Inexperienced Sunrisers squad looking to benefit from Trevor Griffin's expertise

RACHAEL HEYHOE FLINT TROPHY PREVIEW, by RAF NICHOLSON: The key to the side’s success could well be coach Griffin, who won the KSL twice at the helm of Western Storm and is one of the most respected coaches currently working in the women's game

Head coach: Trevor Griffin

Squad: Hayley Brown, Amara Carr, Kelly Castle, Naomi Dattani, Jo Gardner, Cordelia Griffith, Gaya Gole, Scarlett Hughes, Lissy MacLeod, Katie Midwood, Sonali Patel, Mia Rogers, Grace Scrivens, Emily Thorpe, Katie Wolfe

Allocated England players: Mady Villiers, Fran Wilson

Fixtures: August 29 - Southern Vipers (h, 10.30am); August 31 - South East Stars (a, 10.30am); September 5 - Western Storm (h, 10.30am); September 11 - Southern Vipers (a, 10.30am); September 13 - South East Stars (h, 10.30am); September 19 - Western Storm (a, 10.30am)

Squad Background

A brand new side who only announced their official team name in mid-July, Sunrisers represent the “London and East” region. Officially, that covers three first-class counties – Middlesex, Essex and Northamptonshire – as well as minor counties Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire, Huntingdonshire, Norfolk and Suffolk.

Their squad of 15, though, also features players from Berkshire (wicketkeeper Mia Rogers) and Warwickshire (bowling allrounder Jo Gardner).

What do I need to know?

Sunrisers are a relatively inexperienced squad in Kia Super League terms, with only a handful of their players having featured in that competition.

The key to the side’s success, though, could well be coach Trevor Griffin, who won the KSL twice at the helm of Western Storm and is one of the most respected coaches currently working in the women’s game.

His move to Sunrisers from Storm came as no surprise; he was due to lead the London Spirit side in the inaugural women's edition of The Hundred, and will presumably also take on that mantle when the competition eventually gets underway in summer 2021.

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Who are the star names?

Sunrisers’ three “pros” are all current Middlesex players – captain and allrounder Naomi Dattani, and keeper Amara Carr and batter Cordelia Griffith (who both joined Middlesex in 2018, from Devon and Essex respectively).

All three are former members of the England Women’s Academy who never quite broke through into the main national side, but might still conceivably have England aspirations and will be keen to show what they can do over the coming weeks.

Griffith in particular, who completed a Masters degree in Law at Durham University in 2018 and represented Yorkshire Diamonds in last year’s KSL, looks to be relishing the unexpected opportunity to finally (aged 24) play as a full professional, top-scoring for her side with 30 off 23 balls in her first outing of the season against Surrey in the London Cup.

Youngsters to look out for

Eighteen-year-old Mia Rogers won’t be first choice keeper but she might just carve out a space for herself in the middle order, after top-scoring for the Sunrisers with an unbeaten 24 in their recent warm-up against Lightning.

With the ball, 19-year-old seamer Katie Wolfe is one to watch – she’s quick, accurate and can bamboozle the best of them: last year she made waves with a hat-trick against Somerset in the Women’s County Championship, finishing as Middlesex’s leading wicket-taker as they charged to the top of Division Two.

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