Northern Diamonds were a women's cricket team that represented the traditional areas of the North East and Yorkshire, one of eight regional hubs in English domestic women's cricket. They primarily played their home matches at Headingley and the Riverside. They were captained by Hollie Armitage and coached by former England cricketer Danielle Hazell.
The team carried over elements of the WCSL team Yorkshire Diamonds, and were partnered with Yorkshire and North East Warriors. The Diamonds reached the final of the first three tournaments that they competed in, but lost each time. They won their first title in 2022, winning the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy.
At the end of the 2024 season, following reforms to the structure of women's domestic cricket, the team was effectively replaced by a professionalised Durham team.
History In 2020, women's cricket in England was restructured, creating eight new 'regional hub' teams, with the intention of playing both 50-over and 20-over cricket. Northern Diamonds were one of the sides created under this structure, effectively replacing the Women's Cricket Super League team Yorkshire Diamonds and representing the North East and Yorkshire, partnering with Yorkshire, Durham and Northumberland. The side was to be captained by Hollie Armitage and coached by Danielle Hazell. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 season was truncated, and only 50-over cricket was played, in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy. Northern Diamonds won the North Group in the competition, winning five of their six matches to progress to the final. In the final, they faced Southern Vipers, who scored 231 batting first. However, Charlotte Taylor's 6/34 helped bowl out the Diamonds for 193, meaning they finished as runners-up. At the end of the season, five Diamonds players were given full-time domestic contracts, the first of their kind in England: Hollie Armitage, Beth Langston, Linsey Smith, Phoebe Graham and Jenny Gunn.
The following season, 2021, Northern Diamonds competed in both the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy and the newly formed Twenty20 competition, the Charlotte Edwards Cup. In the Charlotte Edwards Cup, the side topped Group B with four wins from their six matches, just edging out Western Storm on Net Run Rate to qualify for the play-off on Finals Day. In the play-off, Diamonds beat Southern Vipers by 18 runs to qualify for the final, where they faced South East Stars. Batting first, Northern Diamonds made 138/4 with captain Armitage making 59*. However, Stars chased the target down with 2 overs to spare to win by 5 wickets. In the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy, Northern Diamonds again qualified for the knockout stages, finishing second in the group with five wins from their seven matches. They faced Central Sparks in the play-off, and beat them by 6 wickets thanks to Ami Campbell's 76 to progress to the final, where they again faced Southern Vipers. Batting first in the final, the Diamonds made 183, with Campbell again top-scoring with 60. However, despite reducing Vipers to 109/7, the side went on to lose the final by 3 wickets with 2 balls to spare.
In 2022, the side finished second in their Charlotte Edwards Cup group, with three wins from their six games, missing out on qualifying for Finals Day as the worst second-placed team. The side topped the group in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy, however, going unbeaten. They faced Southern Vipers in the final, for the third consecutive time in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy, but this time emerged victorious by two runs. Diamonds batter Lauren Winfield-Hill was the leading run-scorer in the competition, and bowler Linsey Smith was the joint leading wicket-taker.
In 2023, they finished fourth out of eight in the Charlotte Edwards Cup and sixth out of eight in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy. Diamonds batter Lauren Winfield-Hill was again the leading run-scorer in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy, with 663 runs including one century. In 2024, the side finished sixth in the Charlotte Edwards Cup and finished top of the group in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy, before losing to Sunrisers in the semi-finals. Diamonds bowler Phoebe Turner was the leading wicket-taker in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy, with 23 wickets.
2024 was the side's final season, with reforms to the structure of domestic cricket in England meaning that the side was effectively replaced by a professionalised Durham team.
Home grounds VenueGames hosted by season20 21 22 23 24 TotalRiverside Ground 1 3 3 3 4 14Headingley Cricket Ground 2 3 3 5 6 19South Northumberland Cricket Club – 1 – 1 – 2North Marine Road Ground – 1 – 1 2 4Clifton Park Ground – – – 1 1 2
Players Current squad Final squad, 2024 season. 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 Batters10 Leah Dobson Right-handed Right arm medium 17 Phoebe Turner Right-handed Right-arm medium 18 Rebecca Duckworth Right-handed – 22 Sterre Kalis Right-handed Right-arm medium All-rounders15 Abigail Glen Right-handed Right-arm medium 57 Hollie Armitage Right-handed Right-arm leg break Club captain70 Katherine Fraser Right-handed Right-arm off break Wicket-keepers25 Bess Heath Right-handed — 58 Lauren Winfield-Hill Right-handed Right-arm medium 89 Maddie Ward Right-handed – Bowlers2 Lizzie Scott Right-handed Right-arm medium 7 Emma Marlow Right-handed Right-arm off break 12 Grace Hall Right-handed Right-arm medium 19 Jessica Woolston Right-handed Right-arm medium 23 Katie Levick Right-handed Right-arm leg break 42 Beth Langston Right-handed Right-arm medium 48 Sophia Turner Right-handed Right-arm medium 72 Rachel Slater Right-handed Left-arm medium
Academy The Northern Diamonds Academy team played against other regional academies in friendly and festival matches across various formats. The academy selected players from across the North East region. Players in the 2024 Academy are listed below:
Name CountyMary Butler North East WarriorsTrudy Johnson North East WarriorsLucy Lindley YorkshireFrances Lonsdale YorkshireOlivia Miller North East WarriorsEllie Nightingale YorkshireAmelia Oliver YorkshireElicia Pollard YorkshireLucy Randle-Bissell YorkshireHarriet Robson North East WarriorsFreya Rook North East WarriorsBethany Slater YorkshireErin Thomas YorkshireGrace Thompson North East WarriorsMaddie Ward NottinghamshireEmily Whiting North East Warriors
Overseas players Leigh Kasperek – New Zealand (2022) Chloe Tryon – South Africa (2023) Erin Burns – Australia (2024)
Coaching staff
Head Coach: Danielle Hazell Regional Director: James Carr Assistant Coach: Kyle Coetzer Cricket Operations Manager: Cecilia Allen Head Strength & Conditioning Coach: Isaac Leung Head Physio: Jo Knowles Head Academy Coach: Courtney Winfield-Hill Sports Psychologist: Phill Lee Sports Nutritionist: Sarah Chantler Team Analyst: Harrison Allen Performance Coach: Richard Waite
As of the 2024 season.
Seasons Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy Season Final standing League standings Notes P W L T NR BP Pts NRR Pos 2020 6 5 1 0 0 3 23 +1.000 1st Lost to Southern Vipers in the final 2021 7 5 2 0 0 3 23 +1.182 2nd Lost to Southern Vipers in the final 2022 7 6 0 0 1 2 28 +0.851 1st Won against Southern Vipers in the final 2023 14 6 7 0 1 4 30 –0.034 6th DNQ 2024 14 9 4 0 1 3 41 +0.097 1st Lost to Sunrisers in the semi-finals
Charlotte Edwards Cup Season Final standing League standings Notes P W L T NR BP Pts NRR Pos 2021 6 4 2 0 0 1 17 +0.655 1st Lost to South East Stars in the final 2022 6 3 3 0 0 2 14 –0.102 2nd DNQ 2023 7 4 3 0 0 1 17 –0.129 4th DNQ 2024 10 3 7 0 0 1 13 –0.067 6th DNQ
Statistics Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy + Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy - summary of resultsYear Played Wins Losses Tied NR Win % 2020 7 5 2 0 0 71.43 2021 9 6 3 0 0 66.67 2022 8 7 0 0 1 87.50 2023 14 6 7 0 1 42.86 2024 15 9 5 0 1 60.00 Total53331703 62.26 Abandoned matches are counted as NR (no result) Win or loss by super over or boundary count are counted as tied.
+ Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy - teamwise result summaryOppositionMat Won Lost Tied NRWin % Central Sparks 9 5 4 0 0 55.55 North West Thunder 8 7 1 0 0 87.50 South East Stars 6 4 1 0 1 66.67 Southern Vipers 9 3 5 0 1 33.33 Sunrisers 7 4 3 0 0 57.14 The Blaze 8 4 3 0 1 50.00 Western Storm 6 6 0 0 0 100.00
Charlotte Edwards Cup + Charlotte Edwards Cup - summary of resultsYear Played Wins Losses Tied NR Win % 2021 8 5 3 0 0 62.50 2022 6 3 3 0 0 50.00 2023 7 4 3 0 0 57.14 2024 10 3 7 0 0 30.00 Total31151600 48.39 Abandoned matches are counted as NR (no result) Win or loss by super over or boundary count are counted as tied.
+ Charlotte Edwards Cup - teamwise result summaryOppositionMat Won Lost Tied NRWin % Central Sparks 3 2 1 0 0 66.67 North West Thunder 7 3 4 0 0 42.86 South East Stars 3 1 2 0 0 33.33 Southern Vipers 5 1 4 0 0 20.00 Sunrisers 4 3 1 0 0 75.00 The Blaze 5 2 3 0 0 40.00 Western Storm 4 3 1 0 0 75.00
Records Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy Highest team total: 334/6, v Western Storm on 11 September 2022. Lowest (completed) team total: 62 v The Blaze on 6 May 2023. Highest individual score: 131*, Hollie Armitage v Western Storm on 11 September 2022. Best individual bowling analysis: 6/20, Phoebe Turner v North West Thunder on 1 September 2024. Most runs: 1,722 runs in 42 matches, Lauren Winfield-Hill. Most wickets: 79 wickets in 51 matches, Katie Levick.
Charlotte Edwards Cup Highest team total: 218/3, v Western Storm on 19 May 2023. Lowest (completed) team total: 92 v North West Thunder on 18 May 2022. Highest individual score: 98, Lauren Winfield-Hill v Western Storm on 19 May 2023. Best individual bowling analysis: 5/15, Katie Levick v Southern Vipers on 21 May 2022. Most runs: 831 runs in 31 matches, Hollie Armitage. Most wickets: 51 wickets in 31 matches, Katie Levick.
Honours Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy: Champions (1) – 2022
See also Durham Women cricket team North East Warriors Northumberland Women cricket team Yorkshire Women cricket team Yorkshire Diamonds
References