The Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy is 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, named after former England captain Rachael Heyhoe Flint, Baroness Heyhoe-Flint, who died in 2017. The

first edition The bibliographical definition of an edition includes all copies of a book printed from substantially the same setting of type, including all minor typographical variants. First edition According to the definition of ''edition'' above, a b ...

of the tournament took place during August and September 2020, with the

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 ...

beating the

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 ...

in the final. Initially started as a one-off tournament, in February 2021 the

England and Wales Cricket Board The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is the Sports governing body, 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 ...

(ECB) announced it would return for the 2021 season as a permanent part of the women's domestic structure in England, alongside 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 ...

History

In 2018, the

(ECB) announced the launch of The Hundred in 2020, which would supersede the existing premier women's cricket tournament, 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 ...

. To go alongside The Hundred, the ECB announced a plan to launch a new 'regional elite domestic structure for women's cricket', which would include the awarding of 40 new full-time professional contracts for non-England players. These plans were put on hold 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 ...

, but the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy was eventually scheduled to begin in August 2020, with six new teams competing, alongside two teams carried over from the WCSL,

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 ...

and

. The trophy was named after former

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

player

Rachael Heyhoe Flint Rachael Heyhoe Flint, Baroness Heyhoe Flint, ( Heyhoe; 11 June 1939 – 18 January 2017) was an English women's cricket, cricketer, businesswoman and philanthropist. She was best known for being English national cricket captains, captain of En ...

, and was intended to be a one-off, in light of the pandemic. Southern Vipers were the inaugural champions of the

tournament A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

, beating

in the final. In February 2021, the ECB announced that the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy would continue for the following season, alongside a new Regional T20 competition, with a slightly altered format. Southern Vipers and Northern Diamonds again reached the final, and Southern Vipers were again victorious, claiming their second title. In

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, the Vipers and Diamonds once again reached the final, but this time the Northern Diamonds won by two runs, claiming their first title. Ahead of the 2023 season, it was announced that the tournament was expanding, with teams now playing each other team home and away.

Teams

The teams for the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy are as follows:

Competition format

In the 2020 season, 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. In the following two seasons, the eight teams play each other once in a round-robin format. The second and third placed teams compete in a playoff, the winner of which plays in the final against the first placed team. In 2023, teams will play each other twice, home and away, in a double round-robin format. Teams receive 4 points for a win. A bonus point is 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 are 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.

Tournament results

References

{{List A cricket domestic competitions Women's cricket competitions in England English domestic cricket competitions 2020 establishments in England Women's sports leagues in England Sports leagues established in 2020