2024 RHFT Preview: South East Stars v Western Storm
THE MATCH
Western Storm take on South East Stars at the County Ground, Beckenham in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy tomorrow (Saturday August 31st).
Play is due to start at 10:30am.
Entry to this match is free of charge.
HOW CAN I KEEP UP TO DATE?
You can keep up to date via the Western Storm website.
A live stream of the match will also be available.
In addition to this, a report on the day’s play along with quotes will be posted on this website.
TEAM NEWS
Western Storm will be without England internationals Heather Knight, Dani Gibson, Lauren Filer and Issy Wong, but Amanda Jade Wellington returns.
A starting XI will be named from the following squad: Sophie Luff (c), Emma Corney, Fran Wilson, Claire Nicholas, Nat Wraith, Katie Jones, Alex Griffiths, Niamh Holland, Mollie Robbins, Gemma Lane, Amanda Jade Wellington, Chloe Skelton, Sophia Smale, Ellie Anderson, LJess Hazell, Lola Harris, Imogen Cooper and Emily Geach.
VIEW FROM THE DRESSING ROOM
Ahead of the game, Western Storm Head Coach, Trevor Griffin said: “We are all disappointed by Monday’s performance. We didn’t execute our skills well enough with the ball and we seemed to lack clarity with the bat. We are much better than that and we need to show that in our remaining games.
“The players have trained really well this week and we’ve had some honest conversations. We need to be doing the basics for longer and hopefully we can do that against South East Stars on Saturday.”
THE OPPOSITION
Captain: Bryony Smith
Head Coach: Johann Myburgh
2023 finish: Third (Lost in play-off)
2023 highest run-scorer: Paige Scholfield (439)
2023 highest wicket-taker: Danielle Gregory (21)
Key winter moves: The re-signing of South Africa international batter Tazmin Brits marks Stars’ best business of the winter. Wicketkeeper-batter Chloe Hill makes last season’s loan from Southern Vipers a permanent as one of several new arrivals bolstering Stars to a 21-strong squad.
The big questions: Stars’ batting efforts widely fluctuated last year, so will Brits’ longer stay help bring greater consistency? As always there is the question of how much they will be disrupted by England call-ups?
Player to watch: Danielle Gregory continues to be underrated despite being third on the tournament’s wicket-takers list last term. Young quick Emma Jones could be another to keep an eye on after returning from two years of injury horrors.
EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW
You can find out everything you need to know about this match from the South East Stars website
NEXT MATCH
Our next match is on Wednesday September 4th when we take on Sunrisers in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy at Radlett CC.
Tickets for this match are still available.
