2024 Central Sparks season

Central Sparks

2024 season
Coach	Lloyd Tennant (April–May) Darren Franklin & Justine Dunce (June–September)
Captain	Evelyn Jones
Overseas player	Courtney Webb
RHFT	7th
CEC	Semi-finals
Most runs	RHFT: Evelyn Jones (483) CEC: Davina Perrin (245)
Most wickets	RHFT: Grace Potts (15) & Hannah Baker (15) CEC: Emily Arlott (14)
Most catches	RHFT: Katie George (9) CEC: Katie George (7) & Davina Perrin (7)
Most wicket-keeping dismissals	RHFT: Abigail Freeborn (11) CEC: Abigail Freeborn (10)
← 2023

The 2024 season was Central Sparks' fifth season, in which they competed in the 50 over Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy and the Twenty20 Charlotte Edwards Cup. In the Charlotte Edwards Cup, the side won six of their ten group stage matches, finishing fourth and progressing to the semi-finals, where they lost to The Blaze.^[1] In the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy, the side finished seventh in the group, winning five of their fourteen matches.^[2]

The side was captained by Evelyn Jones and initially coached by Lloyd Tennant, before he was replaced by Darren Franklin and Justine Dunce in June 2024.^[3][4] They played five home matches apiece at Edgbaston Cricket Ground and New Road, Worcester, and one apiece at Chester Road North Ground, Kidderminster and Scorers, Shirley.^[5][6]

This was Central Sparks' final season in existence, effectively being replaced by a professionalised Warwickshire team under the England and Wales Cricket Board's changes to the structure of women's domestic cricket from 2025 onwards.^[7]

On 14 November 2023, Elizabeth Russell announced her retirement from cricket.^[8] On 30 April 2024, it was announced that Ellie Anderson had gone on a month-long loan to Western Storm.^[9] On 12 June 2024, Anderson's loan was extended until 23 July 2024, and then again on 23 August 2024 until the end of the season.^[10][11] On 24 May 2024, it was announced that the side had loaned Issy Wong to Western Storm for the duration of the Charlotte Edwards Cup.^[12] Wong's loan was later extended on 27 June 2024 until the end of July, and then again on 23 August 2024 for one match on 26 August 2024.^[13][14] On 31 August 2024, it was announced that Evelyn Jones had gone on loan to North West Thunder for the remainder of the season.^[15]

On 23 April 2024, the side announced the signing of Courtney Webb as an overseas player, with her stint beginning in May.^[16] On 25 August 2024, Meg Austin and Hannah Hardwick were included in a matchday squad for the first time.^[17] On 3 September 2024, Sophie Beech was included in a matchday squad for the first time.^[18]

On 1 November 2023, it was announced that Charis Pavely had signed her first professional contract with the side.^[19] On 1 June 2024, it was announced that Head Coach Lloyd Tennant and Assistant Coach Dominic Ostler had left the club, with Darren Franklin and Justine Dunce taking over leadership of the side under the end of the season.^[4]

• Age given is at the start of Central Sparks' first match of the season (20 April 2024).

Name	Nationality	Birth date	Batting Style	Bowling Style	Notes
Batters
Meg Austin	England	(2004-09-07)7 September 2004 (aged 19)	Right-handed	Right-arm leg break	Joined August 2024
Chloe Brewer	England	(2002-07-12)12 July 2002 (aged 21)	Right-handed	Right-arm medium
Ami Campbell	England	(1991-06-06)6 June 1991 (aged 32)	Left-handed	Right-arm medium
Evelyn Jones	England	(1992-08-08)8 August 1992 (aged 31)	Left-handed	Left-arm medium	Captain; loaned to North West Thunder in September 2024
Davina Perrin	England	(2006-09-08)8 September 2006 (aged 17)	Right-handed	Right-arm leg break
Courtney Webb	Australia	(1999-11-30)30 November 1999 (aged 24)	Right-handed	Right-arm medium	Overseas player; May to September 2024
All-rounders
Bethan Ellis	England	(1999-07-07)7 July 1999 (aged 24)	Right-handed	Right-arm medium
Ria Fackrell	England	(1999-09-16)16 September 1999 (aged 24)	Right-handed	Right-arm off break
Katie George	England	(1999-04-07)7 April 1999 (aged 25)	Right-handed	Left-arm medium
Charis Pavely	England	(2004-10-25)25 October 2004 (aged 19)	Left-handed	Slow left-arm orthodox
Wicket-keepers
Sophie Beech	England	Unknown	Right-handed	—	Joined September 2024
Poppy Davies	England	(2000-06-23)23 June 2000 (aged 23)	Right-handed	—
Abigail Freeborn	England	(1996-11-12)12 November 1996 (aged 27)	Right-handed	—
Amy Jones	England	(1993-06-13)13 June 1993 (aged 30)	Right-handed	—
Bowlers
Ellie Anderson	England	(1994-02-23)23 February 1994 (aged 30)	Right-handed	Right-arm medium	Loaned to Western Storm from April to September 2024
Emily Arlott	England	(1998-02-23)23 February 1998 (aged 26)	Right-handed	Right-arm medium
Hannah Baker	England	(2004-02-03)3 February 2004 (aged 20)	Right-handed	Right-arm leg break
Georgia Davis	England	(1999-06-03)3 June 1999 (aged 24)	Right-handed	Right-arm off break
Hannah Hardwick	England	(2004-05-01)1 May 2004 (aged 19)	Right-handed	Right-arm medium
Anisha Patel	England	(1995-08-17)17 August 1995 (aged 28)	Right-handed	Right-arm leg break
Grace Potts	England	(2002-07-12)12 July 2002 (aged 21)	Right-handed	Right-arm medium
Issy Wong	England	(2002-05-15)15 May 2002 (aged 21)	Right-handed	Right-arm medium	Loaned to Western Storm from May to September 2024

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	T	NR	BP	Pts	NRR
1	Northern Diamonds (Q)	14	9	4	0	1	3	41	0.097
2	South East Stars (Q)	14	9	5	0	0	4	40	0.246
3	Southern Vipers (Q)	14	7	6	0	1	4	34	0.534
4	Sunrisers (Q)	14	7	6	0	1	4	34	−0.122
5	The Blaze	14	7	6	0	1	1	31	−0.176
6	North West Thunder	14	5	8	0	1	3	25	−0.013
7	Central Sparks	14	5	8	0	1	3	25	−0.299
8	Western Storm	14	4	10	0	0	2	18	−0.211

  advanced to the Semi-finals

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

Player	Matches	Innings	Runs	Average	High score	100s	50s
Evelyn Jones	12	12	483	48.30	136*	2	2
Abigail Freeborn	14	13	370	33.63	93	0	3
Katie George	13	12	321	35.66	57*	0	3
Davina Perrin	12	11	223	20.27	50	0	2
Bethan Ellis	12	9	215	35.83	57	0	1
Chloe Brewer	11	11	202	20.20	54	0	1

Source: ESPN Cricinfo^[20] Qualification: 200 runs.

Player	Matches	Overs	Wickets	Average	Economy	BBI	5wi
Grace Potts	13	88.1	15	28.06	4.77	3/38	0
Hannah Baker	12	90.0	15	28.33	4.72	5/45	1
Katie George	13	80.5	14	30.85	5.34	5/50	1
Charis Pavely	6	38.3	13	11.46	3.87	4/31	0
Bethan Ellis	12	57.0	10	28.80	5.05	2/16	0
Ria Fackrell	9	68.3	10	34.60	5.05	2/19	0

Source: ESPN Cricinfo^[21] Qualification: 10 wickets.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	T	NR	BP	Pts	NRR
1	The Blaze (Q)	10	9	1	0	0	3	39	0.606
2	South East Stars (Q)	10	7	2	0	1	4	34	0.309
3	Southern Vipers (Q)	10	6	4	0	0	2	26	1.001
4	Central Sparks (Q)	10	6	4	0	0	2	26	0.402
5	North West Thunder	10	3	6	0	1	1	15	−0.727
6	Northern Diamonds	10	3	7	0	0	1	13	−0.067
7	Western Storm	10	2	6	0	2	1	13	−0.659
8	Sunrisers	10	2	8	0	0	0	8	−1.073

  advanced to the Semi-finals

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

Player	Matches	Innings	Runs	Average	High score	100s	50s
Davina Perrin	11	11	245	24.50	79*	0	1
Abigail Freeborn	11	11	239	23.90	71*	0	2
Courtney Webb	11	10	197	32.83	45*	0	0
Evelyn Jones	9	9	190	23.75	43	0	0
Amy Jones	4	4	168	56.00	67*	0	1

Source: ESPN Cricinfo^[23] Qualification: 150 runs.

Player	Matches	Overs	Wickets	Average	Economy	BBI	5wi
Emily Arlott	10	32.2	14	16.14	6.98	4/21	0
Katie George	11	34.5	13	19.07	7.11	4/36	0
Grace Potts	11	34.0	12	18.41	6.50	3/15	0
Hannah Baker	10	37.0	12	18.41	6.64	3/24	0
Georgia Davis	11	34.3	10	24.60	6.64	3/23	0

Source: ESPN Cricinfo^[24] Qualification: 10 wickets.

Player	Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy								Charlotte Edwards Cup
	Matches	Innings	Runs	High score	Average	Strike rate	100s	50s	Matches	Innings	Runs	High score	Average	Strike rate	100s	50s
Emily Arlott	10	7	50	15	7.14	56.17	0	0	10	8	77	28	12.83	122.22	0	0
Meg Austin	2	2	21	14	10.50	55.26	0	0	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
Hannah Baker	12	6	8	4	2.66	27.58	0	0	10	1	0	0*	–	0.00	0	0
Chloe Brewer	11	11	202	54	20.20	59.94	0	1	3	3	15	14	5.00	68.18	0	0
Ami Campbell	8	8	107	48	13.37	68.15	0	0	6	6	57	21	9.50	111.76	0	0
Georgia Davis	6	3	26	20*	13.00	63.41	0	0	11	6	12	5*	6.00	63.15	0	0
Bethan Ellis	12	9	215	57	35.83	70.49	0	1	3	1	3	3*	–	42.85	0	0
Ria Fackrell	9	7	75	39	18.75	72.81	0	0	1	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
Abigail Freeborn	14	13	370	93	33.63	62.92	0	3	11	11	239	71*	23.90	120.70	0	2
Katie George	13	12	321	57*	35.66	74.13	0	3	11	9	75	28*	9.37	88.23	0	0
Hannah Hardwick	2	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
Amy Jones	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	4	4	168	67*	56.00	129.23	0	1
Evelyn Jones	12	12	483	136*	48.30	71.76	2	2	9	9	190	43	23.75	95.47	0	0
Charis Pavely	6	4	36	13*	12.00	39.13	0	0	9	8	59	27*	9.83	86.76	0	0
Davina Perrin	12	11	223	50	20.27	67.37	0	2	11	11	245	79*	24.50	133.15	0	1
Grace Potts	13	7	35	13*	11.66	50.72	0	0	11	3	5	2*	2.50	55.55	0	0
Courtney Webb	7	6	138	40	23.00	84.14	0	0	11	10	197	45*	32.83	119.39	0	0
Issy Wong	5	5	53	34*	13.25	73.61	0	0	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
Source: ESPN Cricinfo[25][26]

Player	Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy							Charlotte Edwards Cup
	Matches	Overs	Wickets	Average	Economy	BBI	5wi	Matches	Overs	Wickets	Average	Economy	BBI	5wi
Emily Arlott	10	58.0	9	24.77	3.84	4/15	0	10	32.2	14	16.14	6.98	4/21	0
Hannah Baker	12	90.0	15	28.33	4.72	5/45	1	10	37.0	12	20.50	6.64	3/24	0
Georgia Davis	6	42.0	8	21.25	4.04	6/23	1	11	34.3	10	24.60	7.13	3/23	0
Bethan Ellis	12	57.0	10	28.80	5.05	2/16	0	3	5.0	3	9.66	5.80	2/11	0
Ria Fackrell	9	68.3	10	34.60	5.05	2/19	0	1	3.0	2	6.50	4.33	2/13	0
Katie George	13	80.5	14	30.85	5.34	5/50	1	11	34.5	13	19.07	7.11	4/36	0
Hannah Hardwick	2	8.0	2	17.50	4.37	2/20	0	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
Charis Pavely	6	38.3	13	11.46	3.87	4/31	0	9	18.0	7	18.57	7.22	1/8	0
Davina Perrin	12	4.0	0	–	7.25	–	0	11	–	–	–	–	–	–
Grace Potts	13	88.1	15	28.06	4.77	3/38	0	11	34.0	12	18.41	6.50	3/15	0
Courtney Webb	7	2.0	0	–	6.00	–	0	11	5.0	1	34.00	6.80	1/14	0
Issy Wong	5	32.4	3	56.33	5.17	1/25	0	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
Source: ESPN Cricinfo[25][26]

Player	Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy			Charlotte Edwards Cup
	Matches	Innings	Catches	Matches	Innings	Catches
Emily Arlott	10	9	1	10	10	3
Meg Austin	2	2	0	–	–	–
Hannah Baker	12	11	3	10	10	1
Chloe Brewer	11	10	1	3	3	1
Ami Campbell	8	8	2	6	6	2
Georgia Davis	6	5	2	11	11	1
Bethan Ellis	12	11	2	3	3	0
Ria Fackrell	9	9	4	1	1	1
Abigail Freeborn	14	–	–	11	3	1
Katie George	13	12	9	11	11	7
Hannah Hardwick	2	2	0	–	–	–
Amy Jones	–	–	–	4	1	0
Evelyn Jones	12	11	5	9	9	6
Charis Pavely	6	6	4	9	9	5
Davina Perrin	12	11	4	11	11	7
Grace Potts	13	12	3	11	11	0
Courtney Webb	7	6	3	11	11	3
Issy Wong	5	5	0	–	–	–
Source: ESPN Cricinfo[27][28]

Player	Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy				Charlotte Edwards Cup
	Matches	Innings	Catches	Stumpings	Matches	Innings	Catches	Stumpings
Abigail Freeborn	14	13	9	2	11	8	7	3
Amy Jones	–	–	–	–	4	3	1	0
Source: ESPN Cricinfo[29][30]