The Sussex Women's cricket team is the women's representative cricket team for the English historic county of Sussex. They play their home games at various grounds across the county, including Brighton Aldridge Community Academy Sports Ground and the County Cricket Ground, Hove. They are captained by Georgia Adams. They have won 6 Women's County Championships and 2 Women's Twenty20 Cups in their history. They are partnered with the regional side Southern Vipers.
History 1936–1996: Early History Sussex Women played their first recorded match in 1936, against Surrey. They went on to play various one-off matches, often against nearby teams such as Middlesex, as well as against touring sides such as New Zealand. Sussex joined the Women's Area Championship in 1980, and played in the competition until it was discontinued in 1996.
1997– : Women's County Championship Sussex joined the Women's County Championship for its inaugural season in 1997, finishing bottom of Division Two with one win. After a brief stint in the top division in 2000, Sussex became an established Division One side from 2002 onwards, and won their first title in 2003. This began a prosperous era for Sussex Women, going on to be County Champions three times in a row, with victories in 2004 and 2005. Other the next eight seasons, until 2013, Sussex never dropped out of the top 3 of Division One, and recorded three more title wins, in 2008, 2010 and 2013. Key to this success was players such as Rosalie Birch, Alexia Walker and Clare Connor, who were regularly top run-scorers for the side.
Sussex also joined the Women's Twenty20 Cup for its inaugural season in 2009, and qualified for the knockout stages in every season from 2010 to 2013. Sussex won the title in 2012, beating Berkshire by ten wickets in the final: bowling their opponents out for 52, with Sussex bowler Izi Noakes taking 3/5. Sussex went on to win their second T20 title in 2015, topping Division One with six wins from eight games, and finishing ahead of Yorkshire and Kent on Net Run Rate.
In recent years, Sussex have struggled to replicate their early success in the County Championship, and were relegated from Division One in 2017. They managed to bounce straight back however, winning Division Two in 2018, and finished 3rd in Division One in 2019. In 2021, they competed in the South East Group of the Twenty20 Cup, finishing 4th with 3 victories, as well as joining the Women's London Championship for its second season, in which they finished 4th out of 5 teams. In 2022, they won their group of the Twenty20 Cup, topping the initial group stage before beating Kent in the final of the group Finals Day. They also joined the South Central Counties Cup in 2022, finishing fifth out of six teams in the inaugural edition. In 2023, they won their group of the 2023 Women's Twenty20 Cup, defeating Hampshire in the final, and the South Central Counties Cup, topping the group on head-to-head record. In 2024, the side topped their group in both the Twenty20 Cup and the new ECB Women's County One-Day tournament.
Players Current squad Based on appearances in the 2023 season. denotes players with international caps. Name Nationality Birth date Batting style Bowling style Notes Batters Maya Champion Unknown Unknown Izzy Collis Right-handed Right-arm leg break Phoebe Wilkinson Unknown Unknown Rachel King Right-handed Unknown All-rounders Regina Suddahazai Right-handed Right-arm medium Wicket-keepers Mollie Adams Right-handed Right-arm off break Lucy Western Right-handed – Bowlers Anna Buckle Unknown Unknown Indigo Gentry Right-handed Right-arm medium Chiara Green Right-handed Right-arm off break Beth Harvey Right-handed Right-arm off break Tia Joseph Unknown Unknown Unknown Faye Mullins Unknown Unknown Hope Mullins Unknown Unknown Alice Noakes Right-handed Right-arm medium
Notable players Players who have played for Sussex and played internationally are listed below, in order of first international appearance (given in brackets):
Doris Turner (1934) Betty Birch (1951) Jean Cummins (1954) Kay Green (1954) Helene Hegarty (1954) Anne Sanders (1954) Helen Sharpe (1957) Josephine Batson (1958) Barbara Pont (1960) Shirley Hodges (1969) Shirley Ellis (1973) Jan Southgate (1976) Jan Brittin (1979) Helen Stother (1982) Jane Powell (1984) Lesley Cooke (1986) Joan Lee (1986) Elaine Wulcko (1987) Janni Jønsson (1989) Sarah-Jane Cook (1990) Clare Connor (1995) Haidee Tiffen (1999) Arran Brindle (1999) Caroline Atkins (2001) Kate Oakenfold (2001) Alexia Walker (2001) Mandie Godliman (2002) Aimee Watkins (2002) Sara McGlashan (2002) Rosalie Birch (2003) Holly Colvin (2005) Sarah Taylor (2006) Laura Marsh (2006) Mignon du Preez (2007) Charlie Russell (2007) Erin Osborne (2009) Danni Wyatt (2010) Georgia Elwiss (2011) Linsey Smith (2018) Freya Davies (2019) Tara Norris (2021) Freya Kemp (2022) Paige Scholfield (2024) Georgia Adams (2024)
Seasons Women's County Championship Season Division League standings Notes P W L T A/C BP Pts Pos 1997 Division 2 5 1 4 0 0 25 37 6th 1998 Division 2 5 2 3 0 0 31 55 4th 1999 Division 2 5 5 0 0 0 39 99 1st Promoted 2000 Division 1 5 1 4 0 0 29.5 41.5 6th Relegated 2001 Division 2 5 5 0 0 0 43 103 1st Promoted 2002 Division 1 5 2 1 0 2 21 67 3rd 2003 Division 1 5 4 1 0 0 28.5 86.5 1st Champions 2004 Division 1 5 5 0 0 0 46 106 1st Champions 2005 Division 1 6 3 1 0 2 30 88 1st Champions 2006 Division 1 6 4 1 0 1 1 85 2nd 2007 Division 1 6 4 1 0 1 2 112 2nd 2008 Division 1 6 5 0 0 1 1 107 1st Champions 2009 Division 1 10 8 2 0 0 4 164 2nd 2010 Division 1 10 8 2 0 0 60 140 1st Champions 2011 Division 1 10 7 2 0 1 57 127 2nd 2012 Division 1 8 5 0 0 3 37 87 3rd 2013 Division 1 8 6 2 0 0 56 116 1st Champions 2014 Division 1 8 3 3 0 2 38 68 5th 2015 Division 1 8 4 2 1 1 49 94 3rd 2016 Division 1 8 4 2 0 2 41 81 2nd 2017 Division 1 7 3 4 0 0 36 66 7th Relegated 2018 Division 2 7 5 1 0 1 45 95 1st Promoted 2019 Division 1 7 4 3 0 0 45 85 3rd
Women's Twenty20 Cup Season Division League standings Notes P W L T A/C NRR Pts Pos 2009 Division 1 3 0 1 0 2 −1.05 2 4th 2010 Division S1 3 2 1 0 0 +2.30 4 2nd Lost semi-final 2011 Division S1 3 3 0 0 0 +2.17 4 2nd Lost semi-final 2012 Division S1 3 2 0 0 1 +3.03 5 1st Champions 2013 Division S1 3 2 1 0 0 +1.53 4 1st Runners-up 2014 Division 1A 4 3 1 0 0 +0.20 12 5th 2015 Division 1 8 6 2 0 0 +0.56 24 1st Champions 2016 Division 1 7 2 3 0 2 −0.07 10 7th 2017 Division 1 8 4 2 0 2 +0.54 18 3rd 2018 Division 1 8 6 2 0 0 +1.19 24 2nd 2019 Division 1 8 3 4 0 1 +0.30 13 6th 2021 South East 8 3 3 0 2 –0.17 14 4th 2022 Group 6 6 5 1 0 0 +0.91 20 1st Group winners 2023 Group 5 6 3 1 0 2 +0.16 14 2nd Group winners 2024 Group 3 8 6 1 0 1 +1.09 92 1st
ECB Women's County One-Day Season Group League standings Notes P W L T A/C BP Pts Pos 2024 Group 4 4 3 0 0 1 1 14 1st Group winners
Honours County Championship: Division One Champions (6) – 2003, 2004, 2005, 2008, 2010, 2013 Division Two Champions (3) – 1999, 2001, 2018 Women's Twenty20 Cup: Champions (2) – 2012, 2015 Group winners (2) – 2022 & 2023 ECB Women's County One-Day: Group winners (1) – 2024
See also Sussex County Cricket Club Southern Vipers
References