Women's County T20 season preview: An appetising start to a big year

KATYA WITNEY looks ahead to the tournament, which was played for the first time last summer after the restructure of the women's game, will take place over four weekends, culminating in Finals Day on May 8

Women's county cricket kicks off on Easter Monday, with the Vitality County T20 providing the first course in what promises to be an exciting summer for domestic cricket in England.

The tournament, which was played for the first time last summer after the restructure of the women's game, will take place over four weekends, culminating in Finals Day on May 8.

Teams are split into eight regional groups of four teams, except for Group 1 which has seven teams including a Northern Representative XI, featuring players from across the Northern Counties.

Unlike last year, the groups will be numbered rather than given regional titles - that format caused some confusion last year, with teams being geographically displaced: Berkshire, for example, were included under the umbrella title of West Midlands.

The tournament is an opportunity for those who will be involved in the Charlotte Edwards Cup and Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy to get their first competitive appearances of the year and build their form going into the rest of the season. It is also a chance for younger players who are not yet part of a regional setup to win the attention of selectors. The four weekends of cricket act as a vital bridge between the county and regional system.

While it is more than likely there will be no England players involved for the second year running, after their World Cup efforts in New Zealand and Ashes tour of Australia, several regional hubs have already confirmed their players will be involved.

^{Middlesex batter Naomi Dattani}

Dani Hazell, coach of the Northern Diamonds told the side's official website that all Diamonds players will be available.

"It's invaluable at that time of the year for girls to have as much time in the middle as possible," said Hazell. "You can practise all you like in the nets, but the pressure of a game situation is like nothing else."

Diamonds stars Hollie Armitage, Bess Heath, Katie Levick and Rachel Slater therefore all look likely to be playing for Yorkshire in the coming weeks.

Similarly, Lancashire Women's new head coach Chris Chambers told Lancashire Cricket TV that while he couldn't yet confirm which players will be involved in the tournament, the matches would be "great prep for the girls who are going to be involved in the Thunder."

The most competitive groups in the tournament look to be Group 6, Group 3, and Group 1, all of which feature several major counties.

Group 6 is made up of Hampshire, Sussex, Surrey, and Kent. Although last year Kent dominated the South East Group, topping the table with 26 points to second-placed Surrey's 17, and were the only side with a positive net run-rate, they could find a stiffer challenge with only three sides to play in their group this year.

Grace Scrivens is one to watch for the Kent side; she averaged 38 with the bat for Kent last year, including an impressive unbeaten 94, and she is also a handy off-spinner.

Finty Trussler, who took 13 wickets for Hampshire in the competition last year with her right-arm leg spin, is worth keeping an eye on. 

Fresh from her success in The Hundred, which showed her as one of the most promising young cricketers in the country, Alice Capsey is also likely to feature.

A highlight of the Group 3 matches will undoubtedly be Somerset-Warwickshire, which is set to take place at the County Ground, Taunton. With almost all other fixtures set to be played at club grounds, hosting the fixture at Taunton will hopefully give a boost to both sides.

^{Kent's players celebrate a wicket in 2021}

However, with Western Storm taking 15 players to Spain for a pre-season training camp, it is unclear who will be available for the opening round of the season.

Big names like Georgie Hennessy and Nicole Harvey are part of the travelling squad. If they are unavailable for the early rounds, the group - which looks set to be a straight fight between Somerset and Warwickshire - may even out.

Although Gloucestershire and Wales also have some players included in the Storm squad, many of their key players (Wales captain Lauren Parfitt and Gloucestershire's Chloe Skelton, who top-scored for her side in last year's tournament among them), are not in Storm's pre-season party.

Warwickshire must still be the favourite to take the group, with the side captained by Marie Kelly likely to feature players such as Issy Wong and Eve Jones.

Group 1 looks to be the most competitive group to watch. As the biggest pool, the fight for the title will hopefully be an open contest between Lancashire, Yorkshire, the Northern Representative XI and Nottinghamshire.

Lancashire had the better of their group last year, with the North Rep XI coming in a close second, whereas Nottingham easily won the East Midlands group.

Yorkshire came in third last year, but they are difficult to discount given the abundance of experience in their ranks. They should receive a boost from the installation of a new coach, Mark Harrison, who has made the step up from coaching the second XI.

Ones to watch in this group are likely to include Lancashire's Georgie Boyce with the bat and Nottinghamshire's Sophie Munro with the ball. The latter has already taken three wickets for Notts in pre-season friendlies this year.

As for the rest of the groups, minor counties make up the majority of the teams.

^{Surrey's new captain Aylish Cranstone}

Hertfordshire convincingly won their group last year with the help of Ella Philips' outstanding 5 for 2 against Norfolk, but they find themselves in Group 7 With Middlesex.

While Middlesex struggled in 2021 their standout player was undoubtedly Naomi Dattani, who scored 192 runs in the tournament and has scored 40 runs across two pre-season games this year.

Bowler Bhavika Gajipra has also already taken three wickets for Middlesex at an average of 9 in friendly fixtures this year.

Undoubtedly Hertfordshire will find themselves with a tougher challenge in this year's tournament.

With so many teams involved and an intense period of competitive cricket, the T20 Championship is sure to provide plenty of talking points ahead of the regional season. With star players to watch and emerging youngsters given the opportunity to make their mark, it is certain to be an exciting return to action.