Central Sparks were a women's

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 ...

team that represented the West Midlands region, one of eight regional hubs in English domestic women's cricket. They primarily played their home matches at

Edgbaston Edgbaston () is a suburb of Birmingham, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It lies immediately south-west of Birmingham city centre, and was historically in Warwickshire. The Ward (electoral subdivision), wards of Edgbaston and Nort ...

and New Road. They were captained by Evelyn Jones and coached by Darren Franklin and Justine Dunce. The team was partnered with

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Staffordshire and Leicestershire to the north, Northamptonshire to the east, Ox ...

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Shropshire, Staffordshire, and the West Midlands (county), West ...

Herefordshire Herefordshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England, bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh ...

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...

and

Shropshire Shropshire (; abbreviated SalopAlso used officially as the name of the county from 1974–1980. The demonym for inhabitants of the county "Salopian" derives from this name.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West M ...

. At the end of the 2024 season, following reforms to the structure of women's domestic cricket, the team was effectively replaced by a professionalised

team.

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. Central Sparks were one of the sides created under this structure, representing the West Midlands and partnered with

and

. The side was to be captained by Evelyn Jones and coached by Lloyd Tennant. Due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, the 2020 season was truncated, and only 50-over cricket was played, in the

Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy The Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy was an English and Welsh women's cricket domestic competition, named after former England captain Rachael Heyhoe Flint, who died in 2017. The Trophy was held from 2020 to 2024, and was the premier women's 50-ov ...

. Central Sparks finished second in the North Group of the competition, winning three of their six games but failing to progress to the final. At the end of the season, five Sparks players were given full-time domestic contracts, the first of their kind in England: Evelyn Jones, Marie Kelly, Issy Wong, Emily Arlott and Gwenan Davies. The following season, 2021, Sparks competed in both the

and the newly-formed Twenty20 competition, the

Charlotte Edwards Cup The Charlotte Edwards Cup, initially named the Women's Regional T20, was an English and Welsh women's cricket Twenty20 domestic competition, held annually from 2021 to 2024. The tournament was named after England's former captain and most capped ...

. In the Charlotte Edwards Cup the side finished third in their group, winning three of their six matches. In the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy, Central Sparks qualified for the knockout stages of the tournament, finishing third in the group of eight with five wins from their seven matches. During the group stages, Amy Jones hit the highest score of the tournament, scoring 163 * against

Western Storm Western Storm were a women's cricket team that represented South West England and Wales, one of eight regional hubs in English domestic cricket. They primarily played their home matches at the County Ground, Taunton, the County Ground, Bristol ...

, whilst Emily Arlott recorded the best individual bowling figures of the tournament against

Southern Vipers The Southern Vipers were a women's cricket team that represented the South of England. The Vipers wore an orange and black kit and primarily played their home matches at the Rose Bowl and the County Ground, Hove. They were coached by former ...

, taking 5/29 including a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

. In the play-off, however, the side lost to

Northern Diamonds Northern Diamonds were a women's cricket team that represented the traditional areas of the Northumbria (modern), North East and Yorkshire, one of eight regional hubs in English domestic women's cricket. They primarily played their home matches ...

by 6 wickets to be eliminated from the competition. In 2022, they reached the final of the

after finishing second in Group A and beating South East Stars in the semi-final. However, they lost to

in the final. Sparks batter Amy Jones was the leading run-scorer in the tournament, with 289 runs, and was named the PCA Player of the Tournament. In July 2022, the side launched the West Midlands Regional Cup, to aid the development of players playing for county sides in the region. The side finished fifth in the group of eight in the

2022 Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy The 2022 Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy was the third edition of the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy, an English women's cricket 50-over domestic competition, which took place between 2 July and 25 September 2022. It featured eight teams playing in ...

. In 2023, Central Sparks finished seventh out of eight in the

and fifth out of eight in the

. Sparks bowler Georgia Davis was the leading wicket-taker in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy, with 27 wickets. In 2024, the side reached the semi-finals of the

and finished seventh in the

. 2024 was the side's final season, with reforms to the structure of domestic cricket in England meaning that the side was effectively replaced by a professionalised

team.

Home grounds

Players

Current squad

Final squad, 2024 season. * No. denotes the player's squad number, as worn on the back of their shirt. * denotes players with international caps.

Academy

The Central Sparks Academy team played against other regional academies in friendly and festival matches across various formats. The Academy selected players from across the West Midlands region, and included some players who were also in the first team squad. Players in the 2024 Academy are listed below:

Overseas players

* Erin Burns –

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

(2023) * Maddy Green –

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

(2023) * Courtney Webb –

(2024)

Coaching staff

* Head Coaches: Darren Franklin & Justine Dunce * Regional Director: Laura Macleod * Team Operations Manager: Beth Gaskell * Physiotherapist: Julia Sawkings & Becky Webber * Strength & Conditioning Lead: Nick Karamouzis * Strength & Conditioning Coach: Andy Harland * Talent Manager: Lauren Rowles * Performance Analyst: George Isaacs ''As of the 2024 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: 297/3, v

on 26 August 2024. *Lowest (completed) team total: 102 v

on 12 July 2024. *Highest individual score: 163 *, Amy Jones v

on 31 May 2021. *Best individual bowling analysis: 6/23, Georgia Davis v

on 26 August 2024. *Most runs: 1,780 runs in 45 matches, Evelyn Jones. *Most wickets: 52 wickets in 31 matches, Georgia Davis.

Charlotte Edwards Cup

*Highest team total: 170/6, v South East Stars on 18 May 2022. *Lowest (completed) team total: 109/8 v

on 11 June 2022. *Highest individual score: 100 *, Marie Kelly v

on 25 August 2021. *Best individual bowling analysis: 4/12, Georgia Davis v

Lightning Lightning is a natural phenomenon consisting of electrostatic discharges occurring through the atmosphere between two electrically charged regions. One or both regions are within the atmosphere, with the second region sometimes occurring on ...

on 10 July 2021. *Most runs: 759 runs in 29 matches, Evelyn Jones. *Most wickets: 32 wickets in 26 matches, Emily Arlott.

References

{{Cricket in England 2020 establishments in England Sport in Birmingham, West Midlands Warwickshire County Cricket Club Worcestershire County Cricket Club Cricket in Worcestershire Cricket clubs established in 2020 English Domestic Women's Cricket Regional Hub teams 2024 disestablishments in England Cricket clubs disestablished in 2024

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