Sunrisers damer
Wikipedia - Sunrisers (women's cricket)
Sunrisers are a women's cricket team that represent the London and East region, one of eight regional hubs in English domestic women's cricket. They play their home matches at various grounds, including the County Cricket Ground, Chelmsford. They are captained by Grace Scrivens in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy and Dane van Niekerk in the Charlotte Edwards Cup, and are coached by Andy Tennant. The team is partnered with Middlesex, Essex, Northamptonshire, Hertfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Suffolk, Norfolk, Bedfordshire and Huntingdonshire, as well as Marylebone Cricket Club.
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. Sunrisers were one of the sides created under this structure, representing the London and East region, Middlesex, Essex, Northamptonshire, Hertfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Suffolk, Norfolk, Bedfordshire and Huntingdonshire, as well as Marylebone Cricket Club. The side was to be captained by Amara Carr and coached by Trevor Griffin. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 season was truncated, and only 50-over cricket was played, in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy. Sunrisers finished bottom of the South Group in the competition, losing all six of their matches. At the end of the season, five Sunrisers players were given full-time domestic contracts, the first of their kind in England: Amara Carr, Naomi Dattani, Cordelia Griffith, Jo Gardner and Kelly Castle.
The following season, 2021, Sunrisers competed in both the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy and the newly-formed Twenty20 competition, the Charlotte Edwards Cup. The side again lost all of their matches in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy, finishing bottom of the eight-team group. For the Charlotte Edwards Cup, Kelly Castle was named as captain of the side. In the first match of the tournament, Sunrisers recorded their first ever victory, beating Western Storm by 7 wickets. However, they did not win another match in the tournament and finished bottom of their group, although they did tie their home match against North West Thunder.
Ahead of the 2022 season, it was announced that Castle was becoming captain of the side in all formats, and that Trevor Griffin was stepping down as Head Coach for personal reasons. Griffin was later replaced by Laura Marsh, taking on the Head Coach role on an interim basis for the 2022 season. The side finished bottom of their Charlotte Edwards Cup group, losing all six of their matches. The side also finished bottom of the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy group, losing all of their completed matches. Sunrisers all-rounder Grace Scrivens was the joint-leading wicket-taker in the competition, with 13 wickets, and the third-highest run-scorer, with 297 runs. At the end of the season, it was announced that Andy Tennant had been appointed as the permanent Head Coach of the side.
In June 2023, it was announced that Kelly Castle had stepped down as captain of the side, being replaced by overseas player Dane van Niekerk. After van Niekerk's spell with the side ended in September 2023, Grace Scrivens took over the captaincy. That season, the side finished bottom of the group in the Charlotte Edwards Cup, but won their first matches in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy, including a late season winning run to finish fourth in the table. Ahead of the 2024 season, Scrivens was confirmed as captain in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy, with van Niekerk captaining in the Charlotte Edwards Cup.