NICK FRIEND AT NORTHAMPTON: More than anything else, what differentiated Vipers from the other two sides to reach Northampton was a mixture of depth and composure
Northampton: Central Sparks 109-8, Southern Vipers 110-4 - Southern Vipers win by six wickets
It must be unusual being Charlotte Edwards, simultaneously Southern Vipers head coach and playing for a title that bears her name. It's not hers to keep, but it's in her possession for the next 12 months at least. And on the evidence presented here, you wouldn't bet against a successful bid at its retention.
Before today, it was the single piece of silverware that her team hadn't won since the women's domestic structure underwent its revamp. They've lost only once in 50-over cricket since the formation of the Heyhoe Flint Trophy and just three times in the two summers of this competition.
It's too early to talk about dynasties within a structure still in its infancy, but Vipers were set up to succeed – building on the base of the team grown in the Kia Super League – and haven't wasted that platform.
For that reason, Edwards is increasingly in demand: she was named as Sydney Sixers' new head coach last month, having led Southern Brave to the final of The Hundred in 2021, and over the winter assisted England A on their tour of Australia. It doesn't take much detective work to piece together where she might end up in the medium-term. Lisa Keightley, by the way, was on hand to present the winners with their medals.
Vipers' strength goes beyond Edwards' presence, though. The arrival of Anya Shrubsole during the off-season following her international retirement has provided experience and perhaps also a barometer of the levels required to make the step-up to a national pool actively on the lookout for young talent. Her last appearance for England came in a World Cup final, and her most natural replacement – as a natural inswinger – is Lauren Bell, her Vipers teammate.
Shrubsole only took four wickets in this year's tournament, but her value came in an economy rate only marginally higher than five runs per over and, one suspects, in a wisdom built on more than a decade at the top of the game – a level that still looks a significant leap from this. At the other end of her career is Freya Kemp, the 17-year-old left-armer, born exactly three months before the first day of the 2005 Ashes series and three years before Shrubsole made her international debut.
Her rise meant that neither Tara Norris nor Charlotte Taylor, with 22 wickets between them in the 2021 edition, were required on Finals Day this time. Norris played four games, Taylor none at all. "We've created competition for places," said Edwards afterwards. "We just keep producing players and hopefully they will go on and play for England, which is another part of our job."
It is a depth that this system needs to produce across the board. Nancy Harman – previously of Lightning – joined ahead of this campaign, while Chloe Hill signed on loan for the 20-over segment of the summer from Central Sparks. A more fluid loan market is worth looking into; if this structure is designed to ensure the best cricketers are on the park, then the likes of Norris sitting on the sidelines as a bit-part player seems a waste, especially given the chasm in results between Vipers and everyone else: Vipers have won more games in the last week than Sunrisers have managed in four tournaments.
Southern Vipers have won three of the four regional tournaments since the domestic restructure (George Wood/Getty Images)
Ella McCaughan, the least heralded of a jampacked top six, is only 19 but has long been touted for higher honours and was part of ECB camps at Loughborough as far back as 2018. She was the principal part of one of the day's more mature partnerships, easing Vipers to a win far less dramatic than on their last visit to this ground, where they snatched victory from the jaws of defeat to claim the Heyhoe Flint Trophy from under Northern Diamonds' noses. She kept her head on a day when most batters lost theirs.
Above McCaughan in the Vipers order, only Georgia Adams hasn't played for England but, since the regional game began its move towards professionalisation, the Vipers captain has developed a reputation as one of the leading uncapped stalwarts on the circuit. Her chance might now have passed, but the current structure has at least given her a second life as a cricketer and a new purpose.
You could hardly have blamed her had she opted not to stick around during the amateur years, when there was no obvious pathway and her name was overlooked for higher honours.
But her reward has been in fostering the culture of a new team and subsequently watching its development into this juggernaut. Though her day was limited to a seven-ball duck ended by a disputed catch, her own game has progressed along the way too, twirling away through four tidy overs of part-time off spin that has improved immeasurably.
She's not alone in that regard: Charlie Dean has been a revelation since her international debut last autumn, and there is no doubt her comfort on that stage has its roots both in playing under Heather Knight with London Spirit but also in becoming a senior figure with Vipers. She was not out at the end, a beacon of relative serenity.
Big players take big wickets in big games, and Dean accounted for Amy and Eve Jones to prevent Sparks from making anything like the start that broke the back of their semi-final chase against South East Stars. For that reason, she has usurped Mady Villiers and Sarah Glenn as England's second spinner of choice.
Issy Wong, an opponent of Dean in this final, won't be far behind as the regeneration of Heather Knight's side gradually takes shape. She starred in a semi-final win that ought not to have been so close and exhibited a range of tricks that went well beyond her well-documented speed.
Central Sparks won a thriller against South East Stars in the semi-final but were well-beaten in the final (George Wood/Getty Images)
She spoke to The Cricketer following her Women's Big Bash stint in December about a renewed focus on adding to her game. As well as the occasional bouncer that – on a slow surface – still zipped through, she nailed her share of yorkers and mixed in an array of significantly slower deliveries.
By contrast, Bell was quiet on a pitch that was unforgiving for the quicker bowlers on display. But she spent the World Cup on standby, and England know what she's about. A debut this summer ought to be an inevitability.
Maia Bouchier, who made her international bow last September, won't be far either from that conversation. She ensured that the departure of Danni Wyatt – the second wicket to fall – didn't precipitate the kind of collapse that typified the first three innings of the day, even when Georgia Elwiss was trapped by Sarah Glenn.
And more than anything else, that was what differentiated Vipers from the other two sides to reach Northampton – a mixture of depth, knowhow and composure. That they chased down 110 for the highest score of the day was less to do with conditions and more the consequence of a cool efficiency in the mould of their coach. It wasn't particularly spectacular, but finals are no-frills occasions. They were the only team to reach three figures with a member of their top five still at the crease.
There were three runouts in Sparks' innings, coupled with a smattering of rash, ill-considered shots, but Vipers still had to be good enough to take the opportunities when they came, one miss from Adams apart. In response, when Wyatt offered an early chance to Glenn at mid-on, it burst her hands and went for four. With little on the board to defend, they could scarcely afford that generosity.
By the same token, Vipers need no second invitation. Edwards and her team are used to winning. The rest are playing catch-up.
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