a sweat. It will certainly be interesting to see how they fare in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy and equally, what the future holds for this team having haemorrhaged players and undergone a coaching change since the end of the 2021 season. The former, on their day, are an electric young team capable of taking on anyone, but their batting – chronically over-reliant on openers Lamb and Boyce - remains a gaping weakness.Īs for Lightning, with Sarah Bryce struggling to translate her 50-over form into the shorter format, Kathryn Bryce over-burdened as the star allrounder, and talismanic spinner Kirstie Gordon sidelined by injury, they look a touch helpless. Indeed, perhaps the only sides drifting along in the regional wilderness are Thunder and Lightning. Their one-wicket defeat against Western Storm – a match the unfortunate Villiers has probably erased from her memory – was the most engrossing game of the tournament. Yet, their merry band of county veterans, supported by rising star Grace Scrivens, pushed a lot harder than their points haul of zero suggests. Their position is a fairly unique one, with a sizeable nine counties – including Essex, Middlesex, and Northamptonshire – offering a vast player pool but only one England international – 23-year-old Mady Villiers (17 T20Is) – at their disposal. Western Storm remain the best of the rest, taking points off Central Sparks and pushing Stars hard in both of their defeats.Įven Sunrisers are looking increasingly competitive. Teenage bowler Freya Kemp was integral to Southern Vipers' Charlotte Edwards Cup win South East Stars, meanwhile, took a valiant third-place in their title defence, putting to bed any fears that last season's form was just a purple patch. For the first time since the women's regional restructuring in summer 2020, Northern Diamonds were absent from the final, a shock off-day against Thunder at Sale – coupled with some inspired batting from Emma Lamb and Georgie Boyce – coming back to haunt them.Ĭentral Sparks came within one win of silverware, becoming the fourth side to reach a T20 or 50-over final in the process. The standard of all the regions has gone up and it's going to be a really competitive year."Īnd in most cases, it was competitive. Northern Diamonds head coach Dani Hazell previewed the T20 tournament in conversation with The Cricketer, predicting: "Every side is a threat. In the blink of an eye, we're halfway through the women's regional season. Twenty-six matches, 10 of which were double-headers with the men's T20 Blast. That's how long it took for the Charlotte Edwards Cup to progress from an eight-horse race to Southern Vipers' latest coronation.
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