The Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy was an English and Welsh
women's cricket
Women's cricket is the team sport of cricket when played by woman, women. Its
Laws of cricket, rules are almost identical to those in the game played by men, the main change being the use of a smaller cricket ball, ball. Women's cricket is b ...
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-over cricket competition in England and Wales. Eight teams took part, each representing a region; these regions comprised multiple
counties
A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...
. The competition used a group or round-robin format, with an annual final match that decided the champions.
Initially started as a one-off tournament to replace the
Women's County Championship
The Women's County Championship, known since 2014 as the Royal London Women's One-Day Cup, the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy began in August 2020. In the
first edition
The bibliographical definition of an edition is 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 book pr ...
, the
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 ...
beat the
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 ...
in the final. In
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 ...
the competition returned as a permanent part of the women's domestic cricket structure, alongside 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 ...
. The final Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy was played in 2024, won by Sunrisers. The
England and Wales Cricket Board
The England and Wales Cricket Board, aka 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 ...
(ECB) replaced it with a new Women's One-Day Cup, as part of a restructuring of women's domestic cricket in England and Wales.
History
In 2018, the
England and Wales Cricket Board
The England and Wales Cricket Board, aka 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 ...
(ECB) announced the launch of The Hundred in 2020, which would supersede the existing premier women's T20 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 accompany 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 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 ...
, 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 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 ...
and
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 ...
. The trophy was named after former
England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
player Rachael Heyhoe Flint, 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 concen ...
, beating
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 ...
in the final.
In February 2021, the ECB announced that the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy would continue for the following season, with a slightly altered format (also, a new regional T20 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 ...
, was contested by the same eight teams). In the
2021 Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy
The 2021 Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy was the second edition of the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy, an English women's cricket 50-over domestic competition, which took place between 29 May and 25 September 2021. It featured eight teams playing in ...
, Southern Vipers and Northern Diamonds again reached the final, and Southern Vipers were again victorious, claiming their second title. In
2022
The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...
, 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. Southern Vipers won the tournament, their third title, beating The Blaze in the 2023 final. Sunrisers defeated South East Stars in the 2024 final.
2024 was the final edition of the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy. The ECB reversed the regionalised structure of the competition and replaced it with a new Women's One-Day Cup, using the county structure.
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 competed in a playoff, the winner of which played in the final against the first-placed team. In 2023, the tournament was expanded, with teams playing each other twice, home and away, in a double round-robin format. Ahead of the 2024 season, full semi-finals were added, with four teams now qualifying from the group stage.
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.