The Essex Women's cricket team is the women's representative cricket team for the English historic county of Essex . They play their home games at various grounds across the county, including Toby Howe Cricket Ground , Billericay and Garon Park , Southend-on-Sea .[ 1] They are captained by Kelly Castle .[ 2] In 2019, they played in Division Two of the final season of the Women's County Championship , and have since played in the Women's Twenty20 Cup .[ 3] They are partnered with the regional side Sunrisers .[ 4]
History
1949–2000: Early history
Essex Women played their first recorded match in 1949, against Buckinghamshire Women . Over the following years, Essex went on to play various one-off matches, most often against local Second XI teams.[ 5]
2000– : Women's County Championship
Essex joined the Women's County Championship in 2001 , competing in Division Three, in which they came third, with two victories.[ 6] They played in the bottom tier of the Championship until 2008 , when they were promoted to Division Two.[ 7] In Division Two, Essex performed strongly, finishing third and second in their first two seasons before being promoted in 2011 .[ 8] In a rain-hit 2012 season, Essex then finished second in Division One, behind Kent .[ 9] After this, however, Essex fell away, being relegated from Division One in 2014 , and then again from Division Two in 2016 .[ 10] [ 11] They managed to bounce straight back, winning Division 3C in 2017 , and playing in Division Two ever since.[ 12] Meanwhile, in the Women's Twenty20 Cup , Essex have been a volatile side: when the tournament was regionalised in its early years, Essex bounced between Divisions One and Two of the South section.[ 13] Since, they briefly fell into Division 3 in 2018 , but apart from this have played in Division 2, achieving their best finish of 3rd in 2015 .
The side began competing in the Women's London Championship in 2020.[ 14] In 2021 , they competed in the South East Group of the Twenty20 Cup, but finished bottom.[ 15] They topped their group in the 2022 Women's Twenty20 Cup , but lost to Suffolk in the group final.[ 16] Essex finished third in their group in the 2023 Women's Twenty20 Cup , but won the Women's London Championship, winning all four of their matches.[ 17] [ 18]
Players
Current squad
Based on appearances in the 2023 season.[ 19] ‡ denotes players with international caps.
Name
Nationality
Birth date
Batting style
Bowling style
Notes
Batters
Catherine Dalton ‡
Ireland
(1992-10-24 ) 24 October 1992 (age 31)
Right-handed
Right-arm medium
Francesca Hughes
England
(1999-12-11 ) 11 December 1999 (age 24)
Unknown
Unknown
Bella Johnson
England
(2000-11-28 ) 28 November 2000 (age 23)
Unknown
Unknown
All-rounders
Tilly Callaghan
England
(1998-05-05 ) 5 May 1998 (age 26)
Unknown
Unknown
Kelly Castle
England
(1997-09-04 ) 4 September 1997 (age 27)
Right-handed
Right-arm medium
Club captain
Sally Chapman
England
(2004-11-30 ) 30 November 2004 (age 19)
Left-handed
Unknown
Emily Dack
England
(1995-05-25 ) 25 May 1995 (age 29)
Unknown
Unknown
Beth Dodd
England
(2002-02-02 ) 2 February 2002 (age 22)
Unknown
Unknown
Bella Howarth
England
Unknown
Unknown
Unknown
Emma Jones
England
(2002-08-08 ) 8 August 2002 (age 22)
Right-handed
Right-arm medium
Katherine Speed
England
(2001-10-05 ) 5 October 2001 (age 22)
Right-handed
Right-arm medium
Wicket-keepers
Jessica Bird
England
(2003-11-21 ) 21 November 2003 (age 20)
Right-handed
Right-arm leg break
Yasmin Daswani ‡
Hong Kong
(1994-09-21 ) 21 September 1994 (age 30)
Right-handed
Right-arm medium
Dual-registration with Huntingdonshire
Scarlett Hughes
England
(2002-06-18 ) 18 June 2002 (age 22)
Left-handed
–
Jessica Olorenshaw
England
(2005-01-27 ) 27 January 2005 (age 19)
Right-handed
Right-arm medium
Dual-registration with Cambridgeshire
Millie Rawlins
England
(2008-08-31 ) 31 August 2008 (age 16)
Right-handed
–
Bowlers
Prisha Bedi
England
(2000-08-20 ) 20 August 2000 (age 24)
Unknown
Right-arm leg break
Holly Dring-Richardson
England
(2003-08-20 ) 20 August 2003 (age 21)
Unknown
Unknown
Esmae MacGregor
England
(2004-07-31 ) 31 July 2004 (age 20)
Right-handed
Right-arm medium
Sophia Mitchell
England
Unknown
Unknown
Unknown
Afra Rose Mohamed
England
(2008-10-02 ) 2 October 2008 (age 15)
Unknown
Unknown
Grace Poole
England
(2003-08-26 ) 26 August 2003 (age 21)
Right-handed
Right-arm medium
Jessica Pugh
England
Unknown
Unknown
Unknown
Mady Villiers ‡
England
(1998-08-26 ) 26 August 1998 (age 26)
Right-handed
Right-arm off break
Sophie Willson
England
Unknown
Unknown
Unknown
Notable players
Players who have played for Essex and played internationally are listed below, in order of first international appearance (given in brackets):[ 20]
Seasons
Women's County Championship
Season
Division
League standings[ 21]
Notes
P
W
L
T
A/C
BP
Pts
Pos
2001
Division 3
4
2
2
0
0
31.5
55.5
3rd
2002
Division 3
5
1
2
0
2
21.5
55.5
4th
2003
Division 3
5
0
3
1
1
25
42
5th
2004
County Challenge Cup G2
2
1
1
0
0
14.5
26
3rd
2005
County Challenge Cup G2
3
1
2
0
0
25.5
37.5
3rd
2006
County Challenge Cup G2
3
2
1
0
0
4
44
1st
Lost promotion playoff
2007
County Challenge Cup Div A
6
3
1
0
2
4
99
2nd
2008
Division 4
6
6
0
0
0
0
120
1st
Promoted
2009
Division 2
10
4
6
0
0
33
103
3rd
2010
Division 2
10
8
2
0
0
63
143
2nd
2011
Division 2
10
7
2
0
1
61
131
1st
Promoted
2012
Division 1
8
2
0
0
6
16
36
2nd
2013
Division 1
8
2
5
0
1
32
52
8th
2014
Division 1
8
1
5
0
2
20
30
9th
Relegated
2015
Division 2
8
3
4
0
1
39
69
5th
2016
Division 2
7
0
7
0
0
32
32
8th
Relegated
2017
Division 3C
5
5
0
0
0
37
87
1st
Promoted
2018
Division 2
7
3
3
0
1
25
55
6th
2019
Division 2
7
5
2
0
0
44
94
3rd
Women's Twenty20 Cup
Season
Division
League standings[ 22]
Notes
P
W
L
T
A/C
NRR
Pts
Pos
2009
Division 3
3
2
0
0
1
+0.61
5
1st
2010
Division S&W 1
3
2
1
0
0
−0.75
4
2nd
2011
Division S1
3
0
3
0
0
−1.38
0
4th
Relegated
2012
Division S2
3
3
0
0
0
+6.17
6
1st
Promoted
2013
Division S1
3
0
3
0
0
−2.70
0
4th
2014
Division 1B
4
0
4
0
0
−3.44
0
9th
Relegated
2015
Division 2
8
5
3
0
0
+0.31
20
3rd
2016
Division 2
7
3
3
0
1
+0.55
13
5th
2017
Division 2
8
1
6
0
1
−0.79
5
9th
Relegated
2018
Division 3C
8
7
1
0
0
+3.23
28
1st
Promoted
2019
Division 2
8
4
2
0
2
−0.07
18
5th
2021
South East
8
0
6
0
2
−1.54
2
6th
2022
Group 4
6
6
0
0
0
+3.92
24
1st
Lost final
2023
Group 7
6
2
1
0
3
+0.54
11
3rd
See also
References
Players Grounds
Current grounds Previous grounds
Leyton Cricket Ground
Southchurch Park, Southend-on-Sea
Castle Park, Colchester
Old County Ground, Brentwood
Valentines Park, Ilford
Garrison A Cricket Ground, Colchester
Vista Road Recreation Ground, Clacton-on-Sea
Chalkwell Park, Westcliff-on-Sea
Gidea Park Sports Ground, Romford
Hoffman's Sports and Social Club Ground, Chelmsford
Harlow Sportcentre
Thames Board Mills Sports Ground, Purfleet
Garon Park, Southend-on-Sea
Captains Records
National Teams Associations Men's First-Class Counties (18)Women's Regional Teams (8) The Hundred Teams (8) (Men and Women) Men's National Counties (21)Women's Counties (34) Other Men's First-Class Teams (1) MCC Universities (6) Major Competitions Defunct Major Competitions Other Competitions Grounds Lists Other