Kent Women cricket team

Kent Women
Personnel
CaptainMegan Belt
CoachJames Hockley
ManagerLucy Arman
Team information
FoundedFirst recorded match: 1935
Home groundSt Lawrence Ground
History
WCC wins8
T20 Cup wins3
Official websiteKent Women

The Kent Women cricket team is the women's representative cricket team for the English county of Kent. They play their home matches at St Lawrence Ground in Canterbury, as well as the County Cricket Ground, Beckenham.[1] They are captained by Megan Belt and are coached by former Kent County Cricket Club player James Hockley.[2][3] They are the most successful team in both the Women's County Championship and Women's Twenty20 Cup, with 8 and 3 titles respectively.[4][5] Until 2025, they were partnered with the regional team South East Stars.[6]

History

1935–1996: Early History

Kent Women played their first recorded match in 1935, against Civil Service Women.[7] Over the following years, Kent were one of the most prolific women's teams, playing various one-off and tourist games, against surrounding counties and national teams such as Australia, New Zealand and the Netherlands.[8] Kent joined the Women's Area Championship in 1980, and played in the competition until 1996 (including two title wins, in 1986 and 1987), after which they joined the Women's County Championship.[9][10][11]

1997–2019: Women's County Championship

In 1997, their first season in the County Championship, Kent finished 5th in Division One with just one win.[12] Over the next few seasons, Kent were a consistently mid-table team, plus one season in Division Two, in 2002.[13] A steady improvement after their promotion, however, eventually led them to their first Championship title, in 2006.[14] They retained their title in 2007, going unbeaten in both seasons. Key to their success was England captain Charlotte Edwards, who played for Kent from 2000 to 2016.[15] This started an extremely successful era for Kent Women, winning the most titles in Championship history, eight, and only finishing outside the top 3 of Division 1 once, in 2017: the further times they won the Championship were in 2009, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2016 and 2019.[16] In 2016, Kent bowlers Megan Belt, Tash Farrant and Charlotte Pape were the first, third and fourth leading wicket-takers respectively, whilst Tammy Beaumont was the leading run-scorer.[17] Kent batters Fran Wilson, Tammy Beaumont and Maxine Blythin were all in the top ten leading run-scorers in 2019.[18]

Kent Women have also been the most successful team in the history of the Women's Twenty20 Cup, winning the tournament three times, in 2011, 2013 and 2016.[19] They also reached the semi-finals of the competition in 2013 and 2012, losing to Berkshire both times.[20] In 2011, however, they beat Berkshire by 8 wickets after bowling them out for just 73.[21] In 2013, Kent beat Sussex in the final by 8 wickets,[22] whilst in 2016 they won the title by topping Division One, with five wins from seven games.[23]

2020–2024: Regional Twenty20 Cup

In 2021, they competed in the South East Group of the Twenty20 Cup, and won their region, going unbeaten with 6 wins and 2 matches abandoned due to rain.[24] In 2022, they finished second in their group in the Twenty20 Cup, going on to lose in the final against Sussex.[25] Kent have also competed in the Women's London Championship since its first edition in 2020, and won their first London Championship title in 2021.[26][27] In the 2023 Women's Twenty20 Cup, Kent finished second in their group and reached the group final, but the title was shared due to rain.[28] In 2024, the team finished 7th in their group in the Twenty20 Cup and 3rd in their group in the new ECB Women's County One-Day tournament.[29][30]

Players

Current squad

As of 23 April 2025

Players listed below are named as Kent squad players on the team's website. Other players may play matches for the team.[31] ‡ denotes players with international caps.

No. Name Nationality Birth date Batting Style Bowling Style Notes
Batters
11Jessica Bird England21 July 1999Right-handedRight-arm off break
19Ella Darlington England27 September 2006Right-handedRight-arm medium
14Jodie Hobson England25 November 2000Right-handed–
4Sophie Singer England22 May 2006Right-handedRight-arm leg spin
17Coco Streets England17 February 2002Right-handedRight-arm mediumVice Captain
All-rounders
55Elsa Barnfather England23 July 2003Right-handedRight-arm medium
66Tilly Callaghan England5 October 1998Right-handedRight-arm medium
21Amy Gordon England3 October 2001Right-handedRight-arm off break
25Isabella James England4 February 2005Right-handedRight-arm leg spin
3Genevieve Jeer England16 July 2009Right-handedRight-arm medium
34Isobel Kirby England6 February 2005Right-handedRight-arm medium
2Grace Poole England2 September 2000Right-handedRight-arm medium-fast
20Megan Sturge England3 November 2004Right-handedRight-arm leg spinLoan Player
Wicket-keepers
12Molly Davis England12 March 2001Right-handed–
92Emily Thompson England12 December 1997Right-handed–
Bowlers
23Laura Bailey England3 June 1992Right-handedRight-arm leg spin
95Olivia Barnes England9 July 2006Right-handedLeft-arm orthodox spinLoan Player
6Megan Belt England6 October 1997Right-handedRight-arm off breakCaptain
12Zeena Bilal England12 October 2006Right-handedRight-arm medium
15Sydney Gorham England19 October 2003Right-handedRight-arm medium-fast
63Alice Grant England29 June 2004Right-handedRight-arm medium

Notable players

Players who have played for Kent and played internationally are listed below, in order of first international appearance (given in brackets):[32]

Seasons

Women's County Championship

Season Division[33] P W L T A/C BP Pts Pos Notes
1997 Division 1 5140031.543.55th
1998 Division 1 5230036.560.53rd
1999 Division 1 5230030.554.55th
2000 Division 1 5230031553rd
2001 Division 1 5050024.524.56th Relegated
2002 Division 2 5300228.586.51st Promoted
2003 Division 1 5320032.568.53rd
2004 Division 1 5410043.591.52nd
2005 Division 1 6320136832nd
2006 Division 1 6500121061st Champions
2007 Division 1 6500101351st Champions
2008 Division 1 641015912nd
2009 Division 1 101000002001st Champions
2010 Division 1 107300621322nd
2011 Division 1 107102561261st Champions
2012 Division 1 8300524541st Champions
2013 Division 1 86200471073rd
2014 Division 1 86002481081st Champions
2015 Division 1 85111511052nd
2016 Division 1 87100631331st Champions
2017 Division 1 7340041716th
2018 Division 1 7430043833rd
2019 Division 1 76100461061st Champions

Women's Twenty20 Cup

Season Division[34] P W L T Ab NRR Pts Pos Notes
2009 Division 1 31101+0.9732nd
2010 Division S1 33000+2.8761st Semi-final
2011 Division S1 330002.1761st Champions
2012 Division S1 32001+2.2352nd Semi-final
2013 Division S1 32100+0.9942nd Champions
2014 Division 1B 43100+2.28123rd
2015 Division 1 86200−0.10243rd
2016 Division 1 75200+0.43201st Champions
2017 Division 1 84400−0.38166th
2018 Division 1 85300+0.67203rd
2019 Division 1 84202+0.04183rd
2021 South East 86002+1.30261st Group winners
2022 Group 6 64200+1.19162nd Lost final
2023 Group 6 62004+3.31122nd Shared group winners
2024 Group 3 82402−0.32547th

ECB Women's County One-Day

Season Group League standings[35] Notes
P W L T A/C BP Pts Pos
2024 Group 4 421012113rd

Honours

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Kent Women Scorecards". Cricket Archive. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
  2. ↑ "Megan Belt Completes New Kent Captaincy Structure". Kent Cricket. 7 March 2024. Retrieved 10 March 2024.
  3. ↑ Kent Women Leadership model confirmed for 2025, Kent County Cricket Club, 20 November 2019. Retrieved 20 November 2019.
  4. ↑ "ECB Women's County Championship". Play-Cricket. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
  5. ↑ Reid J (ed) (2016) 2016 Kent County Cricket Club Annual, Kent County Cricket Club, p.3.
  6. ↑ "South East Stars". Kia Oval. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
  7. ↑ "Kent Women Scorecards". Cricket Archive. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
  8. ↑ "Kent Women Scorecards". Cricket Archive. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
  9. ↑ "Women's Area Championship 1980". Cricket Archive. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
  10. ↑ "Women's Area Championship 1986". CricketArchive. Retrieved 26 August 2023.
  11. ↑ "WCA News Vol. 2 No. 8 Spring 1987". Women's Cricket History. Retrieved 26 August 2023.
  12. ↑ "Women's County Championship 1997 Tables". Cricket Archive. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
  13. ↑ "ECB Women's County Championship". Play-Cricket. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
  14. ↑ "ECB Women's County Championship Division 1 – 2006". Play-Cricket. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
  15. ↑ "Charlotte Edwards Player Profile". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
  16. ↑ "ECB Women's County Championship". Play-Cricket. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
  17. ↑ "ECB Women's County Championship Division 1 – 2016". Play-Cricket. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
  18. ↑ "ECB Women's County Championship Division 1 – 2019". Play-Cricket. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
  19. ↑ "ECB Women's County Championship". Play-Cricket. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
  20. ↑ "ECB Women's County Championship". Play-Cricket. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
  21. ↑ "Berkshire Women v Kent Women, 2011 Women's T20 Final". Cricket Archive. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
  22. ↑ "Sussex Women v Kent Women, 2013 Women's T20 Final". Cricket Archive. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
  23. ↑ "ECB Women's Twenty20 Cup Division 1 – 2016". Play-Cricket. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
  24. ↑ "Women's County T20 South East Group – 2021". ECB Women's County Championship. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
  25. ↑ "Women's County T20 Group 6 – 2022". Play-Cricket. Retrieved 9 May 2022.
  26. ↑ "Sussex to join London Championship for second edition of women's 50-over competition". The Cricketer. 15 February 2021. Retrieved 21 September 2021.
  27. ↑ "Women's London Championship (50 Overs) – 2021/Table". Play-Cricket. Retrieved 21 September 2021.
  28. ↑ "ECB Women's County Championship/Women's County T20 Group 6 – 2023". Play-Cricket. Retrieved 30 October 2023.
  29. ↑ "Vitality Women's County T20 2024". CricketArchive. Retrieved 16 October 2024.
  30. ↑ "Vitality Women's County Championship 2024". CricketArchive. Retrieved 16 October 2024.
  31. ↑ "Kent Women Squad". Kent Cricket. Retrieved 30 April 2021.
  32. ↑ "Kent Women Players". CricketArchive. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
  33. ↑ "ECB Women's County Championship". Play-Cricket. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
  34. ↑ "ECB Women's County Championship". Play-Cricket. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
  35. ↑ "ECB Women's County Championship". Play-Cricket. Retrieved 16 October 2024.
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