The newly-titled Charlotte Edwards Cup, the women’s regional T20, will begin on Saturday. Eight teams are split into two groups-
Group A (Central Sparks, Southern East Stars, Southern Vipers, Lightning)
Group B (Northern Diamonds, Thunder, Sunrisers, Western Storm)
Central Sparks
The team will miss out Amy Jones due to her national duty. However, they do have a good squad led by Evelyn Jones. The skipper did well in the practice matches, had 218 runs from five innings including a ton.
Emily Arlott is likely to feature in a few matches, and she is in excellent form, was the stand-out performer for the team in RHF Trophy. Davies, Butler and Patel did well in the practice matches recently.
Players to watch out for: Eve Jones, Milly Home, Georgia Davis and Marie Kelly
Full Squad: Eve Jones, Emily Arlott, Hannah Baker, Clare Boycott, Thea Brookes, Steph Butler, Gwen Davies, Poppy Davies, Georgia Davis, Ria Fackrell, Sarah Glenn, Chloe Hill, Milly Home, Amy Jones, Marie Kelly, Anisha Patel, Grace Potts, Liz Russell, Issy Wong
South East Stars
The team will miss out on Sophia Dunkley, Tash Farrant, Freya Davis. Bryony Smith, Alice Davidson-Richards will be holding the key while Hannah Jones could prove vital in the absence of some of the major stars here.
Players to watch out for: Alice Capsey has done well in the practice games and was the leading run-scorer as well as wicket-taker for South-East Stars there. She is just 16, an excellent talent to look forward to.
Full Squad: Maxine Blythin, Aylish Cranstone, Phoebe Franklin, Susie Rowe, Kirstie White, Bryony Smith, Sophia Dunkley, Alice Davidson-Richards, Chloe Brewer, Alice Capsey, Amy Gordon, Hannah Jones, Rhianna Southby, Tash Farrant, Megan Belt, Grace Gibbs, Eva Gray, Danielle Gregory, Freya Davies, Kira Chathli
Lightning
The Scotland skipper Kathryn Bryce along with her sister Sarah Bryce holds the key in this team and has been consistent for years now. With no Tammy Beaumont in the side, they will have a huge role to play here. Sonia Odedra is an interesting candidate who could prove vital for Lightning here. Also, this is an important tournament for Kirstie Gordon as she will try to knock the doors of the selectors once again. Bethan Ellis has been ruled out due to injury.
Players to watch out for: Teresa Graves is still learning but could produce match-winning spells. In fact, she was taken for 28 runs including four sixes by Emma Lamb recently. It will be interesting to see how she bounces back here.
Full Squad: Kathryn Bryce, Grace Ballinger, Tammy Beaumont, Sarah Bryce, Abbey Freeborn, Kirstie Gordon, Teresa Graves, Yvonne Graves, Nancy Harman, Lucy Higham, Leah Kellogg, Michaela Kirk, Ellie Mitchell, Sophie Munro, Sonia Odedra, Shachi Pai, Alicia Presland
Southern Vipers
One of the strongest candidates for the cup. Coached by Charlotte Edwards herself, the players in the team are no longer underdogs considering the way they performed in the RHF Trophy last year. Charlotte Taylor is their main weapon in the bowling department while Maia Bouchier holds the key in the batting. She was the highest run-scorer in the practice matches recently, had scored 393 runs. The skipper Georgia Adams was in good form too, had 256 runs.
Players to watch out for: Norris might be a bit expensive but is very capable of picking wickets at regular intervals along with Dean. The latter is the current leading wicket-taker of RHF Trophy. Of course, Danni Wyatt is available for the contests after being overlooked for the England squad.
Full squad: Georgia Adams, Emily Windsor, Ella McCaughan, Maia Bouchier, Freya Kemp, Paige Scholfield, Ella Chandler, Alice Monaghan, Charlie Dean, Charlotte Taylor, Danni Wyatt, Ariana Dowse, Carla Rudd, Cassidy McCarthy, Lauren Bell, Tara Norris, Providence Cowdrill
