The Staffordshire Women's cricket team is the women's representative cricket team for the English historic county of Staffordshire. They play their home games at various grounds across the county, including Tunstall Road, Knypersley and are captained by Stephanie Butler. In 2019, they played in Division Three of the final season of the Women's County Championship, and have since competed in the Women's Twenty20 Cup. They are partnered with the West Midlands regional side Central Sparks.
History Staffordshire Women joined the Women's County Championship in 2000, replacing West Midlands Women, and won Division 2 in their first season, going unbeaten and gaining promotion. Staffordshire were relegated two seasons later, and reached as low as Division Four in 2008. They also joined the Women's Twenty20 Cup in 2009, winning two promotions when the tournament was regionalised, and since playing in Division Two and Three. In 2021, they competed in the West Midlands Group of the Twenty20 Cup, finishing 5th. They finished second in their group of the 2022 Women's Twenty20 Cup, before losing in the group final to Worcestershire. Staffordshire batter Davina Perrin was the fourth-highest run-scorer in the competition, with 242 runs. They again reached the group final of the 2023 Women's Twenty20 Cup, but lost to Warwickshire.
Meanwhile, in the Championship, Staffordshire began their progression back up through the Divisions, winning promotion from Division Three in 2011, and from Division Two in 2015, with batter Evelyn Jones ending the 2015 season as leading run-scorer in the division. Their stay in Division 1 was short-lived, however, as they were relegated in 2016, and suffered a second consecutive relegation the following season. In the final two years of the Championship, Staffordshire played in Division 3, but did win their group in 2019.
They have also competed in the West Midlands Regional Cup since 2022, finishing fourth out of four teams in the first season of the competition. They reached the final of the 2023 edition after topping the group stage, but lost in the final to Worcestershire. In 2024, the side finished 4th in their group in the Twenty20 Cup and 2nd in their group in the new ECB Women's County One-Day tournament.
England batter Danni Wyatt made her international debut whilst playing for Staffordshire, and the county is also the original team of England all-rounder Georgia Elwiss.
Players Current squad Based on appearances in the 2023 season. denotes players with international caps.
Name Nationality 2023 Appearances Notes Stephanie Butler 2 4 Club captainMatilda Atherton-Gater 0 1 Meg Austin 1 3 Sophie Beech 2 3 Lexie Cantrill 2 4 Poppy Davies 0 2 Wicket-keeperIsabel Ellsmore 2 0 Abigail Freeborn 2 0 Wicket-keeperChristina Gough 0 2 Georgie Harrison 0 4 Helen Hughes 0 4 Megan Jones 0 2 Amelia Lee 2 4 Ruby Millington 0 1 Wicket-keeperDavina Perrin 2 0 Lydia Perry 2 4 Grace Potts 0 0 Lucy Shenton 2 4 Ilenia Sims 0 1 Mia Smith 0 1 Ebony Tweats 2 3 Amy Wheeler 2 4
Notable players Players who have played for Staffordshire and played internationally are listed below, in order of first international appearance (given in brackets):
Julie Crump (1989) Barbara Daniels (1993) Sue Redfern (1995) Anna Smith (1996) Lucy Pearson (1996) Laura Newton (1997) Clare Gough (2001) Lonell de Beer (2005) Rachel Priest (2007) Shanel Daley (2008) Elyse Villani (2009) Kate Ebrahim (2010) Danni Wyatt (2010) Georgia Elwiss (2011) Molly Strano (2017) Ilenia Sims (2024) Luana Sims (2024)
Seasons Women's County Championship Season Division League standings Notes P W L T A/C BP Pts Pos 2000 Division 2 5 5 0 0 0 38.5 98.5 1st Promoted 2001 Division 1 5 3 2 0 0 35 71 3rd 2002 Division 1 5 0 3 0 2 18 40 6th Relegated 2003 Division 2 5 3 1 0 1 27.5 74.5 3rd 2004 Division 2 5 3 2 0 0 36.5 72.5 3rd 2005 Division 3 6 2 3 0 1 31.5 66.5 3rd 2006 Division 3 6 3 1 0 2 7 75 2nd 2007 Division 3 6 1 3 0 2 6 51 4th Relegated 2008 Division 4 6 4 2 0 0 2 82 2nd 2009 Division 3 10 6 1 0 3 0 135 3rd 2010 Division 3 10 6 3 0 1 58 118 2nd 2011 Division 3 9 7 1 0 1 46 116 2nd Promoted 2012 Division 2 8 2 3 0 3 25 45 6th 2013 Division 2 8 4 4 0 0 38 78 5th 2014 Division 2 8 5 3 0 0 46 96 4th 2015 Division 2 8 5 1 0 2 43 93 2nd Promoted 2016 Division 1 8 1 4 0 3 20 30 9th Relegated 2017 Division 2 7 0 7 0 0 24 24 8th Relegated 2018 Division 3E 6 3 2 0 1 37 67 2nd 2019 Division 3A 6 6 0 0 0 46 106 1st
Women's Twenty20 Cup Season Division League standings Notes P W L T A/C NRR Pts Pos 2009 Division 4 3 2 1 0 0 +0.47 4 2nd 2010 Division M&N 2 3 2 0 0 1 +1.96 5 1st Promoted 2011 Division M&N 1 3 1 2 0 0 −2.75 2 3rd Relegated 2012 Division M&N 2 3 3 0 0 0 +5.74 6 1st Promoted 2013 Division M&N 1 3 0 3 0 0 −1.76 0 4th 2014 Division 2A 4 3 1 0 0 +1.60 12 3rd 2015 Division 2 8 4 4 0 0 −0.22 16 5th 2016 Division 2 7 2 4 0 1 −0.44 9 7th 2017 Division 2 8 2 4 0 2 −0.83 10 8th Relegated 2018 Division 3B 8 6 2 0 0 +2.51 24 2nd 2019 Division 3C 8 6 0 0 2 +2.45 26 1st 2021 West Midlands 8 0 2 0 6 –1.10 6 5th 2022 Group 2 6 4 2 0 0 +0.330 16 2nd Lost final 2023 Group 2 6 0 0 0 6 +0.00 6 2nd Lost final 2024 Group 1 7 2 5 0 0 –0.80 61 4th
ECB Women's County One-Day Season Group League standings Notes P W L T A/C BP Pts Pos 2024 Group 1 4 3 1 0 0 2 14 2nd
See also Staffordshire County Cricket Club Central Sparks
References