Charlotte Edwards Cup

The Charlotte Edwards Cup, initially named the Women's Regional T20, is an English women's cricket Twenty20 domestic competition organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board. The first edition of the tournament took place in 2021. The tournament is named after England's former captain and most capped player, Charlotte Edwards.[1]

Charlotte Edwards Cup
Countries England
 Wales
AdministratorECB
FormatTwenty20
First edition2021
Next edition2022
Tournament formatGroup stage and knockout
Number of teams8
Current championSouth East Stars (1st title)
Most successfulSouth East Stars (1 title)

The tournament features eight teams, representing regional hubs across England and Wales. The tournament is a successor to the Women's Cricket Super League, which ended in 2019. Whilst a regional T20 tournament was planned for 2020, it was cancelled in favour of the 50-over Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy in the shortened 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, the tournament ran alongside the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy and The Hundred.[2][3]

History

With the ending of the Women's Cricket Super League in 2019, the England and Wales Cricket Board intended to launch a new regional structure for domestic women's cricket in England and Wales, including a 50-over competition, a Twenty20 competition and The Hundred.[2] However, as the COVID-19 pandemic shortened the 2020 season, only the 50-over Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy was able to go ahead that season, with six new teams competing, plus Western Storm and Southern Vipers carried over from the WCSL, representing regional hubs.[4]

In 2021, with a return to a full schedule, it was announced in February that the new Twenty20 competition would be called the Women's Regional T20, to run alongside the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy and to be competed for by the same teams. Two days before the tournament began, it was renamed the Charlotte Edwards Cup, with the first edition of the tournament getting underway on 26 June, eventually being won by South East Stars.[1][5][6]

Teams
Primary home ground of each team

The teams for the Charlotte Edwards Cup are as follows:[5]

TeamCounty partnersHome groundsCaptain
Central Sparks
Evelyn Jones
Lightning
Kathryn Bryce
Northern Diamonds
Hollie Armitage
North West Thunder
Vacant
South East Stars
Tash Farrant
Southern Vipers
Georgia Adams
Sunrisers
Kelly Castle
Western Storm
Sophie Luff

Competition format

Teams play each other home and away in their group. The two group winners and the best second-place team advance to Finals Day. The best group winner advances straight to the final, whilst the other two teams play off in a semi-final.[5]

Teams receive 4 points for a win. A bonus point is given where the winning team's run rate is 1.25 or greater times that of the opposition. In case of a tie in the standings, the following tiebreakers are applied in order: highest net run rate, team that scored the most points in matches involving the tied parties, better bowling strike rate, drawing of lots.[7]

Tournament results
List of Charlotte Edwards Cup winners
Season Winner Runners-up Final Venue Player (club) Runs Player (club) Wickets Notes
Leading run-scorer Leading wicket-taker
2021 South East Stars Northern Diamonds Rose Bowl, Southampton Evelyn Jones (Central Sparks)276 Bryony Smith (South East Stars)14 [8][9]

References
  1. "Women's Regional T20 Competition is named Charlotte Edwards Cup". England and Wales Cricket Board. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
  2. "ECB launches new plan to transform women's and girls' cricket". ECB. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
  3. "Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy returns alongside new Women's Regional T20 competition". Sky Sports. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
  4. "Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy: The special-edition 50-over competition explained". The Cricketer. 11 August 2020. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  5. "Women's domestic fixtures announced: Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy returns alongside new Regional T20 competition". ECB. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
  6. "Final (D/N), Southampton, Sep 5 2021, Charlotte Edwards Cup: South East Stars v Northern Diamonds". ESPNCricinfo. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
  7. "Playing Conditions – Women's Regional T20 Competition" (PDF) (pdf). ECB. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
  8. "Records /Charlotte Edwards Cup, 2021/Most Runs". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 5 September 2021.
  9. "Records /Charlotte Edwards Cup, 2021/Most Wickets". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 5 September 2021.
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