Loughborough Lightning (women's cricket)

Loughborough Lightning were an English women's Twenty20 cricket team based at Loughborough University. They were formed in 2016 to compete in the inaugural season of the Women's Cricket Super League. They primarily played their home matches at the Haslegrave Ground.[1] They were coached by Rob Taylor[2] and were captained by Georgia Elwiss.[3] The team was partnered with Loughborough University.[4] Together with the netball team and the women's rugby union team, the cricket team was one of three women's sports teams based at Loughborough University that used the Loughborough Lightning name.[5] In 2020, following reforms to the structure of women's domestic cricket, some elements of the Loughborough Lightning were retained for a new team, named just Lightning and representing a broader region.[6]

Loughborough Lightning
Personnel
CaptainGeorgia Elwiss
CoachRob Taylor (2018–2019)
Salliann Briggs (2016–2017)
Team information
Colours  Purple
Founded2016
Home groundHaslegrave Ground, Loughborough
Secondary home ground(s)Trent Bridge, Nottingham
History
WCSL wins0
Official websiteLoughborough Lightning

T20 kit

History

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2016–2019: Women's Cricket Super League

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Loughborough Lightning were formed in 2016 to compete in the new Women's Cricket Super League, partnering with Loughborough University and playing across the Midlands.[7] In the first season of the WCSL, the Lightning finished 3rd in the group stage, progressing to the semi-final, where they were beaten by eventual runners-up Western Storm.[8][9] The following season, 2017, saw Loughborough miss out on Finals Day, finishing 4th with two wins.[10]

2018 was Loughborough Lightning's most successful season, as they topped the group with 7 wins from 10 games, progressing straight to the final.[11] However, they were defeated by Surrey Stars by 66 runs after the Stars' Lizelle Lee hit a century.[12] Lightning bowler Kirstie Gordon was the leading wicket-taker of the tournament, with 17.[13] In 2019, the Lightning again progressed to Finals Day after finishing 2nd in the group with 7 victories, but were beaten in the semi-final by the Southern Vipers.[14][15] Following this season, women's cricket in England was restructured and Loughborough Lightning were disbanded as part of the reforms; however they survived in spirit for a new team, Lightning, who represented a larger area, but retained some of their players.[16]

Home grounds

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Venue Games hosted by season
16 17 18 19 Total
Haslegrave Ground 3 1 4 4 12
County Ground, Derby 1 1
Edgbaston Cricket Ground 1 1
Trent Bridge 1 1

Players

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Final squad, 2019 season[17]

  • No. denotes the player's squad number, as worn on the back of their shirt.
  • ‡ denotes players with international caps.
No. Name Nationality Birth date Batting style Bowling style Notes
Batters
1 Georgia Adams   England (1993-10-04) 4 October 1993 (age 31) Right-handed Right-arm off break
22 Mignon du Preez ‡   South Africa (1989-06-13) 13 June 1989 (age 35) Right-handed Right-arm medium Overseas player
All-rounders
17 Kathryn Bryce ‡   Scotland (1997-11-17) 17 November 1997 (age 26) Right-handed Right-arm medium
20 Alice Monaghan   England (2000-03-20) 20 March 2000 (age 24) Right-handed Right-arm medium
25 Jo Gardner   England (1997-03-25) 25 March 1997 (age 27) Right-handed Right-arm medium
24 Jenny Gunn ‡   England (1986-05-09) 9 May 1986 (age 38) Right-handed Right-arm medium England Performance squad
34 Georgia Elwiss ‡   England (1991-05-31) 31 May 1991 (age 33) Right-handed Right-arm medium Club captain; England Performance squad
50 Hayley Matthews ‡   West Indies (1998-03-19) 19 March 1998 (age 26) Right-handed Right-arm off break Overseas player
58 Chamari Atapattu ‡   Sri Lanka (1990-02-09) 9 February 1990 (age 34) Left-handed Right-arm medium Overseas player
Wicket-keepers
27 Abigail Freeborn   England (1996-11-12) 12 November 1996 (age 27) Right-handed
40 Amy Jones ‡   England (1993-06-13) 13 June 1993 (age 31) Right-handed England Performance squad
Bowlers
7 Lucy Higham   England (1997-10-17) 17 October 1997 (age 27) Right-handed Right-arm off break
16 Sarah Glenn   England (1999-02-27) 27 February 1999 (age 25) Right-handed Right-arm leg break
46 Tara Norris   England (1998-06-04) 4 June 1998 (age 26) Left-handed Left-arm medium
48 Kirstie Gordon ‡   England (1997-10-20) 20 October 1997 (age 27) Right-handed Slow left-arm orthodox England Performance squad

Overseas players

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Seasons

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Season Final standing League standings Notes
P W L T NR BP Pts NRR Pos
2016 Losing semi-finalists: 3rd 5 3 2 0 0 2 8 +0.170 3rd Lost to Western Storm in the semi-final
2017 Group stage 5 2 3 0 0 2 10 +0.664 4th DNQ
2018 Runners-up 10 7 3 0 0 5 33 +1.361 1st Lost to Surrey Stars in the final
2019 Losing semi-finalists: 3rd 10 7 3 0 0 4 32 +0.792 2nd Lost to Southern Vipers in the semi-final

Statistics

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Overall Results

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Women's Cricket Super League - summary of results[18][19]
Year Played Wins Losses Tied NR Win %
2016 6 3 2 0 0 50.00
2017 5 2 3 0 0 40.00
2018 11 7 3 0 0 63.63
2019 11 7 3 0 0 63.63
Total 33 19 14 0 0 57.57
  • Abandoned matches are counted as NR (no result)
  • Win or loss by super over or boundary count are counted as tied.

Teamwise Result summary

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Opposition Mat Won Lost Tied NR Win %
Lancashire Thunder 6 5 1 0 0 73.33
Southern Vipers 7 3 4 0 0 42.85
Surrey Stars 7 5 2 0 0 71.42
Western Storm 7 2 5 0 0 28.57
Yorkshire Diamonds 6 4 2 0 0 66.66

Records

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References

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  1. ^ "ECB unveil teams and schedule for Women's Cricket Super League". ESPN Cricinfo. 25 February 2016. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  2. ^ "Taylor Relishing Lightning Challenge". Leicestershire County Cricket Club. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  3. ^ "Loughborough Lightning Cricket Squad". Loughborough University. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  4. ^ "ECB names six Women's Super League hosts". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  5. ^ "Loughborough Lightning". www.lboro.ac.uk. Retrieved 8 February 2020.
  6. ^ "Women's Regional Hubs to play for Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy". the Cricketer. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  7. ^ "Women's Cricket Super League: Six successful bids announced for new T20 league". BBC Sport. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  8. ^ "Women's Super League 2016 Table". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  9. ^ "Knight's fifty trumps Perry for final berth". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  10. ^ "Women's Cricket Super League 2017 Table". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  11. ^ "Women's Cricket Super League 2018 Table". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  12. ^ "Lizelle Lee's commanding century powers Surrey to KSL title". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  13. ^ "Women's Cricket Super League, 2018/Most Wickets". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  14. ^ "Women's Cricket Super League 2019 Table". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  15. ^ "Vipers scrape through to final after nervy run chase". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  16. ^ "ECB launches new plan to transform women's and girls' cricket". England and Wales Cricket Board. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
  17. ^ "Loughborough Lightning Cricket Squad". Loughborough University. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  18. ^ "Women Cricket Super League match result summary". ESPNCricinfo. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  19. ^ "Loughborough Lightning opposition wise result summary". ESPNCricinfo. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  20. ^ "Loughborough Lightning Highest totals". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  21. ^ "Loughborough Lightning Lowest totals". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  22. ^ "Loughborough Lightning Highest scores". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  23. ^ "Loughborough Lightning Best Bowling Figures in an Innings". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  24. ^ "Loughborough Lightning Most runs". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  25. ^ "Loughborough Lightning Most wickets". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 16 December 2020.