Central Sparks are a women's

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...

team that represent the West Midlands region, one of eight regional hubs in English domestic women's cricket. They play their home matches at

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 ...

and New Road. They are captained by

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 medi ...

and coached by

Lloyd Tennant Lloyd Tennant (born 9 April 1968) is an English former cricketer active from 1986 to 1995 who played for Leicestershire. He appeared in ten first-class matches as a right-handed batsman who bowled right-arm medium fast. In first-class cricket, ...

. The team is partnered with

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-Avon an ...

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 His ...

Herefordshire Herefordshire () is a county in the West Midlands of England, governed by Herefordshire Council. It is bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh counties of Monmouthshire ...

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...

and

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 th ...

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. Central Sparks were one of the sides created under this structure, representing the West Midlands and partnered with

and

. The side was to be captained by

and coached by

. Due to 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 identif ...

, the 2020 season was truncated, and only 50-over cricket was played, in the

Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy The Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy is an English women's cricket domestic competition, named after former England captain Rachael Heyhoe Flint, Baroness Heyhoe-Flint, who died in 2017. The first edition of the tournament took place during August ...

. Central Sparks finished second in the North Group of the competition, winning three of their six games but failing to progress to the final. 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 Marie Kelly (born 9 February 1996) is an English cricketer who is currently the captain of Warwickshire, as well as playing for The Blaze, Northern Superchargers and Trinbago Knight Riders. She plays primarily as a right-handed batter. She l ...

, Issy Wong,

Emily Arlott Emily Louise Arlott (born 23 February 1998) is an English cricketer who currently plays for Worcestershire, Central Sparks and Birmingham Phoenix. She plays primarily as a right-arm medium-fast bowler. In June 2021, Arlott received her maide ...

and

Gwenan Davies Gwenan Mai Davies (born 12 May 1994) is a Welsh cricketer who currently plays for Warwickshire. She plays as a wicket-keeper and left-handed batter, as well as occasionally bowling right-arm medium-fast. She has previously played for Wales, So ...

. The following season, 2021, Sparks competed in both the

and the newly-formed Twenty20 competition, the

Charlotte Edwards Cup The Charlotte Edwards Cup, initially named the Women's Regional T20, is an English women's cricket Twenty20 domestic competition organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board. The first edition of the tournament took place in 2021. The tourn ...

. In the Charlotte Edwards Cup the side finished third in their group, winning three of their six matches. 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. During the group stages, Amy Jones hit the highest score of the tournament, scoring 163 * against

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 ...

, whilst Emily Arlott recorded the best individual bowling figures of the tournament against

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 ...

, taking 5/29 including a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

. In the play-off, however, the side lost to

Northern Diamonds Northern Diamonds are a women's cricket team that represent the traditional areas of the North East and Yorkshire, one of eight regional hubs in English domestic women's cricket. They play their home matches at Headingley, the Riverside, Rose ...

by 6 wickets to be eliminated from the competition. In 2022, they reached the final of the

after finishing second in Group A and beating

South East Stars South East Stars are a women's cricket team that represent the London & South East region, one of eight regional hubs in English domestic women's cricket. They play their home matches at various grounds, including the County Cricket Ground, Beck ...

in the semi-final. However, they lost to

in the final. Sparks batter Amy Jones was the leading run-scorer in the tournament, with 289 runs, and was named the PCA Player of the Tournament. In July 2022, the side launched the

West Midlands Regional Cup The West Midlands Regional Cup is a domestic women's one-day cricket competition in England. Organised by the Central Sparks regional team, the tournament involves four teams based in or near the West Midlands, with its first edition taking p ...

, to aid the development of players playing for county sides in the region. The side finished fifth in the group of eight in the

2022 Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy The 2022 Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy was the third edition of the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy, an English women's cricket 50-over domestic competition, which took place between 2 July and 25 September 2022. It featured eight teams playing in ...

Home grounds

Players

Current squad

As per 2022 season. * No. denotes the player's squad number, as worn on the back of their shirt. * denotes players with international caps.

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 2022/23 Academy are listed below:

Coaching staff

* Head Coach:

* Regional Director: Laura Macleod * Team Operations Manager: Beth Gaskell * Physiotherapist: Jill Chapman * Assistant Coach:

Dominic Ostler Dominic Piers Ostler (born 15 July 1970) is a former cricketer who played in first-class, List A and Twenty20 cricket for Warwickshire between 1990 and 2004. He also played for the England A cricket team in 1995 and 1996 in first-class and Li ...

* Team Doctor: Kim Gregory ''As of the 2022 season.''

Seasons

Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy

Charlotte Edwards Cup

Statistics

Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy

* Abandoned matches are counted as NR (no result) * Win or loss by super over or boundary count are counted as tied.

Charlotte Edwards Cup

* Abandoned matches are counted as NR (no result) * Win or loss by super over or boundary count are counted as tied.

Records

Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy

*Highest team total: 296/9, v

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

on 18 September 2021. *Lowest (completed) team total: 144 v

on 29 August 2020. *Highest individual score: 163 *, Amy Jones v

on 31 May 2021. *Best individual bowling analysis: 5/29,

on 5 June 2021. *Most runs: 857 runs in 20 matches,

. *Most wickets: 20 wickets in 17 matches,

Charlotte Edwards Cup

*Highest team total: 170/6, v

on 18 May 2022. *Lowest (completed) team total: 109/8 v

on 11 June 2022. *Highest individual score: 100 *,

on 25 August 2021. *Best individual bowling analysis: 4/12, Georgia Davis v

on 10 July 2021. *Most runs: 489 runs in 14 matches,

. *Most wickets: 14 wickets in 8 matches, Grace Potts.

References

{{English Domestic Women's Cricket Regional Hubs 2020 establishments in England Sport in Birmingham, West Midlands Warwickshire County Cricket Club Worcestershire County Cricket Club Cricket in Worcestershire Cricket clubs established in 2020 English Domestic Women's Cricket Regional Hub teams

History

Home grounds

Players

Current squad

Academy

Coaching staff

Seasons

Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy

Charlotte Edwards Cup

Statistics

Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy

Charlotte Edwards Cup

Records

Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy

Charlotte Edwards Cup

See also

References