Fixtures

Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy 04/27 09:30 - South East Stars - Dames vs Central Sparks - Dames View
Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy 05/01 09:30 - Central Sparks - Dames vs Sunrisers - Dames View
Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy 05/04 09:30 - Central Sparks - Dames vs Northern Diamonds - Dames View
Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy 05/08 09:30 - Thunder - Dames vs Central Sparks - Dames View
Charlotte Edwards Cup 05/19 13:30 - Central Sparks - Dames vs Sunrisers - Dames View
Charlotte Edwards Cup 05/22 13:30 - Western Storm - Dames vs Central Sparks - Dames View

Wikipedia - Central Sparks

Central Sparks is a women's cricket team that represent the West Midlands region, one of eight regional hubs in English domestic women's cricket. They primarily play their home matches at Edgbaston and New Road. They are captained by Evelyn Jones and coached by Lloyd Tennant. The team is partnered with Warwickshire, Worcestershire, Herefordshire, Staffordshire and Shropshire.

History

In 2020, women's cricket in England was restructured, creating eight new 'regional hub' teams, with the intention of playing both 50-over and 20-over cricket. Central Sparks were one of the sides created under this structure, representing the West Midlands and partnered with Warwickshire, Worcestershire, Herefordshire, Staffordshire and Shropshire. The side was to be captained by Evelyn Jones and coached by Lloyd Tennant. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 season was truncated, and only 50-over cricket was played, in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy. Central Sparks finished second in the North Group of the competition, winning three of their six games but failing to progress to the final. At the end of the season, five Sparks players were given full-time domestic contracts, the first of their kind in England: Evelyn Jones, Marie Kelly, Issy Wong, Emily Arlott and Gwenan Davies.

The following season, 2021, Sparks competed in both the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy and the newly-formed Twenty20 competition, the Charlotte Edwards Cup. In the Charlotte Edwards Cup the side finished third in their group, winning three of their six matches. In the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy, Central Sparks qualified for the knockout stages of the tournament, finishing third in the group of eight with five wins from their seven matches. During the group stages, Amy Jones hit the highest score of the tournament, scoring 163* against Western Storm, whilst Emily Arlott recorded the best individual bowling figures of the tournament against Southern Vipers, taking 5/29 including a hat-trick. In the play-off, however, the side lost to Northern Diamonds by 6 wickets to be eliminated from the competition. In 2022, they reached the final of the Charlotte Edwards Cup after finishing second in Group A and beating South East Stars in the semi-final. However, they lost to Southern Vipers in the final. Sparks batter Amy Jones was the leading run-scorer in the tournament, with 289 runs, and was named the PCA Player of the Tournament. In July 2022, the side launched the West Midlands Regional Cup, to aid the development of players playing for county sides in the region. The side finished fifth in the group of eight in the 2022 Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy.

In 2023, Central Sparks finished seventh out of eight in the Charlotte Edwards Cup and fifth out of eight in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy. Sparks bowler Georgia Davis was the leading wicket-taker in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy, with 27 wickets.