The Somerset Women cricket team is the women's representative cricket team for the English ceremonial county of Somerset. They play their home games at various grounds across Somerset, most often in Taunton, and are captained by Sophie Luff. Somerset consistently competed in either Division 1 or Division 2 of the Women's County Championship, and won Division 2 of the Women's Twenty20 Cup in 2019. In 2021, they won the West Midlands Group of the Twenty20 Cup. They were formerly partnered with the regional team Western Storm.
History 1953–1999: Early History Somerset Women first formed in 1953, and played their first recorded match on 6 June that year, against Gloucestershire A. After this, Somerset played various one-off games, whilst West of England Women, which included Somerset, played in the Women's Area Championship from 1980 until 1996 and the Women's County Championship from 1997 until 1999.
2000– : Women's County Championship
Somerset replaced West of England Women in the County Championship in 2000, and finished 3rd in Division 2 in their first season. Somerset remained in the second division until 2005, when they were promoted. This then began a period in which Somerset bounced between the two divisions, being promoted in 2008, 2011, 2015 and 2017 and relegated in 2006, 2010, 2012, 2016 and 2018. Somerset also missed out on promotion in play-offs in 2013 and 2014, with the game being abandoned in 2013 and losing to Warwickshire Women in 2014. In 2019, Somerset finished second-bottom of Division 2.
Somerset have fared similarly in the Women's Twenty20 Cup, for example winning promotion to Division 1 in 2014 and 2016 before being relegated in the following seasons. In 2019, Somerset won Division 2 with 6 victories from 8 games. Following the 2019 season, women's cricket in England was restructured and the 2020 season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, only the Twenty20 Cup took place, with Somerset competing in the West Midlands Group. They won their regional division, winning 5 of their 8 matches. Somerset bowler Lorraine Szczepanski was the second-highest wicket-taker in the tournament, with 13 wickets, and batters Georgia Hennessy and Sophie Luff were the 2nd and 4th leading run-scorers, respectively. They finished second in their group in the 2022 Women's Twenty20 Cup and subsequently progressed to the group final, where they lost to Warwickshire. In the 2023 Women's Twenty20 Cup, all of the side's group stage matches were rained-off, but they beat Devon and Wales on the group Finals Day to win their group. They also played various 50-over friendlies against other sides in the South West. In 2024, the side finished 2nd in their group in the Twenty20 Cup and 5th in their group in the new ECB Women's County One-Day tournament.
Somerset have had various notable players appear for them over the years, most prominently the former England players Anya Shrubsole and Fran Wilson.
Players Current squad 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 Batters5 Heather Knight Right-handed Right-arm off break England central contract18 Rebecca Odgers Right-handed Right-arm off break 21 Emma Corney Right-handed Right-arm medium 63 Sophie Luff Right-handed Right-arm medium Club captain All-rounders 24 Charlie Dean Right-handed Right-arm off break England central contract25 Alex Griffiths Right-handed Right-arm medium 27 Niamh Holland Right-handed Right-arm medium 28 Dani Gibson Right-handed Right-arm medium England central contract Wicket-keepers 22 Jess Hazell Right-handed — 38 Katie Jones Right-handed — Bowlers2 Bea Willis Right-handed Right-arm medium 14 Mollie Robbins Right-handed Right-arm medium 16 Erin Vukusic Right-handed Right-arm medium 20 Chloe Skelton Right-handed Right-arm off break 23 Lola Harris Right-handed Right-arm leg break 45 Ellie Anderson Right-handed Right-arm medium 95 Olivia Barnes Right-handed Slow left-arm orthodox Source: Updated: 1 October 2026
Notable players Players who have played for Somerset and played internationally are listed below, in order of first international appearance (given in brackets):
Audrey Disbury (1957) Janet Godman (1991) Sarah Collyer (1998) Katharine Winks (1998) Laura Harper (1999) Jackie Hawker (1999) Hannah Lloyd (1999) Kath Wilkins (1999) Caroline Atkins (2001) Isabelle Westbury (2005) Steph Davies (2008) Anya Shrubsole (2008) Heather Knight (2010) Fran Wilson (2010) Lizelle Lee (2013) Amanda-Jade Wellington (2016) Charlie Dean (2021) Lauren Filer (2023) Dani Gibson (2023) Erin Vukusic (2024)
Seasons Women's County Championship Season Division League standings Notes P W L T A/C BP Pts Pos 2000 Division 2 5 3 2 0 0 37 73 3rd 2001 Division 2 5 3 2 0 0 34 70 3rd 2002 Division 2 5 1 2 0 2 18 52 4th 2003 Division 2 5 2 3 0 0 32.5 56.5 4th 2004 Division 2 5 4 1 0 0 41 89 1st 2005 Division 2 6 4 1 0 1 42.5 101.5 1st Promoted 2006 Division 1 6 1 5 0 0 13 33 4th Relegated 2007 Division 2 6 3 2 0 1 4 89 3rd 2008 Division 2 6 4 2 0 0 6 86 2nd Promoted 2009 Division 1 10 3 7 0 0 14 74 4th 2010 Division 1 10 2 8 0 0 40 60 6th Relegated 2011 Division 2 10 5 3 0 2 52 102 3rd Promoted 2012 Division 1 8 0 4 0 4 21 21 9th Relegated 2013 Division 2 8 7 1 0 0 48 118 2nd Won Division 2 final; Lost promotion play-off 2014 Division 2 8 6 2 0 0 53 113 2nd Lost promotion play-off 2015 Division 2 8 6 0 0 2 45 105 1st Promoted 2016 Division 1 8 2 5 0 1 29 49 7th Relegated 2017 Division 2 7 5 1 0 1 41 91 2nd Promoted 2018 Division 1 7 1 5 1 0 31 46 8th Relegated 2019 Division 2 7 1 6 0 0 43 53 7th
Women's Twenty20 Cup Season Division League standings Notes P W L T A/C NRR Pts Pos 2009 Division 2 3 2 0 0 1 +1.23 5 1st 2010 Division S&W 1 3 1 2 0 0 −0.39 2 3rd 2011 Division S&W 1 3 1 2 0 0 +0.33 2 3rd 2012 Division S&W 1 3 2 1 0 0 +1.41 4 2nd 2013 Division S&W 1 3 3 0 0 0 +5.78 6 1st Lost group final 2014 Division 2C 4 3 1 0 0 +2.50 12 2nd Promoted 2015 Division 1 8 2 5 0 1 −0.59 9 8th Relegated 2016 Division 2 7 5 2 0 0 +0.78 20 1st Promoted 2017 Division 1 8 1 5 0 2 −1.35 6 8th Relegated 2018 Division 2 8 4 4 0 0 +0.80 16 5th 2019 Division 2 8 6 2 0 0 −0.03 24 1st 2021 West Midlands 8 5 1 0 2 +1.75 22 1st Group winners 2022 Group 3 6 4 2 0 0 +0.72 16 2nd Lost final 2023 Group 8 6 0 0 0 6 +0.00 6 3rd Group winners 2024 Group 4 8 6 2 0 0 +0.84 96 2nd
ECB Women's County One-Day Season Group League standings Notes P W L T A/C BP Pts Pos 2024 Group 3 4 1 2 1 0 1 7 5th
Honours County Championship: Division Two champions (4) – 2004, 2005, 2013 & 2015 Women's Twenty20 Cup: Division Two champions (2) – 2009, 2016 & 2019 Group winners (2) – 2021 & 2023
See also Somerset County Cricket Club Western Storm
References