The 2020 Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy was the first edition of the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy, an English

women's cricket Women's cricket is the form of the team sport of cricket when played by women only. It is played at the professional level in multiple countries around the world and 108 national teams participate internationally. 11 of them have WTest and WODI ...

domestic competition, which took place between 29 August and 27 September 2020. It featured eight teams in two groups, and had a final. The tournament was named after former England captain Rachael Heyhoe Flint, Baroness Heyhoe-Flint, who died in 2017. The competition was won by

Southern Vipers The Southern Vipers are a women's cricket team that represent the South of England. The Vipers wear an orange and black kit and play their home matches at the Ageas Bowl and the County Cricket Ground, Hove. They are currently coached by former ...

, who beat Northern Diamonds in the final.

Background and format

Edgbaston - view of new stand from the north

The Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy was a 50-over cricket tournament created in 2020 so that English women's cricket could be played in spite of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. All matches took place behind closed doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The

England and Wales Cricket Board The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is the national governing body of cricket in England and Wales. It was formed on 1 January 1997 as a single governing body to combine the roles formerly fulfilled by the Test and County Cricket Board, ...

made some matches available to watch online, and the final was shown live on

Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British subscription sports channels operated by the satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It ...

. The competition was named after former England captain Rachael Heyhoe Flint, Baroness Heyhoe-Flint, who died in 2017. The competition featured eight teams, who represented regional hubs, which were formed during an overhaul of the English women's domestic cricket structure. The teams were separated into a North and South Group, and each team played six group stage matches, in a double round-robin format. The two group winners played each other in the competition's final. The competition began on 29 August, and ended with the final on 27 September. Originally the final was scheduled for 26 September at the ground of the team with the most points, but the fixture was moved back to 27 September to avoid a clash with an England women's T20 match against the West Indies.

Edgbaston Edgbaston () is an affluent suburban area of central Birmingham, England, historically in Warwickshire, and curved around the southwest of the city centre. In the 19th century, the area was under the control of the Gough-Calthorpe family a ...

was chosen as the venue for the final.

Teams

The teams were as follows: ;''North Group'' * Central Sparks (representing

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Av ...

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see H ...

, Herefordshire,

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to ...

and Staffordshire) *

Lightning Lightning is a naturally occurring electrostatic discharge during which two electrically charged regions, both in the atmosphere or with one on the ground, temporarily neutralize themselves, causing the instantaneous release of an avera ...

(representing Loughborough University,

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

, Leicestershire,

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The trad ...

and

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-we ...

) * Northern Diamonds (representing

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham *County Durham, an English county * Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States *Durham, North Carolina, a city in N ...

and

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land ...

) *

North West Thunder North West Thunder, commonly referred to as Thunder, are a women's cricket team that represent Lancashire and North West England, one of eight regional hubs in English domestic women's cricket. They play their home matches at various grounds, i ...

(representing

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancash ...

, Cheshire and

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. C ...

) ;''South Group'' * South East Stars (representing Surrey and

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

) *

(representing

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...

, Sussex, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire,

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset. Covering an area of , ...

, Isle of Wight and Oxfordshire) * Sunrisers (representing

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbour ...

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Grea ...

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council ...

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the ...

, Hertfordshire,

Huntingdonshire Huntingdonshire (; abbreviated Hunts) is a non-metropolitan district of Cambridgeshire and a historic county of England. The district council is based in Huntingdon. Other towns include St Ives, Godmanchester, St Neots and Ramsey. The popu ...

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

and Suffolk) *

Western Storm Western Storm are a women's cricket team representing South West England and Wales, one of eight regional hubs in English domestic cricket. They play their home matches at the County Ground, Taunton, the County Ground, Bristol and Sophia Gardens ...

(representing Glamorgan,

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

and

Cricket Wales Cricket Wales ( cy, Criced Cymru) is the national governing body of cricket in Wales. It is an umbrella partnership body comprising the Welsh Cricket Association, Glamorgan County Cricket Club, Wales National County Cricket Club, the Welsh Sc ...

)

Squads

Each team had a squad of 15 players, and players on England central contracts were available for the competition. All players were paid for participating in the competitions, excluding those already on central contracts. After the squad announcements, England centrally contracted players were added to their teams. England players on a regional retainer contract were assigned to their regional team, and centrally contracted players were assigned appropriately. England players in the squad for the West Indies series were only available for the first two rounds of fixtures. Southern Vipers were the first team to announce their squad. Their regionally contracted players were Lauren Bell, Georgia Adams, Tara Norris, and Paige Scholfield. Northern Diamonds' squad included former England international cricketer Jenny Gunn and Dutch international cricketer Sterre Kalis. Their centrally contracted players were Hollie Armitage and Beth Langston. South East Stars were captained by Tash Farrant, and their 14 women squad included England players

Sophia Dunkley Sophia Ivy Rose Dunkley (born 16 July 1998) is an English cricketer who plays for Surrey, South East Stars, Welsh Fire, Gujarat Giants and England. A right-handed batter and right-arm leg break bowler, she made her county debut in 2012 for ...

Alice Davidson-Richards Alice Natica Davidson-Richards (born 29 May 1994) is an English cricketer who plays for Kent, South East Stars and Northern Superchargers. A right-handed batter and right-arm pace bowler, she made her county debut for Kent in 2010. She made he ...

, and Bryony Smith. Lightning's squad included Scottish sisters

Kathryn Kathryn is a feminine given name and comes from the Greek meaning for 'pure'. It is a variant of Katherine. It may refer to: In television and film: * Kathryn Beaumont (born 1938), English voice actress and school teacher best known for her Disn ...

and Sarah Bryce. North West Thunder's squad included England cricketer Alex Hartley, as well as Georgie Boyce and

Ellie Threlkeld Eleanor Threlkeld (born 16 November 1998) is an English cricketer who currently plays for Lancashire, North West Thunder and Manchester Originals. She plays as a wicket-keeper and right-handed batter. She previously played for Lancashire Thun ...

who received regional retainers. Western Storm were captained by Sophie Luff, and their squad included regionally contracted players Fi Morris and Danielle Gibson. Central Sparks' squad included regionally contracted players

Evelyn Jones Evelyn Jones (born 8 August 1992) is an English cricketer who currently captains Central Sparks, as well as playing for Warwickshire and Birmingham Phoenix. She plays primarily as a left-handed opening batter, as well as bowling left-arm mediu ...

, Marie Kelly and Issy Wong. Sunrisers were captained by Amara Carr, and their squad included regionally contracted players Naomi Dattani, Cordelia Griffith who received regional retainers, and also included England international cricketer Fran Wilson and Mady Villiers.

Standings

Teams received 4 points for a win. A bonus point was given where the winning team's run rate is 1.25 or greater times that of the opposition. In case of a tie in the standings, the following tiebreakers were applied in order: highest

net run rate Net run rate (NRR) is a statistical method used in analysing teamwork and/or performance in cricket. It is the most commonly used method of ranking teams with equal points in limited overs league competitions, similar to goal difference in foo ...

, team that scored the most points in matches involving the tied parties, better bowling strike rate, drawing of lots.

North Group

South Group

Group stage

The fixture list was compiled so that every team played twice on the

August Bank Holiday A bank holiday is a national public holiday in the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland and the Crown Dependencies. The term refers to all public holidays in the United Kingdom, be they set out in statute, declared by royal proclamation or held ...

weekend. Source:

North Group

---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----

South Group

---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----

Final

Statistics

*Highest score by a team:

– 303/5 (50 overs) v Central Sparks (19 September). * Top score by an individual: Georgia Adams – 154 * (155) v

(13 September). * Best bowling figures by an individual: Charlotte Taylor – 6/34 (10 overs) v Northern Diamonds (27 September).

Most runs

Source: ESPNCricinfo

Most wickets

Source: ESPNCricinfo

References

External links

Series home at ESPN Cricinfo
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

2020 in English women's cricket