East of England Women's County Championship

The East of England Women's County Championship is a domestic women's one-day cricket competition in England. The tournament began in 2020, with the aim of providing longer-format cricket in the East of England region after reforms to the structure of domestic women's cricket in England. The tournament currently sees six teams competing in a 45-over competition.

East of England Women's County Championship
Countries England
FormatLimited overs cricket
First edition2020
Latest edition2023
Tournament formatLeague system
Number of teams6
Current championLeicestershire
WebsiteEast of England Women's County Championship

History

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The East of England Women's County Championship was originally conceived in 2020 as a 50-over competition to provide longer-format cricket in the region after the abolition of the Women's County Championship. However, the COVID-19 pandemic delayed the start of the season and caused that year's national Women's Twenty20 Cup to be cancelled, resulting in a decision to play a 45-over competition (to allow extra time for sanitisation breaks) as well as a separate Twenty20 competition.[1]

Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire, Huntingdonshire and Norfolk competed in 2020. The 45-over tournament was won by Hertfordshire and the Twenty20 tournament was won by Buckinghamshire.[2][3]

The 2021 edition was competed as a 45-over tournament, with Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire joining to make it a six-team event.[4] Each team played the other teams once in a round robin format, starting on 2 May, with the team with the most points being crowned champions.[5] Buckinghamshire won the tournament, winning four of their five matches to finish top of the league with 73 points, with Hertfordshire second with 70 points.[6]

Ahead of the 2022 season, it was announced that Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Suffolk would be joining the competition, whilst Buckinghamshire and Cambridgeshire would be withdrawing, bringing the number of teams competing to seven.[7] Suffolk won the competition, winning five of their six matches.[7]

Ahead of the 2023 season, Lincolnshire withdrew from the tournament, making it a six team competition.[8] Leicestershire won the tournament, with four wins and a tie.[8]

Teams

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Current teams

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Team First Titles
Hertfordshire 2020 1
Huntingdonshire 2020 0
Leicestershire 2022 1
Norfolk 2020 0
Northamptonshire 2022 0
Suffolk 2022 1

Former teams

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Team Span Titles
Buckinghamshire 2020–2021 2
Cambridgeshire 2021 0
Lincolnshire 2021–2022 0

Results

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Season Winner Runner-up Leading run-scorer Leading wicket-taker Ref
2020 (45-over) Hertfordshire Norfolk Amelia Kemp (Herts) 152 Charley Phillips (Herts) 7 [2]
2020 (T20) Buckinghamshire Hertfordshire Ellie Stanley (Norfolk) 138 Ella Phillips (Herts) 8 [3]
2021 Buckinghamshire Hertfordshire Kezia Hassall (Herts) 492 Emily Marriott (Lincs) 12 [6]
2022 Suffolk Hertfordshire Isobel Sidhu (Suffolk) 260 Aimee Colquhoun (Leics) 11 [7]
2023 Leicestershire Hertfordshire Kezia Hassall (Herts) 253 Sophie Hughes (Suffolk) 11 [7]

References

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  1. ^ "Keeping the flag flying: Women's county cricket lives on". The Cricketer. 16 February 2021. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
  2. ^ a b "Women's 1st XI Championship - 2020". Play-Cricket. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  3. ^ a b "Women's 1st XI T20 Championship - 2020". Play-Cricket. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  4. ^ "DEEP DIVE: Women's County Cricket In 2021". CricketHer. 22 December 2020. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  5. ^ "Fixtures & Results". Play-Cricket. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  6. ^ a b "Women's 1st XI Championship - 2021/Table". Play-Cricket. Retrieved 15 September 2021.
  7. ^ a b c d "Women's 1st XI Championship - 2022/Table". Play-Cricket. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
  8. ^ a b "Women's 1st XI Championship - 2023/Table". Play-Cricket. Retrieved 6 June 2023.