The Essex women's cricket team is the women's representative
cricket
Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...
Essex
Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...
. They play their home games at various grounds across the county, including Toby Howe Cricket Ground,
Billericay
Billericay ( ) is a town and civil parish in the Borough of Basildon in Essex, England. It lies within the London Basin, east of the City of London. The town was founded in the 13th century by the Stratford Langthorne Abbey, Abbot of West Ham, ...
Southend-on-Sea
Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in south-eastern Essex, England. It lies on the nor ...
. They are captained by Grace Scrivens. In 2019, they played in Division Two of the final season of the
Essex Women played their first recorded match in 1949, against Buckinghamshire Women. Over the following years, Essex went on to play various one-off matches, most often against local Second XI teams.
2000– : Women's County Championship
Essex joined the
Women's County Championship
The Women's County Championship, known since 2014 as the Royal London Women's One-Day Cup,2001
The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...
, competing in Division Three, in which they came third, with two victories. They played in the bottom tier of the Championship until
2008
2008 was designated as:
*International Year of Languages
*International Year of Planet Earth
*International Year of the Potato
*International Year of Sanitation
The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...
, when they were promoted to Division Two. In Division Two, Essex performed strongly, finishing third and second in their first two seasons before being promoted in
2011
The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...
. In a rain-hit
2012
2012 was designated as:
*International Year of Cooperatives
*International Year of Sustainable Energy for All
Events January
*January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins.
* January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...
season, Essex then finished second in Division One, behind
Kent
Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...
. After this, however, Essex fell away, being relegated from Division One in
2014
The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...
, and then again from Division Two in
2016
2016 was designated as:
* International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly.
* International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...
. They managed to bounce straight back, winning Division 3C in
2017
2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly.
Events January
* January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...
, and playing in Division Two ever since. Meanwhile, in the Women's Twenty20 Cup, Essex have been a volatile side: when the tournament was regionalised in its early years, Essex bounced between Divisions One and Two of the South section. Since, they briefly fell into Division 3 in
2018
Events January
* January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency.
* January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...
, but apart from this have played in Division 2, achieving their best finish of 3rd in
2015
2015 was designated by the United Nations as:
* International Year of Light
* International Year of Soil __TOC__
Events
January
* January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...
2021
Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...
, they competed in the South East Group of the Twenty20 Cup, but finished bottom. They topped their group in the 2022 Women's Twenty20 Cup, but lost to
Suffolk
Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...
in the group final. Essex finished third in their group in the 2023 Women's Twenty20 Cup, but won the Women's London Championship, winning all four of their matches. In 2024, the side finished 4th in their group in the
Twenty20 Cup
The T20 Blast, officially known as the Vitality Blast for sponsorship reasons, is a professional Twenty20 cricket league in England and Wales. The competition was established by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2003. T20 Blast is ...
* No. denotes the player's squad number, as worn on the back of their shirt.
* denotes players with international caps.
Notable players
Players who have played for Essex and played internationally are listed below, in order of first international appearance (given in brackets):
* Lucy Doolan (2008)
* Sian Ruck (2009)
* Beth MacGregor (2010)
*
Beth Langston
Bethany Alicia Langston (born 6 September 1992) is an English cricketer who played six matches for the England women's cricket team: twice in 2013 and four times in 2016. Predominantly a medium-pace bowler, she began her cricket career with Essex ...
Leigh Kasperek
Leigh Meghan Kasperek (born 15 February 1992) is a Scottish cricketer who plays internationally for the New Zealand national team. She previously played for the Scottish national side, but switched to New Zealand in order to play at a higher l ...
Mady Villiers
Mady Kate Villiers (born 26 August 1998) is an English cricketer who plays for Essex Women cricket team, Essex, Sunrisers (women's cricket), Sunrisers and Oval Invincibles as a right-arm off spin, off break Bowling (cricket), bowler. In July 201 ...
(2019)
*
Heather Graham
Heather Joan Graham (born January 29, 1970) is an American actress. The accolades she has received include nominations for two Screen Actors Guild Awards, a Critics' Choice Movie Award, and an Independent Spirit Award.
After appearing in tel ...
Essex County Cricket Club
Essex County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Essex.
Founded in 1876, the club had minor county status until 1894 w ...
Women
A woman is an adult female human. Before adulthood, a female child or adolescent is referred to as a girl.
Typically, women are of the female sex and inherit a pair of X chromosomes, one from each parent, and women with functional u ...