Charlotte Edwards Cup team of the week: Who makes our XI?

The Cricketer looks at the star performers from the final three rounds of the Charlotte Edwards Cup group stage action…

Marie Kelly (Central Sparks)

100* v Southern Vipers

Marie Kelly became just the second player to score a century in the Charlotte Edwards Cup in some style, reaching three figures off 53 balls to help her side defeat Southern Vipers for the second time in 2021. Sharing a 137-run opening stand with Eve Jones as part of her monster knock, she deservedly hit the winning runs, smacking Tara Norris for four – her 18th of the day – to seal Sparks’ victory with six balls to spare. And despite struggling in her next two innings (6 and 25), her century, which made the Vipers bowling attack look decidedly ordinary, is enough to secure her spot in this XI.

Bryony Smith (South East Stars)

2-18 v Lightning, 42 v Southern Vipers, 2-21 v Central Sparks

Another opener who got the better of Southern Vipers’ bowling attack. Stand-in South East Stars captain Bryony Smith crashed 42 runs off 25 balls in the first 8.3 overs, including 34 off 17 in the powerplay, to put the Vipers on the back foot early on and lay the platform her side’s 167-run total. In her side’s other two matches, she contributed with the ball, picking up the wickets of Sonia Odedra and the dangerous Shachi Pai against Lightning, and removing Thea Brookes and Eve Jones against Sparks. And it's her allround contributions which sees her pip Southern Vipers opener Georgia Adams, who scored a fine 88 against Central Sparks, to the second opener spot in this XI.

Eve Jones (Central Sparks)

51 v Southern Vipers, 71 v Lightning, 76 v South East Stars

The easiest player to select, Eve Jones could scarcely have done more in her side’s pursuit of Finals Day qualification. 198 runs in three appearances post-Hundred, including 22 fours and 6 sixes, to catapult her to the top of the run standings with 276 runs in six matches. A remarkable turnaround in form and a player who is very unlucky not to be competing for a T20 trophy this season.

^{South East Stars allrounder Bryony Smith}

Alice Capsey (South East Stars)

38 & 2-28 v Lightning, 61 & 2-9 v Southern Vipers

The breakout star of The Hundred, Alice Capsey has carried her form for Oval Invincibles into the Charlotte Edwards Cup. Against Lightning, she scored 38 runs from 28 balls, dismissed Lucy Higham and Sophie Munro with the ball, and took the catch to remove Bethany Harmer for a two-ball duck. In Southampton, she scored her first half-century for South East Stars in 2021, smashing 61 runs from 46 balls before dismissing openers Georgia Adams and Tara Norris for eight and four, respectively.   

Bess Heath (Northern Diamonds)

58 v Thunder

Northern Diamonds have looked shaky with the bat this season, suffering a couple of costly batting collapses. However, against Thunder, when they needed to chase 90 in 16 overs, 20-year-old Bess Heath, who missed the first half of the season through injury, stepped up to the plate. The ‘keeper finished unbeaten on 58 off 40 balls, smacking 10 fours en route as well as running hard between the stumps in her 46-run opening partnership with Leah Dobson. A mature innings from Heath and one which stands her in good stead for the remainder of the season.  

Georgia Hennessy (Western Storm)

1-7 & 29* v Thunder, 1-15 v Northern Diamonds, 62 v Sunrisers

Like Jones, Georgia Hennessy can consider herself unlucky to not be going to Finals Day after Western Storm were pipped to first place in Group B on net run rate. The 24-year-old played a crucial role in each of her side’s final three matches, bowling economically against Thunder and Northern Diamonds and anchoring the batting against Thunder and Sunrisers to allow her teammates to bat expansively around her. A good end on a personal note to her T20 season.

Abigail Freeborn (Lightning)

61 v South East Stars

Lightning have been poor with the bat this season and headed into the final three matches having been bowled out for sub-90 on two occasions. However, wicketkeeper Abigail Freeborn scored 120 runs – including 61 off 50 against South East Stars – in three matches to ensure they finished the season with three 120+ totals on the board. In doing so, she nearly quadrupled her individual runs for the season, finishing her T20 campaign with 161 runs and a strike rate of 99.38 after scoring just 41 in her first three outings.

Sonia Odedra (Lightning)

2-20 v South East Stars, 2-14 v Central Sparks

Another player in the Lightning XI who played a crucial role in their upturn in form post-Hundred, even if they didn’t manage to find that elusive win. Veteran allrounder Sonia Odedra struggling with the bat, scoring just 45 runs at the top of the order, but made up for it with the ball, finishing the final three matches with figures of 4 for 57 off 12 overs. She bowled 35 dot balls and conceded just five boundaries (no sixes) in a series of defiant displays in Lightning purple.

^{Western Storm's Georgia Hennessy}

Jenny Gunn (Northern Diamonds)

4-15 v Thunder

Cometh the hour, cometh Jenny Gunn. Knowing her side had just 16 overs to chase Thunder’s total and secure a crucial bonus point, the allrounder wreaked havoc with the home side’s batters. Her one powerplay yielded just two runs before she returned to the attack in the 14th over tasked with removing the dangerous Kate Cross, which she did with the first delivery she bowled at her. Returning from the opposite end in the 17th over, she bowled a four-run set before taking three wickets in four balls in the 19th to remove Laura Jackson, Alice Dyson and Dani Collins, the former departing to the coolest caught and bowled you’ll ever see. A match-winning performance from Gunn.

Linsey Smith (Northern Diamonds)

30 v Sunrisers, 2-18 v Western Storm, 2-12 v Thunder

This position could easily have gone to Linsey Smith’s teammate Alex MacDonald, who was highly economical with the ball in the second half of the competition. However, it’s Smith’s contribution with the bat which tips the scales in her favour. As well as collecting four wickets and conceding just 50 runs in 12 overs, she struck a crucial 25-ball 30 against Sunrisers to keep Diamonds in the match. Having watched her side collapse to 32 for 5, Smith, in partnership with Beth Langston (46 not out), put on a 78-run ninth-wicket stand to drag their side into three figures, with Smith contributing 28 runs from 21 balls. A strong display of Diamonds’ batting depth.

Nicole Harvey

3-13 v Thunder, 2-20 v Northern Diamonds, 3-17 v Sunrisers

In the first half of the Charlotte Edwards Cup, Nicole Harvey took 4 for 63 from 12 overs. In the second half of the competition, she took 8 for 50 from the same allocation. Against Thunder, she ripped through the middle-order trio of Nat Brown, Kate Cross and Laura Marshall in the space of 12 deliveries to leave the away side 56 for 5 at the halfway mark. In Durham against Diamonds, she picked off Sterre Kalis and Rachel Hopkins, while against Sunrisers, she dismissed the top three (Cordelia Griffiths, Alice MacLeod and Grace Scrivens) to put her side back in bonus point contention. Yet another player who could have done little more in her side’s Finals Day push.