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Central Sparks
Personnel
Captain Evelyn Jones (2020–)
Coach Lloyd Tennant (2020–)
Team information
Colours   Black and purple
Established2020
Home ground Edgbaston Cricket Ground
New Road, Worcester
Sir Paul Getty's Ground
Scorers, Shirley
History
RHFT wins0
CEC wins0
Official website Central Sparks

Playing kit

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]

History

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]

Home grounds

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

Players

Current squad

As per 2024 season. [24]

  • No. denotes the player's squad number, as worn on the back of their shirt.
  • ‡ denotes players with international caps.
No. Name Nationality Birth date Batting style Bowling style Notes
Batters
2 Chloe Brewer   England (2002-07-12) 12 July 2002 (age 21) Right-handed Right-arm medium
6 Ami Campbell   England (1991-06-06) 6 June 1991 (age 32) Left-handed Right-arm medium
8 Davina Perrin   England (2006-09-08) 8 September 2006 (age 17) Right-handed Right-arm medium
11 Evelyn Jones   England (1992-08-08) 8 August 1992 (age 31) Left-handed Left-arm medium Club captain
Courtney Webb   Australia (1999-11-30) 30 November 1999 (age 24) Right-handed Right-arm medium Overseas player
All-rounders
14 Bethan Ellis   England (1999-07-07) 7 July 1999 (age 24) Right-handed Right-arm medium
28 Charis Pavely   England (2004-10-25) 25 October 2004 (age 19) Left-handed Slow left-arm orthodox
77 Ria Fackrell   England (1999-09-16) 16 September 1999 (age 24) Right-handed Right-arm off break
99 Katie George ‡   England (1999-04-07) 7 April 1999 (age 25) Right-handed Left-arm medium
Wicket-keepers
27 Abigail Freeborn   England (1996-11-12) 12 November 1996 (age 27) Right-handed
29 Poppy Davies   England (2000-06-23) 23 June 2000 (age 23) Right-handed
40 Amy Jones ‡   England (1993-06-13) 13 June 1993 (age 30) Right-handed
Bowlers
3 Hannah Baker   England (2004-02-03) 3 February 2004 (age 20) Right-handed Right-arm leg break
9 Grace Potts   England (2002-07-12) 12 July 2002 (age 21) Right-handed Right-arm medium
17 Anisha Patel   England (1995-08-17) 17 August 1995 (age 28) Right-handed Right-arm leg break
37 Emily Arlott   England (1998-02-23) 23 February 1998 (age 26) Right-handed Right-arm medium
45 Ellie Anderson   England (2003-10-30) 30 October 2003 (age 20) Right-handed Right-arm medium
64 Georgia Davis   England (1999-06-03) 3 June 1999 (age 24) Right-handed Right-arm off break
95 Issy Wong ‡   England (2002-05-15) 15 May 2002 (age 21) Right-handed Right-arm medium

Academy

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

Overseas players

Coaching staff

  • Head Coach: Lloyd Tennant
  • Regional Director: Laura Macleod
  • Academy Head Coach: Darren Franklin
  • Team Operations Manager: Beth Gaskell
  • Physiotherapist: Julia Sawkings & Becky Webber
  • Strength & Conditioning Lead: Nick Karamouzis
  • Strength & Conditioning Coach: Andy Harland
  • Assistant Coach: Dominic Ostler
  • Talent Manager: Lauren Rowles
  • Performance Analyst: George Isaacs

As of the 2023 season. [6]

Seasons

Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy

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

Charlotte Edwards Cup

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

Statistics

Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy

Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy – summary of results [26]
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
  • Abandoned matches are counted as NR (no result)
  • Win or loss by super over or boundary count are counted as tied.
Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy – teamwise result summary [27]
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

Charlotte Edwards Cup

Charlotte Edwards Cup - summary of results
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
  • Abandoned matches are counted as NR (no result)
  • Win or loss by super over or boundary count are counted as tied.
Charlotte Edwards Cup - teamwise result summary
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

Records

Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy

Charlotte Edwards Cup

See also

References

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