The Blaze, previously known as Lightning, 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 str ...

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

Trent Bridge Trent Bridge Cricket Ground is a cricket ground mostly used for Test, One-Day International and county cricket located in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England, just across the River Trent from the city of Nottingham. Trent Bridge is also ...

and

Grace Road Grace Road, known for sponsorship reasons as the Uptonsteel County Ground, Grace Road, is a cricket ground in Leicester, England. It is the home ground and administrative base of Leicestershire County Cricket Club. History Leicestershire ...

. They are captained by

Kirstie Gordon Kirstie Louise Gordon (born 20 October 1997) is a Scottish cricketer who currently plays for Kent, The Blaze and Trent Rockets as a slow-left arm orthodox bowler. She played for Scotland from 2012 to 2017, before switching nationality to Eng ...

and coached by Chris Guest. The team carries over many elements of the WCSL team Loughborough Lightning. They are partnered with

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 ...

, Leicestershire,

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 ...

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 ...

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. The team, then known as Lightning, were one of the sides created under this structure, effectively replacing 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 ...

team Loughborough Lightning and representing the East Midlands, partnering with

, Leicestershire,

and

, as well as Loughborough University. The side was to be captained by Kathryn Bryce and coached by Rob Taylor. 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 identi ...

, the 2020 season was truncated, and only 50-over cricket was played, in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy. Lightning finished bottom of the North Group in the competition, winning two of their six matches. At the end of the season, five Lightning players were given full-time domestic contracts, the first of their kind in England: Kathryn Bryce, Sarah Bryce,

Bethan Ellis Bethan Louisa Ellis (born 7 July 1999) is an English cricketer who currently plays for Warwickshire and Central Sparks. She plays primarily as a right-arm medium bowler, as a well as a right-handed lower-order batter. She has previously play ...

, Lucy Higham and Abigail Freeborn. The following season, 2021, Lightning competed in both the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy 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 bottom of their group, losing all six of their matches. In the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy, Lightning finished fourth in the group of eight, winning three of their seven matches. In the final match of the season, Lightning scored 320/6 in their victory over Central Sparks, with the Bryce sisters, Kathryn and Sarah, sharing a 207-run partnership, the highest across the competition. Lightning bowler

was the leading wicket-taker in the competition, with 16 wickets. Rob Taylor left his role as Head Coach at the end of the season, and was later replaced by Chris Guest. Lightning again finished bottom of their group in the

in 2022, but did win their first Twenty20 match, beating

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 ...

by 5 wickets. In September 2022, it was announced that Nottinghamshire CCC would become the new host of the team, replacing Loughborough University, and it was also announced that the name of the team would change. The side finished sixth out of eight in the 2022 Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy. In November 2022, it was announced that the team had been renamed The Blaze. Kirstie Gordon was named as the side's new captain in April 2023.

Home grounds

Players

Current squad

As per 2023 season. * No. denotes the player's squad number, as worn on the back of their shirt. * denotes players with international caps.

Academy

The Blaze Academy team plays against other regional academies in friendly and festival matches across various formats. The Academy selects players from across the East Midlands region, and includes some players who are also in the first team squad. Players in the 2023 Academy are listed below:

Overseas players

* Piepa Cleary – Australia (2022) * Nadine de Klerk –

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

(2023)

Coaching staff

* Head coach: Chris Guest * Regional Director: James Cutt * Assistant coach: Jon Bateson * Team Operations Executive: Sally Clarke ''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: 320/6, v Central Sparks on 18 September 2021. *Lowest (completed) team total: 116 v

on 13 September 2020. *Highest individual score: 162, Kathryn Bryce v Central Sparks on 18 September 2021. *Best individual bowling analysis: 5/29, Kathryn Bryce v Northern Diamonds on 5 September 2020 and 5/29, Grace Ballinger v

on 9 July 2022. *Most runs: 727 runs in 18 matches, Kathryn Bryce. *Most wickets: 28 wickets in 18 matches, Kathryn Bryce and 28 wickets in 14 matches,

Charlotte Edwards Cup

*Highest team total: 155/5, v

on 21 May 2022. *Lowest (completed) team total: 81 v Central Sparks on 10 July 2021. *Highest individual score: 61, Abigail Freeborn v South East Stars on 25 August 2021. *Best individual bowling analysis: 3/30, Lucy Higham v

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 ...

on 29 May 2022. *Most runs: 161 runs in 6 matches, Abigail Freeborn. *Most wickets: 10 wickets in 9 matches, Kathryn Bryce.

References

{{English Domestic Women's Cricket Regional Hubs 2020 establishments in England Cricket at Loughborough University Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club Leicestershire County Cricket Club Derbyshire County Cricket Club Cricket in Nottinghamshire Cricket in Leicestershire Cricket clubs established in 2020 English Domestic Women's Cricket Regional Hub teams

History

Home grounds

Players

Current squad

Academy

Overseas players

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