The Cricketer runs the rule over the Sunrisers squad ahead of the Charlotte Edwards Cup and Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy campaigns in 2022
Captain: Kelly Castle
Interim coach: Laura Marsh
Home ground: Chelmsford
Team background: Sunrisers represent the London and East region. Officially, that covers three first-class counties – Middlesex, Essex and Northamptonshire – as well as National Counties Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire, Huntingdonshire, Norfolk and Suffolk.
Sunrisers' squad in 2020 was relatively inexperienced in Kia Super League terms, with only a handful of their players having featured in that competition.
As a result, they struggled in 2020 and again in 2021: to date, they have won just once in 19 matches across the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy and the Charlotte Edwards Cup.
However, following the spring departure of Trevor Griffin, Laura Marsh – the former England off-spinner – has arrived as interim coach, with Mark Broom, Luke Pomfret and Vince Wells alongside her.
Kelly Castle captains Sunrisers in 2022 [Jan Kruger/Getty Images]
What happened last season?
Once again, Sunrisers found it difficult to win games, beating only Western Storm in their opening match of the Charlotte Edwards Cup. It was a surprising result for several reasons, but it was perhaps more of a shock that the win didn't open the floodgates for a more successful T20 campaign than their 50-over summer.
In the Heyhoe Flint Trophy, they were handed heavy defeats by South East Stars, Northern Diamonds and Central Sparks. That said, there were highlights and clear signs of progression for a youthful squad.
Sonali Patel took a hat-trick in the loss against Thunder, while a remarkable game against Southern Vipers saw Sunrisers fall just one run short of Vipers' total in a chase of 310. In that game, Cordelia Griffith made 91 and Lissy MacLeod struck 79, while Fran Wilson – no longer of Sunrisers, having moved on to Storm – made 65 off just 51 balls.
Griffith top-scored in the 50-over competition, churning out 273 runs in seven matches, with MacLeod her only teammate to pass 200 for the summer. Without making any defining scores, Kent teenager Grace Scrivens served notice of her potential. As well as her runs, she was the only Sunrisers player to pick up more than three wickets in a tough Charlotte Edwards Cup schedule.
Who are the England stars?
Currently, Mady Villiers is the only Sunrisers player to have represented England, though Griffith and Naomi Dattani are fine domestic players in the next rung below.
Abtaha Maqsood, a star of The Hundred with Birmingham Phoenix, has joined in the off-season. The 22-year-old leg-spinner will be making her regional debut.
Who are the old heads in the side?
Truthfully, there aren't many. MacLeod, Dattani Amara Carr and Kate Coppack are all 1994 birthdays, but one of the challenges facing Marsh – and Griffin beforehand – is getting results from a group predominantly made up of youngsters.
Castle has captained Essex, while MacLeod has held the same role with Berkshire, which has provided both with leadership experience. Dattani actually began her county career playing alongside Danni Warren, Sunrisers' director of cricket, which highlights her longevity.
Abtaha Maqsood has joined Sunrisers for 2022 [Harry Trump/Getty Images]
Who are the young players to watch?
Patel's hat-trick included the lower-order wickets of Kate Cross, Laura Marshall and Alex Hartley, having already dismissed Emma Lamb in a four-wicket haul against Thunder.
The 18-year-old only featured three times in the Heyhoe Flint Trophy but picked up seven wickets in just 25 overs, giving her the best average and strike-rate Sunrisers' squad.
Mia Rogers, 20, is another one to watch; the young wicketkeeper played twice last summer, with Carr – the former captain – ahead of her in the pecking order.
Scrivens, though, is the youngster that most are looking out for. On top of her obvious talent, her lefthandedness makes her an attractive proposition: England haven't handed a debut to a left-handed specialist batter since Lydia Greenway in 2003.
Squad: Kelly Castle, Naomi Dattani, Cordelia Griffith, Grace Scrivens, Jo Gardner, Amara Carr, Mady Villiers, Abtaha Maqsood, Kate Coppack, Sonali Patel, Lissy MacLeod, Gayatri Gole, Mia Rogers, Katherine Speed, Scarlett Hughes, Flo Miller, Jodi Grewcock
Fixtures
Charlotte Edwards Cup: May 14 – South East Stars (h), May 18 – Western Storm (h), May 21 – Central Sparks (a), May 29 – Western Storm (a), June 1 – Central Sparks (h), June 5 – South East Stars (a)
Heyhoe Flint Trophy: July 2 – South East Stars (a), July 9 – Northern Diamonds (a), July 16 – Western Storm (h), July 23 – Southern Vipers (a), Sept 9 – Thunder (h), Sept 11 – Lightning (h), Sept 17 – Central Sparks (a)
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