The Cricketer runs the rule over the Lightning squad ahead of the 2022 Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy and Charlotte Edwards Cup campaigns
Captain: Kathryn Bryce
Head coach: Chris Guest
Home grounds: Trent Bridge (Nottingham), Grace Road (Leicester), Haslegrave Ground (Loughborough)
Team background: The women's regional side for the East Midlands, Lightning draw their players predominantly from four counties – Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire, and Lincolnshire – as well as Loughborough University where the team are based.
Piepa Cleary (Thunder), Katie Midwood (Sunrisers) and Marie Kelly (Central Sparks) have all joined Lightning for the 2022 season, with Abbey Freeborn (Central Sparks), Yvonne Graves (Northern Diamonds), Nancy Harman, Leah Kellogg and Sonia Odedra among the notable departees. Head coach Rob Taylor has also been replaced by Chris Guest.
What happened last season?
Lightning finished fourth in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy in 2021, winning three of their seven matches. They were, however, nine points behind third-placed Central Sparks – although they did beat their Midlands rivals by 24 runs to extend their winning streak in the List A derby game to three matches - and only ahead of seventh-placed Thunder on net run rate.
In the Charlotte Edwards Cup, they struggled, finishing bottom of Group A after failing to win any of their six matches and not picking up any bonus points. They twice failed to score more than 90 runs an innings and only took more than six wickets once – although they did nearly pull off a shock win against Southern Vipers before being defeated off the final ball.
Lightning were over-reliant on the Bryce sisters – both of whom are expected to miss the start of the season due to the Fairbreak Invitational tournament - for runs in Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy, with the pair scoring a combined 555 runs. Kathryn Bryce also picked up 10 wickets while Teresa Graves took nine, but it was Kirstie Gordon who was the standout player with the ball, taking a tournament-leading 16 wickets and conceding just 3.52 runs per over. Abbie Freeborn was the only player to score more than 70 T20 runs, topping the charts with 161 runs, while Sonia Odedra and Sophie Munro were the leading wicket-takers with six wickets apiece.
Tammy Beaumont is on Lightning's books [Jan Kruger/Getty Images]
Who are the England stars?
Opener Tammy Beaumont is Lightning's England A-lister, a veteran of over 190 international matches and formerly the No.1-ranked ODI batter in women's cricket. An excellent anchor, she scored 167 runs, including two half-centuries, in three Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy appearances. If required, she can also fill in behind the stumps.
Though no longer centrally contracted, Kirstie Gordon adds more international star power to the side having represented both Scotland and England. The spinner was the standout bowler in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy, taking a competition-leading 16 wickets and posting the fourth-lowest economy among players to take 10-plus wickets. She added a further three wickets in the Charlotte Edwards Cup but will hope to improve on that in 2022.
Who are the old heads?
Skipper Kathryn Bryce is one of the senior players in the Lightning squad despite being just 24 years old and will receive considerable support from another 24-year-old in Gordon, who will be tasked with leading the bowling attack.
Bryce senior has led from the front for the past two seasons, scoring aggressive top-order runs with the bat, taking regular wickets, and keeping her figures tight. In the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy, she scored a team-leading 353 runs – over 150 more than her nearest teammate – as well as taking 10 wickets and posting the second-best economy in the team.
And despite not performing with the bat in the T20s and making just three appearances, she still managed to take five wickets – the second-most in the side – and conceded just 5.10 runs per over, one of only two Lightning bowlers to concede less than a-run-a-ball. She also adds further international experience to her side as captain of Scotland.
A new addition to the line-up for 2022, and someone who will likely waltz into the top order, is batter Marie Kelly. The former Central Spark scored 182 runs, including two half-centuries, in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy and is something of a boundary fiend, hitting 21 fours. In the Charlotte Edwards Cup, meanwhile, she scored 170 runs at a strike rate of 127.81, including a top-score of 100 not out.
She's continued that form into this season's County T20, hitting a 27-ball 60 and a 61-ball 99 against Gloucestershire to showcase both her natural aggression and ability to knuckle down and bat throughout an innings – something Lightning will need given their T20 struggles in 2021. And this is all without mentioning her ambidextrous bowling…
Marie Kelly is a fantastic signing for Lightning [Mike Hewitt/Getty Images]
Who are the young players to watch?
Michaela Kirk showed flashes of her potential with the bat in 2021, posting a high score of 57 (66) at the top of the order against Sunrisers. Her season was cut short by an injury sustained during The Hundred and she is expected to start the 2022 campaign on the sidelines, but there are signs of good things to come from the South African-born batter.
Teresa Graves also impressed with bat and ball in 2021. In the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy, the allrounder scored 103 runs while floating around the middle order and also took nine wickets – behind only Gordon and Kathryn Bryce. She's yet to replicate that form in the Charlotte Edwards Cup, scoring just 62 runs and taking two wickets last season, but has performed in both areas for Nottinghamshire in the Women's County T20.
Squad: Kathryn Bryce (c), Kirstie Gordon, Grace Ballinger, Tammy Beaumont, Sarah Bryce, Ella Claridge, Piepa Cleary, Bethan Ellis, Teresa Graves, Marie Kelly, Michaela Kirk, Beth Harmer, Lucy Higham, Katie Midwood, Sophie Munro, Alicia Presland, Lenny Sims, Josie Groves
Fixtures
Charlotte Edwards Cup: May 14 – Northern Diamonds (H), May 18 – Southern Vipers (A), May 21 – Thunder (H), May 29 – Southern Vipers (H), June 1 – Northern Diamonds (A), June 3 – Thunder (A)
Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy: July 2 – Western Storm (H), July 9 – Thunder (H), July 16 – Southern Vipers (H), July 23 – Northern Diamonds (A), September 9 – Central Sparks (A), September 11 – Sunrisers (A), September 17 – South East Stars (H)
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