Personnel | ||
---|---|---|
Captain | Evelyn Jones (2020–) | |
Coach | Lloyd Tennant (2020–) | |
Team information | ||
Colours | Black and purple | |
Established | 2020 | |
Home ground |
Edgbaston Cricket Ground New Road, Worcester Sir Paul Getty's Ground Scorers, Shirley | |
History | ||
RHFT wins | 0 | |
CEC wins | 0 | |
Official website | Central Sparks | |
|
Central Sparks is a women's cricket team that represent the West Midlands region, one of eight regional hubs in English domestic women's cricket. They primarily play their home matches at Edgbaston and New Road. [1] [2] They are captained by Evelyn Jones and coached by Lloyd Tennant. [3] The team is partnered with Warwickshire, Worcestershire, Herefordshire, Staffordshire and Shropshire. [4]
In 2020, women's cricket in England was restructured, creating eight new 'regional hub' teams, with the intention of playing both 50-over and 20-over cricket. [5] Central Sparks were one of the sides created under this structure, representing the West Midlands and partnered with Warwickshire, Worcestershire, Herefordshire, Staffordshire and Shropshire. [4] The side was to be captained by Evelyn Jones and coached by Lloyd Tennant. [6] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 season was truncated, and only 50-over cricket was played, in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy. [7] Central Sparks finished second in the North Group of the competition, winning three of their six games but failing to progress to the final. [8] At the end of the season, five Sparks players were given full-time domestic contracts, the first of their kind in England: Evelyn Jones, Marie Kelly, Issy Wong, Emily Arlott and Gwenan Davies. [9]
The following season, 2021, Sparks competed in both the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy and the newly-formed Twenty20 competition, the Charlotte Edwards Cup. In the Charlotte Edwards Cup the side finished third in their group, winning three of their six matches. [10] In the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy, Central Sparks qualified for the knockout stages of the tournament, finishing third in the group of eight with five wins from their seven matches. [11] During the group stages, Amy Jones hit the highest score of the tournament, scoring 163 * against Western Storm, whilst Emily Arlott recorded the best individual bowling figures of the tournament against Southern Vipers, taking 5/29 including a hat-trick. [12] [13] In the play-off, however, the side lost to Northern Diamonds by 6 wickets to be eliminated from the competition. [14] In 2022, they reached the final of the Charlotte Edwards Cup after finishing second in Group A and beating South East Stars in the semi-final. [15] [16] However, they lost to Southern Vipers in the final. [17] Sparks batter Amy Jones was the leading run-scorer in the tournament, with 289 runs, and was named the PCA Player of the Tournament. [18] In July 2022, the side launched the West Midlands Regional Cup, to aid the development of players playing for county sides in the region. [19] The side finished fifth in the group of eight in the 2022 Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy. [20]
In 2023, Central Sparks finished seventh out of eight in the Charlotte Edwards Cup and fifth out of eight in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy. [21] [22] Sparks bowler Georgia Davis was the leading wicket-taker in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy, with 27 wickets. [23]
Venue | Games hosted by season | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | Total | |
Edgbaston Cricket Ground | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 10 |
New Road, Worcester | 2 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 13 |
Edgbaston Foundation Ground | – | 1 | 1 | – | 2 |
Sir Paul Getty's Ground | – | – | – | 1 | 1 |
Scorers, Shirley | – | – | – | 1 | 1 |
As per 2024 season. [24]
No. | Name | Nationality | Birth date | Batting style | Bowling style | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Batters | ||||||
2 | Chloe Brewer | England | 12 July 2002 | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | |
6 | Ami Campbell | England | 6 June 1991 | Left-handed | Right-arm medium | |
8 | Davina Perrin | England | 8 September 2006 | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | |
11 | Evelyn Jones | England | 8 August 1992 | Left-handed | Left-arm medium | Club captain |
– | Courtney Webb | Australia | 30 November 1999 | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | Overseas player |
All-rounders | ||||||
14 | Bethan Ellis | England | 7 July 1999 | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | |
28 | Charis Pavely | England | 25 October 2004 | Left-handed | Slow left-arm orthodox | |
77 | Ria Fackrell | England | 16 September 1999 | Right-handed | Right-arm off break | |
99 | Katie George ‡ | England | 7 April 1999 | Right-handed | Left-arm medium | |
Wicket-keepers | ||||||
27 | Abigail Freeborn | England | 12 November 1996 | Right-handed | — | |
29 | Poppy Davies | England | 23 June 2000 | Right-handed | — | |
40 | Amy Jones ‡ | England | 13 June 1993 | Right-handed | — | |
Bowlers | ||||||
3 | Hannah Baker | England | 3 February 2004 | Right-handed | Right-arm leg break | |
9 | Grace Potts | England | 12 July 2002 | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | |
17 | Anisha Patel | England | 17 August 1995 | Right-handed | Right-arm leg break | |
37 | Emily Arlott | England | 23 February 1998 | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | |
45 | Ellie Anderson | England | 30 October 2003 | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | |
64 | Georgia Davis | England | 3 June 1999 | Right-handed | Right-arm off break | |
95 | Issy Wong ‡ | England | 15 May 2002 | Right-handed | Right-arm medium |
The Central Sparks Academy team plays against other regional academies in friendly and festival matches across various formats. The Academy selects players from across the West Midlands region, and includes some players who are also in the first team squad. Players in the 2024 Academy are listed below: [25]
Name | County |
---|---|
Meg Austin | Staffordshire |
Sophie Beech | Staffordshire |
Phoebe Brett | Worcestershire |
Lexie Cantrill | Staffordshire |
Emily Churms | Warwickshire/ Shropshire |
Isabel Ellsmore | Staffordshire |
Hannah Hardwick | Worcestershire |
Amy Griffiths | Shropshire |
Libby Thomas | Wales |
Ebony Tweats | Staffordshire |
As of the 2023 season. [6]
Season | Final standing | League standings [26] | Notes | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
P | W | L | T | NR | BP | Pts | NRR | Pos | |||
2020 | Group stage | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 13 | −0.285 | 2nd | DNQ |
2021 | Losing semi-finalists: 3rd | 7 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 22 | +0.822 | 3rd | Lost to Northern Diamonds in the semi-final |
2022 | Group stage | 7 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 11 | +0.073 | 5th | DNQ |
2023 | Group stage | 14 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 31 | –0.233 | 5th | DNQ |
Season | Final standing | League standings | Notes | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
P | W | L | T | NR | BP | Pts | NRR | Pos | |||
2021 | Group stages | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | –0.669 | 3rd | DNQ |
2022 | Runners-up | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 17 | +0.552 | 2nd | Lost to Southern Vipers in the final |
2023 | Group stages | 7 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | –0.558 | 7th | DNQ |
Year | Played | Wins | Losses | Tied | NR | Win % |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2020 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 50.00 |
2021 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 62.50 |
2022 | 7 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 28.57 |
2023 | 14 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 42.86 |
Total | 35 | 16 | 15 | 1 | 3 | 45.71 |
Opposition | Mat | Won | Lost | Tied | NR | Win % |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Northern Diamonds | 7 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 57.14 |
North West Thunder | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 50.00 |
South East Stars | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 50.00 |
Southern Vipers | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 50.00 |
Sunrisers | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 50.00 |
The Blaze | 6 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0.00 |
Western Storm | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 100.00 |
Year | Played | Wins | Losses | Tied | NR | Win % |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2021 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 50.00 |
2022 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 62.50 |
2023 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 28.57 |
Total | 21 | 10 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 47.62 |
Opposition | Mat | Won | Lost | Tied | NR | Win % |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Northern Diamonds | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
North West Thunder | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
South East Stars | 6 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 33.33 |
Southern Vipers | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 50.00 |
Sunrisers | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100.00 |
The Blaze | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 66.67 |
Western Storm | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 33.33 |