Joanne Lynda Gardner (born 25 March 1997) is an English

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 striki ...

er who currently plays for

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 ...

, Sunrisers and

Southern Brave Southern Brave is a franchise 100-ball cricket side based in the city of Southampton. The team represents the historic counties of Hampshire and Sussex in the newly founded The Hundred competition, which took place for the first time during ...

. She plays as an

all-rounder An all-rounder is a cricketer who regularly performs well at both batting and bowling. Although all bowlers must bat and quite a handful of batsmen do bowl occasionally, most players are skilled in only one of the two disciplines and are consi ...

, bowling right-arm

medium Medium may refer to: Science and technology Aviation *Medium bomber, a class of war plane * Tecma Medium, a French hang glider design Communication * Media (communication), tools used to store and deliver information or data * Medium of ...

and batting right-handed. She has previously played for

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 ...

, Loughborough Lightning and

Oval Invincibles Oval Invincibles is a franchise 100-ball cricket side based in South London. The team represents the historic counties of Surrey and Kent in the newly founded The Hundred competition, which took place for the first time during the 2021 Engl ...

Early life

Gardner was born on 25 March 1997 in Newport,

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the largest and second-most populous island of England. Referred to as 'The Island' by residents, the Isle of ...

. She attended

Loughborough University Loughborough University (abbreviated as ''Lough'' or ''Lboro'' for post-nominals) is a public research university in the market town of Loughborough, Leicestershire, England. It has been a university since 1966, but it dates back to 1909, when L ...

Domestic career

Gardner made her county debut in 2011, for

against

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 ...

. She scored 2 runs and bowled 7 overs for no wicket. 2013 was a breakthrough year for Gardner, as she took 15

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

wickets at an average of 14.26, as well as taking her maiden five-for, with 6/21 against

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...

. In 2014, was the leading wicket-taker across the whole

, taking 19 wickets at an average of 9.47. She took 5/23 against both

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

and

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

. She hit her maiden county half-century in 2015, against

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire t ...

, and went on to hit three more in 2016, and was the leading run-scorer for her side in both competitions. In 2017, Gardner joined

. She hit 54 * in her first match for her new side, in a 2 wicket victory over

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 ...

. Gardner was part of the Warwickshire team that won the

2019 Women's Twenty20 Cup The 2019 Women's Twenty20 Cup, known for sponsorship reasons as the 2019 Vitality Women's Twenty20 Cup was the 11th cricket Women's Twenty20 Cup tournament. It took place in June, with 35 teams taking part: 33 county teams plus Scotland and Wales ...

. In 2021, after playing in the

Twenty20 Cup The T20 Blast, currently named the Vitality Blast for sponsorship reasons, is a professional Twenty20 cricket competition for English and Welsh first-class counties. The competition was established by the England and Wales Cricket Board (E ...

for Warwickshire, Gardner went on loan to

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 G ...

for the

Women's London Championship The Women's London Championship (WLC) is an English women's cricket competition. It was created in 2020 following the introduction of the regional Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy as the highest domestic competition in women's One Day cricket. The c ...

in order to play 50-over cricket. Gardner was also part of Loughborough Lightning's squad in the

Women's Cricket Super League The Women's Cricket Super League (WCSL), known as the Kia Super League (KSL) for sponsorship reasons, was a semi-professional women's Twenty20 cricket competition in England and Wales operated by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). The comp ...

in 2018 and 2019. She played one match in

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

, but did not bat or bowl. She played three matches in

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

, including the semi-final, and took two wickets. In 2020, Gardner played for Sunrisers 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 ...

. She appeared in all 6 matches, and was her side's leading run-scorer and joint leading wicket-taker, with 193 runs and 7 wickets. She scored one half-century, 54, in a losing cause 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 ...

. In December 2020, it was announced that Gardner was one of the 41 female cricketers that had signed a full-time domestic contract. Gardner played 11 matches for the side in 2021, across the

and 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 tourna ...

, taking two wickets and with a top score of 42, made off 30 balls against

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 ...

. She also played nine matches in

' victorious campaign in The Hundred. She played eleven matches for Sunrisers in 2022, across the

and the

, scoring 193 runs and taking eleven wickets. She moved to

in The Hundred, but did not a play a match for her new side.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gardner, Jo 1997 births Living people People from Newport, Isle of Wight Alumni of Loughborough University Northamptonshire women cricketers Warwickshire women cricketers Essex women cricketers Loughborough Lightning cricketers Sunrisers women's cricketers Oval Invincibles cricketers