Latest news with #LauraMacLeod
BBC News
20-05-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Bears sign opener Harris for women's T20 Blast
Warwickshire have signed Australian opening bat Laura Harris for the inaugural women's T20 Blast, which begins next 34-year-old will join Bears Women, the name the club are using for the short-format competition, before the opening game against The Blaze at Trent Bridge on 30 has played 123 games in Australia's Big Bash T20 competition and has previous experience in English conditions, having appeared for three different teams in The Hundred."Her aggressive batting approach and proven experience at the highest level of franchise cricket will undoubtedly strengthen our side," said director of cricket Laura MacLeod."She perfectly aligns with our ambitions and the style of cricket we aim to showcase."Warwickshire are one of eight fully professional teams playing under a new format for the domestic women's game, replacing the former regional first home game in the T20 Blast will be against Durham on 31 May in a double header with the two men's teams.
Telegraph
22-04-2025
- Sport
- Telegraph
Mystery spinner, player-coaches and NFL-style changing rooms: Warwickshire's new women's set-up
For Laura MacLeod, a former England cricketer and the head of high performance for Bears Women, the new system is an exciting prospect. But she is also open about the limitations of some of the younger players and their current abilities. Despite minimum starting salaries for men and women being equal in domestic cricket from 2025, some younger women's players have had fewer opportunities to develop their talents and have been limited to just two training sessions a week in an academy. When asked how much of a difference this system can make for the depth of domestic cricket and feeding into the England set-up, which is now under the charge of her former team-mate Charlotte Edwards, MacLeod says: 'With [Central] Sparks [the previous team in the West Midlands] we got a massive amount of support from this club in terms of access to facilities, but we've gone up; we've not gone up a notch, we've gone up a massive amount now. 'I suppose in the high-performance environment you talk about – or the British Cycling team talk about marginal gains – it's not marginal gains, it's not one per centers here, you've got 18-year-olds, 20-year-olds, that their training age, their maturity age is nowhere near and therefore they've got 10, 20 30 per cent differences to make. 'That's the really exciting bit that you can see and the journeys that some of these have gone on, and I suppose it's multi-faceted because it's the physical, it's the mental, it's the skills as well.' For Warwickshire, the challenge now is to translate the investment and developments off the field into success on the pitch. Revamped domestic structure explained After undergoing three revolutions in eight years, the new-look women's county cricket season gets under way this month. Here, Telegraph Sport breaks down the new tiers and the three white-ball competitions they will play in. Tier one The Blaze, Durham, Essex, Hampshire, Lancashire, Somerset, Surrey, Warwickshire. Tier two Derbyshire, Glamorgan, Gloucestershire, Kent, Leicestershire, Middlesex, Northamptonshire, Sussex, Worcestershire, Yorkshire. Metro Bank One Day Cup Format 50-over competition Who competes Tiers one and two Start date Tier one: April 23 – Surrey v Somerset. Tier two: April 19 – Yorkshire v Worcestershire. Finals Day Tier one: September 21, Utilita Bowl, Southampton. Tier two: September 14, New Road, Worcester. Vitality Blast Format T20 competition Who competes Tiers one and two Start date Tier one: May 30 – Hampshire v Essex. Tier two: May 29 – Middlesex v Sussex. Finals Day Tier one: July 27, Kia Oval. Tier two: July 26, Northampton. Vitality County Cup Format T20 competition Who competes Tiers one, two and three Start date May 5 – Middlesex v Kent, Radlett. Finals day May 26, Taunton. Women's county cricket predictions Metro Bank One Day Cup Tier-one winner: Lancashire Only Lancashire and Surrey will have 21 women's players in their squads, and Lancashire will have eight matches at Old Trafford, including four double-headers. The squad have received investment and they have a number of younger players in the England pathway, as well as experience. Tier-two winner: Yorkshire After signing Lauren Winfield-Hill and in their only season outside the top tier, it is hard to look past Yorkshire. They should, with their financial spending that included a pre-season tour, have the depth to come out on top, especially in the 50-over competition. Women's Blast Tier-one winner: Surrey With a squad including four England internationals, as well some experienced domestic cricketers, Surrey have invested in both their backroom staff and team. With a 21-player squad they have a strength in depth that will be hard to match by any of the other counties. Tier-two winner: Glamorgan Poised to join the top tier in 2027, Glamorgan have developed a strategic partnership with Gloucestershire, who are lending players to their rivals. They will also be coached by former New Zealand international Rachel Priest and will want to have two impressive seasons before moving up. Vitality County Cup Winner: Hampshire Southern Vipers were the dominant force in the regional era of women's cricket and they will have four England players in their squad. After going trophyless last season they are likely to fight back and compete for silverware, and what would be more coveted than the newest trophy? Player of the season Alice Davidson-Richards (Surrey) As someone who is likely to play in almost every single match across the formats, Davidson-Richards will have plenty of chances to score runs. She was the top run-scorer in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy last season and is a useful bowling option. Emerging talent Davina Perrin (Warwickshire) An 18-year-old who played her first games in the Hundred last season and spent the winter with England Under-19s, Perrin is poised to make an impact in 2025. Having been called up to the England A side for the four-day match against Australia following an injury to Freya Kemp, it is clear that she is highly rated.
