The Wales women's cricket team is the Welsh team for women's cricket. They play their home matches at various grounds across the country, including Spytty Park, Newport and Pontarddulais Park, Pontarddulais. They are captained by Lauren Parfitt.
As in men's cricket, Wales does not normally compete as a separate country internationally, instead being represented as part of the England team, but in 2005 they played in the European Championship tournament as it was being held in Wales. They finished in third place in the tournament.
The team regularly participate in the English domestic county structure, and in 2019 they competed in Division Two of the final season of the Women's County Championship. They now compete in the Women's Twenty20 Cup. They are partnered with the regional side Western Storm.
History Wales Women's first recorded match was in 2002, against Scotland, which they won by 7 wickets. In 2004, Wales joined the English domestic county structure, competing in the County Challenge Cup: they finished 3rd in their group in their first season.
Between 2008 and 2010, Wales went through an extremely successful era in the Women's County Championship, gaining three promotions in a row, from Division 5M, Division 4 and Division 3. Ever since, Wales have played in Division 2 of the Championship, with their best finish of 3rd coming in 2018. Since 2009, Wales have also competed in the Women's Twenty20 Cup. In 2018, they gained promotion from Division Two, finishing second with 7 wins from 8 games. Overseas player Rachel Priest was key to their success, ending the season as the second leading run-scorer in the tournament, with teammate Gabrielle Basketter just behind her in third. In 2019, their first season in Division 1, Wales finished 7th. The following Twenty20 Cup season, in 2021, they finished 4th in the West Midlands Group with one victory, against eventual group winners Somerset. They finished third in their group in the 2022 Women's Twenty20 Cup. They also competed in the West Midlands Regional Cup in 2022, coming second in the initial group stage before beating Worcestershire in the final to win the inaugural edition of the competition. In 2023, the side lost in the group final in the 2023 Women's Twenty20 Cup to Somerset, and finished third in the West Midlands Regional Cup. In 2024, the side finished 6th in their group in the Twenty20 Cup and 4th in their group in the new ECB Women's County One-Day tournament.
Wales do not usually compete internationally, instead playing as a combined team with England. However, in 2005 they competed in the Women's European Championship, which was held in Wales. They won two matches, against Ireland and Scotland, and placed 3rd out of 5 in the final table.
Players Current squad Based on appearances in the 2023 season. Name Nationality Birth date Batting style Bowling style Notes Batters Rose Evans Right-handed Right-arm leg break Ellie Hopkins Right-handed Unknown Lauren Parfitt Right-handed Slow left-arm orthodox Club captain All-rounders Lydia Clements Unknown Unknown Alex Griffiths Right-handed Right-arm medium Niamh Mansel Unknown Unknown Unknown Charlotte Scarborough Right-handed Right-arm medium Sophia Smale Right-handed Slow left-arm orthodox Wicket-keepers Bethan Gammon Right-handed – Georgia Parfitt Right-handed – Libby Thomas Left-handed – Bowlers Martha Bilsland Unknown Unknown Unknown Emma Brazier Unknown Unknown Madison Evans Unknown Unknown Cerys Griffiths Unknown Unknown Unknown Kelsey Hughes Unknown Unknown Unknown Seren Hughes Unknown Right-arm medium Eve Jackson Unknown Unknown Emily Janas Unknown Unknown Unknown Claire Nicholas Right-handed Right-arm off break Sara Phillips Right-handed Right-arm leg break Nicole Reid Unknown Right-arm leg break Ffion Wynne Right-handed Right-arm medium
Seasons Women's County Championship Season Division League standings Notes P W L T A/C BP Pts Pos 2004 County Challenge Cup G3 3 1 2 0 0 21 33 3rd 2005 County Challenge Cup G3 2 1 1 0 0 14 26 3rd 2006 County Challenge Cup G3 3 2 1 0 0 4 44 2nd 2007 County Challenge Cup G2 3 1 1 0 1 4 39 2nd 2008 Division 5M 3 2 1 0 0 0 40 2nd Promoted 2009 Division 4 10 9 1 0 0 5 185 1st Promoted 2010 Division 3 10 8 2 0 0 53 133 1st Promoted 2011 Division 2 10 0 9 0 1 31 31 6th 2012 Division 2 8 2 4 0 2 29 49 7th 2013 Division 2 8 1 6 0 1 35 45 7th 2014 Division 2 8 3 4 0 1 39 69 6th 2015 Division 2 8 2 4 0 2 37 57 6th 2016 Division 2 7 3 2 0 2 30 60 5th 2017 Division 2 7 3 4 0 0 42 72 5th 2018 Division 2 7 4 2 0 1 42 82 3rd 2019 Division 2 7 3 3 1 0 43 78 5th
Women's European Championship Season League standings Notes P W L T A/C Pts Pos 2005 4 2 2 0 0 4 3rd
Women's Twenty20 Cup Season Division League standings Notes P W L T A/C NRR Pts Pos 2009 Division 6 3 0 0 0 3 − 3 1st 2010 Division S2 3 3 0 0 0 +1.22 6 1st Promoted 2011 Division S&W 1 3 0 3 0 0 −2.73 0 4th 2012 Division S&W 1 3 1 2 0 0 −1.04 2 3rd 2013 Division S&W 1 3 1 2 0 0 −3.05 2 3rd 2014 Division 2C 4 2 2 0 0 −1.14 8 5th 2015 Division 2 8 3 5 0 0 −0.24 12 6th 2016 Division 2 7 4 2 0 1 +0.95 17 3rd 2017 Division 2 8 3 3 0 2 +0.07 14 5th 2018 Division 2 8 7 1 0 0 +1.95 28 2nd Promoted 2019 Division 1 8 2 4 0 2 −0.32 10 7th 2021 West Midlands 8 1 3 0 4 −0.86 8 4th 2022 Group 3 6 3 3 0 0 −0.89 12 3rd 2023 Group 8 6 2 0 0 4 +2.930 12 1st Lost final 2024 Group 4 8 4 2 0 2 +0.64 72 6th
ECB Women's County One-Day Season Group League standings Notes P W L T A/C BP Pts Pos 2024 Group 3 4 2 1 0 0 1 11 4th
See also Wales national cricket team Western Storm
References