Maddie Grace Ward (born 19 January 2005) 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

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 traditi ...

and

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 plays as a

wicket-keeper The wicket-keeper in the sport of cricket is the player on the fielding side who stands behind the wicket or stumps being watchful of the batsman and ready to take a catch, stump the batsman out and run out a batsman when occasion arises. Th ...

and right-handed

batter Batter or batters may refer to: Common meanings * Batter (cooking), thin dough that can be easily poured into a pan * Batter (baseball), person whose turn it is to face the pitcher * Batter (cricket), a player who is currently batting * Batter ...

Early life

Ward was born on 19 January 2005 in

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...

Domestic career

Ward made her county debut in 2018, for

against

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 ...

. She did not play again for the side until 2021, making six appearances in the Twenty20 Cup. She took five wickets at an average of 7.40 for the side in the 2024 ECB Women's County One-Day. Ward was named in the

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 ...

and The Blaze Academies in 2021, 2022 and 2023 before moving to the

Academy in 2024. On 30 April 2024, she was included in a senior Northern Diamonds matchday squad for the first time. She made her debut for the side on 26 August 2024, against 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 ...

, scoring 20 and taking one catch.

International career

In October 2022, Ward was selected in the England Under-19 squad for the

2023 ICC Under-19 Women's T20 World Cup The 2023 ICC Under-19 Women's T20 World Cup was the first edition of the ICC Women's Under-19 Cricket World Cup, hosted by South Africa in 2023. The tournament was moved from its original slot at the end of 2021 to January 2023 because of the COV ...

. She played three matches in the tournament, taking one catch and making three stumpings. In March 2024, she was selected in the England Under-19 squad for their two tri-series in Sri Lanka. She played three matches on the tour, with seven dismissals.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ward, Maddie 2005 births Living people Cricketers from Nottingham Nottinghamshire women cricketers Northern Diamonds cricketers