The ECB have now announced the final squads for the Kia Super League and it is exciting to see that several England cricketing superstars, former World Cup and Women’s Ashes winners will line-up alongside future stars in the summer.
It can’t have been easy to pick the final 90 from a pool of 200 potential players but each of the Kia Super League teams has today named a playing squad of 15, which comprises three or four England women’s players, three overseas players, two or three England Women’s Academy players, and six or seven players who have been selected through a county talent identification process.
Following the unveiling of where the England women’s players will be based and which overseas players have been signed, today’s announcement reveals where the very best young talent from the England Women’s Academy will be on show this summer, alongside naming six former England players who will feature in the T20 competition.
Arran Brindle, Beth Morgan and Laura Newton, who retired from international duty in 2014, 2011 and 2007 respectively, will bring 330 international caps and a wealth of Ashes and World Cup winners’ experience to the Southern Vipers, Surrey Stars and Lancashire Thunder. Meanwhile Western Storm will be able to call on 2005 Women’s Ashes winner Rosalie Fairbairn (née Birch), and former England cricketers, left-arm seamer Laura Spragg and wicket-keeper Lauren Griffiths have been included in the Yorkshire Diamonds and Loughborough Lightning squads.
Lancashire Thunder have also today announced that their third international signing will be hard-hitting West Indian top-order batsman, Hayley Matthews. Matthews won the player of the match award for her sparkling 66 off 45 balls during the recent ICC Women’s World Twenty20 final. She replaces Australia’s Jess Jonassen in the Thunder squad, after the all-rounder was ruled out of through injury.
ECB Director of England Women’s Cricket, Clare Connor, said: “The momentum behind the new Kia Super League continues to gather pace, and today marks another important piece of the jigsaw as we get set for the competition’s launch later this summer.
“The six squads are well balanced and full of quality, talent, youth and experience. It is excellent that we have been able to attract the likes of Arran Brindle, Beth Morgan and Laura Newton to play in the competition, alongside giving opportunities to exciting fresh faces from our Academy such as Sophie Ecclestone and Sophie Luff. Having former World Cup winners and Ashes winners involved will not only strengthen the standard of the competition on the field, it will also bring another level of insight and knowledge, which will assist with meeting our overriding objective for the Kia Super League to bridge the gap between domestic and international cricket.
“With just over three months until the first Kia Super League group match between Yorkshire Diamonds and Loughborough Lightning at Headingley on Saturday 30th July, all six squads are now raring to go.”
Lancashire Thunder
1. Kate Cross (EW) 2. Sarah Taylor (EW) (capt) 3. Danielle Wyatt (EW) 4. Sarah Coyte (O) 5. Deandra Dottin (O) 6. Hayley Matthews (O) 7. Sophie Ecclestone (EWA) 8. Emma Lamb (EWA) 9. Ellie Threlkeld (EWA) 10. Natalie Brown 11. Georgia Holmes 12. Laura Marshall 13. Natasha Miles 14. Laura Newton 15. Nalisha Patel
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Loughborough Lightning
1. Georgia Elwiss (EW) 2. Rebecca Grundy (EW) 3. Amy Jones (EW) 4. Beth Langston (EW) 5. Sophie Devine (O) 6. Ellyse Perry (O) 7. Dane van Nierkerk (O) 8. Evelyn Jones (EWA) 9. Alex MacDonald (EWA) 10. Georgie Boyce 11. Thea Brookes 12. Amy Gauvrit 13. Lauren Griffiths 14. Sonia Odedra 15. Paige Scholfield
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Southern Vipers
1. Charlotte Edwards (EW) (capt) 2. Natasha Farrant (EW) 3. Lydia Greenway (EW) 4. Suzie Bates (O) 5. Sara McGlashan (O) 6. Megan Schutt (O) 7. Georgia Adams (EWA) 8. Ellen Burt (EWA) 9. Katie George (EWA) 10. Arran Brindle 11. Isabelle Collis 12. Daisy Gardner 13. Alice Macleod 14. Fi Morris 15. Carla Rudd
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Surrey Stars
1. Tammy Beaumont (EW) 2. Laura Marsh (EW) 3. Natalie Sciver (EW) (capt) 4. Rene Farrell (O) 5. Marizanne Kapp (O) 6. Meg Lanning (O) 7. Sophie Dunkley (EWA) 8. Alex Hartley (EWA) 9. Bryony Smith (EWA) 10. Aylish Cranstone 11. Grace Gibbs 12. Cordelia Griffith 13. Raveena Lakhtaria 14. Beth Morgan 15. Kirstie White
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Western Storm
1. Heather Knight (EW) (capt) 2. Anya Shrubsole (EW) 3. Fran Wilson (EW) 4. Lizelle Lee (O) 5. Rachel Priest (O) 6. Stafanie Taylor (O) 7. Freya Davies (EWA) 8. Sophie Luff (EWA) 9. Amara Carr 10. Jodie Dibble 11. Rosalie Fairbairn 12. Georgia Hennessy 13. Sophie Mackenzie 14. Cait O’Keefe 15. Izzy Westbury
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Yorkshire Diamonds
1. Katherine Brunt (EW) 2. Jenny Gunn (EW) 3. Danielle Hazell (EW) 4. Lauren Winfield (EW) (capt) 5. Alex Blackwell (O) 6. Beth Mooney (O) 7. Shabnim Ismail (O) 8. Hollie Armitage (EWA) 9. Steph Butler (EWA) 10. Alice Davidson Richards 11. Teresa Graves 12. Katie Levick 13. Anna Nicholls 14. Laura Spragg 15. Katie Thompson
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- EW = England Women
- O = Overseas
- EWA = England Women’s Academy
Kia Super League team names and host details in full:
Team Name | Host Details |
Lancashire Thunder | Lancashire Cricket Board with partners |
Loughborough Lightning | Loughborough University |
Southern Vipers | Hampshire Cricket with partners |
Surrey Stars | Surrey County Cricket Club |
Western Storm | Somerset County Cricket Club, Gloucestershire County Cricket Club, University of Exeter |
Yorkshire Diamonds | Yorkshire County Cricket Club |
Kia Women’s Cricket Super League 2016 Match Fixtures:
Sat 30 July
Loughborough Lightning v Yorkshire Diamonds – (Headingley, 14.30)
Sun 31 July
Lancashire Thunder v Western Storm – (Cooper Assoc County Ground, Taunton, 14.30)
Southern Vipers v Surrey Stars – (Ageas Bowl, 14.00)
Wed 3 Aug
Lancashire Thunder v Loughborough Lightning – (Haselgrave, 16.30)
Thurs 4 Aug
Surrey Stars v Yorkshire Diamonds – (Kia Oval, 18.30)
Fri 5 Aug
Lancashire Thunder v Southern Vipers – (Blackpool CC, 14.30)
Loughborough Lightning v Western Storm – (Haselgrave, 16.30)
Sun 7 Aug
Western Storm v Western Storm – (Bristol County Ground, 14.30)
Mon 8 Aug
Southern Vipers v Yorkshire Diamonds – (Ageas Bowl Nursery Ground, 14.00)
Tues 9 Aug
Lancashire Thunder v Surrey Stars – (Guildford CC, 14.30)
Fri 12 Aug
Surrey Stars v Loughborough Lightning – (Haselgrave, 16.30)
Western Storm v Southern Vipers – (Cooper Associates County Ground, Taunton, 17.30)
Lancashire Thunder v Yorkshire Diamonds – (Emirates, Old Trafford, 18.00)
Sun 14 Aug
Southern Vipers v Loughborough Lightning – (Ageas Bowl, 14.00)
Lancashire Thunder v Yorkshire Diamonds – (Emirates, Old Trafford, 18.00)
Report courtesy of ECB