Western Storm Announce Playing Squad
Western Storm are delighted to be able to announce our playing squad for the 2020 season.
The new era for Western Storm begins later this month when the team compete in the inaugural Rachael Heyhoe-Flint Trophy.
The competition will see the eight regional centres for women’s cricket competing against each other for the honour of lifting the first piece of silverware in the new era for the game.
Western Storm begin the campaign against South East Stars on Saturday August 29th and the team’s management can today reveal the names of the 14 players who will wear the green and black this year.
The squad will be captained by Somerset skipper, Sophie Luff and features an outstanding blend of exciting young local players, who have been identified by Western Storm, alongside several with experience of the KIA Super League.
The Western Storm squad is:
Sophie Luff (Captain) – Somerset
Fi Morris (Vice Captain) – Hampshire
Danielle Gibson – Wales, England Academy
Claire Nicholas – Wales
Alex Griffiths – Wales, England Training Squad
Georgia Hennessy – Somerset
Nat Wraith – Somerset, England Training Squad
Lauren Filer – Somerset, England Training Squad
Steph Hutchins – Devon
Lauren Parfitt – Wales
Emily Edgcombe – Cornwall
Niamh Holland – Somerset
Emma Corney – Devon
Abbie Whybrow – Gloucestershire
Following the announcement of the squad, Head Coach, Mark O’Leary said: “Training has been going well and the players have been outstanding. The majority of the squad are taken from the region and we believe that’s really important. To be able to pick from the best of the talent from across the whole of the South West and Wales is extremely exciting.
“This is a new era and a new competition, but Western Storm has a distinct identity of fielding players who care deeply about this region. That’s really important because Western Storm had such a great fanbase which we hope will remain in place because that genuinely inspires the players.
“We want to promote home-grown players and we want girls to see that Western Storm can provide a route for them to achieve their goals. We want to give young players something to aspire to.
“We have a young squad, but I think that the majority of the teams are in the same position. I’ve done an awful lot of scouting and I’ve been overwhelmed by the quality that is available in the region. I’m excited to see how this group will develop.”
Regional Director of Women’s Cricket, Lisa Pagett said: “I’m really excited by the squad we have put together. There’s a great blend of senior players mixed in with some really exciting young talent from across the region.
“It’s obviously been a challenging phase for lots of different reasons, and in an ideal world we would have had a bit longer to have seen players in action. However, having seen the group train together and witnessed how quickly they have progressed in a very short space of time leaves me in no doubt that we have the right group of players to be competitive in the Rachel Heyhoe-Flint Trophy.”
