2023 Rachael Heyhoe-Flint Trophy Preview: Stars v Storm
THE MATCH
Western Storm take on South East Stars in the Rachael Heyhoe-Flint Trophy at the County Ground, Beckenham tomorrow (Saturday July 22nd).
This 50-over match will get underway at 10:30am.
HOW CAN I KEEP UP TO DATE?
You can keep up to date via the Western Storm website.
In addition to this, a report on the day’s play along with quotes will be posted on this website.
HEAD TO HEAD
The two sides have met on four occasions in 50-over cricket, with Western Storm winning twice, and South East Stars coming out on top three times.
Western Storm’s highest team score in the series is 247 all out at Cheltenham in 2022, whilst for South East Stars it is 283 for eight in the same game.
The highest individual innings for Western Storm is 104 not out by Sophie Luff at Bristol in 2020, whilst for South East Stars it’s 134 not out by Paige Scholfield at Bristol in May this year.
The best bowling figures in the series for Western Storm is five for 54 by Chloe Skelton at Cheltenham in 2022. For South East Stars it’s six for 28 by Alice Capsey at Bristol earlier this year.
TEAM NEWS
Western Storm will welcome back Dani Gibson and Lauren Filer from international duty.
A starting XI will be named from the following players: Sophie Luff (c), Dani Gibson, Emma Corney, Fran Wilson, Piepa Cleary, Lauren Filer, Claire Nicholas, Nat Wraith, Alex Griffiths, Nicole Harvey, Mollie Robbins, Chloe Skelton, Sophia Smale, Niamh Holland, Izzy Patel, Katie Jones, Isla Thomson, Phoebe Graham and Rebecca Odgers.
VIEW FROM THE DRESSING ROOM
Ahead of the match, Western Storm Captain, Sophie Luff said: “We’ve got two games this weekend and that presents us with the opportunity to try and climb the table. It also gives us the chance to generate some momentum before we break for The Hundred.
“We’ve had a couple of close games recently and haven’t been able to get over the line, so we’ll be looking to put that right if we can over the course of the weekend. We want to be winning games and we know we’re really close to doing that. We had a really good review at the start of this week about where we’re at and I have no doubt that it won’t be too long before we’re getting over the line.
“Hopefully, we’ll be welcoming Dani and Lauren back into the ranks. We’re all incredibly proud of them and really excited to have them back in the group.”
THE OPPOSITION
South East Stars
Captain: Bryony Smith
Head Coach: Johann Myburgh
2022 finish: Play-off finalists
2022 highest run-scorer: Bryony Smith 226
2022 highest wicket-taker: Alice Davidson-Richards and Eva Gray (nine)
Key winter moves: South African all-rounder Paige Scholfield has been the big arrival over the winter from rivals Southern Vipers. Her 11 wickets at 20 apiece, plus 175 runs at 25 were key to guiding Vipers to the final of this competition last season. Scholfield will fill the void left by the exit of Eva Gray to Sunrisers, while Chloe Brewer and wicketkeeper Rhianna Southby have departed for Central Sparks and Southern Vipers respectively.
Player to watch: Aside from the usual suspects keep an eye on wicketkeeper Kira Chathli. The 23-year-old south Londoner firmly established herself as Stars’ No 1 behind the timbers in 2022, leading to the departure of previous incumbent Rhianna Southby. There was also a first List-A half-century and some quick cameos in the Charlotte Edwards Cup suggesting a leap forward bat in hand to go with her developing glove-work.
EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW
If you are attending the match please visit the South East Stars Website for further matchday information.
NEXT MATCH
Western Storm’s next match is on Monday when we take on Sunrisers in the Rachael Heyhoe-Flint Trophy at Cheltenham College.
