The 2021 season was Northern Diamonds' second season, in which they competed in the 50 over Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy and the new Twenty20 competition, the Charlotte Edwards Cup, finishing as runners-up in both competitions. The side finished second in the group stage of the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy, therefore progressing to the play-off, where they beat Central Sparks by 6 wickets. In the final, they played Southern Vipers in a repeat of the previous year's final. Batting first, Diamonds made 183, but lost by 3 wickets after reducing Vipers to 109/7.

In the Charlotte Edwards Cup, the side topped Group B of the competition, winning four of their six matches. They then played Southern Vipers in the semi-final on Finals Day, beating them by 18 runs to progress to the final against South East Stars. Diamonds made 138/4 batting first in the final, but this was chased down by the Stars with 2 overs to spare.

The side was captained by Hollie Armitage and coached by Danielle Hazell. They played their home matches at four grounds across the North East: the Riverside Ground, Headingley, South Northumberland Cricket Club and the North Marine Road Ground.

Squad Northern Diamonds announced their initial 18-player squad on 26 May 2021. On 10 June 2021, Sarah Taylor was signed as a short-term replacement for the injured Bess Heath. Age given is at the start of Northern Diamonds' first match of the season (29 May 2021). Name Nationality Birth date Batting Style Bowling Style Notes Batters Ami Campbell Left-handed Right-arm medium Leah Dobson Right-handed Right arm medium Rachel Hopkins Right-handed Right-arm medium Sterre Kalis Right-handed Right-arm medium All-rounders Hollie Armitage Right-handed Right-arm leg break Captain Katherine Brunt Right-handed Right-arm fast medium Jenny Gunn Right-handed Right-arm medium Alex MacDonald Left-handed Right-arm medium Nat Sciver Right-handed Right-arm medium Wicket-keepers Bess Heath Right-handed — Sarah Taylor Right-handed – Injury replacement player Lauren Winfield-Hill Right-handed Right-arm medium Bowlers Helen Fenby Right-handed Right-arm leg break Phoebe Graham Right-handed Right-arm medium Beth Langston Right-handed Right-arm medium Katie Levick Right-handed Right-arm leg break Rachel Slater Right-handed Left-arm medium Linsey Smith Left-handed Slow left-arm orthodox Ella Telford Right-handed Right-arm medium

Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy Season standings

Advanced to the final Advanced to the play-off

Fixtures

Play-off

Final

Tournament statistics Batting Player Matches Innings Runs Average High score 100s 50s 9 8 0 2 8 7 0 2 5 5 0 2 9 9 0 1 9 6 0 2 4 4 1 0 6 4 0 1 Source: ESPN Cricinfo Qualification: 100 runs.

Bowling Player Matches Overs Wickets Average Economy BBI 5wi 9 13 0 8 12 0 8 12 1 3 9 0 6 9 0 6 6 0 Source: ESPN Cricinfo Qualification: 5 wickets.

Charlotte Edwards Cup Group B

Advanced to the semi-final

Fixtures

Semi-final

Final

Tournament statistics Batting Player Matches Innings Runs Average High score 100s 50s 8 8 0 1 8 8 0 0 5 5 0 1 8 6 0 0 8 6 0 0 3 3 0 1 2 2 0 0 3 2 0 0 Source: ESPN Cricinfo Qualification: 50 runs.

Bowling Player Matches Overs Wickets Average Economy BBI 5wi 8 13 0 8 10 0 8 10 0 7 9 0 4 5 0 Source: ESPN Cricinfo Qualification: 5 wickets.

Season statistics Batting PlayerRachael Heyhoe Flint TrophyCharlotte Edwards Cup Matches Innings Runs High score Average Strike rate 100s 50s Matches Innings Runs High score Average Strike rate 100s 50s Hollie Armitage 9 9 197 68* 28.14 76.65 0 1 8 8 141 59* 23.50 109.30 0 1 Katherine Brunt 3 2 44 43 22.00 73.33 0 0 – – – – – – – – Ami Campbell 8 7 223 76 31.85 87.10 0 2 3 3 20 15 6.66 95.23 0 0 Leah Dobson 5 5 74 49 14.80 59.20 0 0 8 8 111 44* 15.85 79.28 0 0 Helen Fenby 1 1 2 2* – 15.38 0 0 1 1 0 0 0.00 0.00 0 0 Phoebe Graham 6 2 1 1 0.50 20.00 0 0 4 2 6 6* 6.00 150.00 0 0 Jenny Gunn 6 4 109 50 27.25 64.11 0 1 8 6 97 27* 32.33 96.03 0 0 Bess Heath 5 5 212 78* 106.00 111.57 0 2 5 5 103 58* 25.75 105.10 0 1 Rachel Hopkins 4 4 43 20 10.75 47.77 0 0 8 4 10 4* 3.33 58.82 0 0 Sterre Kalis 9 8 290 76 41.42 66.66 0 2 8 6 83 32 13.83 70.33 0 0 Beth Langston 9 6 141 59* 35.25 130.55 0 2 2 2 57 46* 57.00 105.55 0 0 Katie Levick 8 3 11 8 3.66 40.74 0 0 8 3 15 7* – 187.50 0 0 Alex MacDonald 4 3 57 39 19.00 62.63 0 0 7 3 28 22 14.00 87.50 0 0 Nat Sciver 3 3 26 10 13.00 57.77 0 0 – – – – – – – – Rachel Slater 3 2 6 6* 6.00 20.68 0 0 4 1 5 5 5.00 166.66 0 0 Linsey Smith 8 5 82 37 27.33 68.90 0 0 8 5 45 30 9.00 78.94 0 0 Sarah Taylor 1 1 2 2 2.00 40.00 0 0 3 2 54 43* 54.00 108.00 0 0 Ella Telford 3 1 0 0* – – 0 0 1 1 1 1* – 33.33 0 0 4 4 135 110 33.75 82.31 1 0 3 3 70 65 23.33 120.68 0 1 Source: ESPN Cricinfo

Bowling PlayerRachael Heyhoe Flint TrophyCharlotte Edwards Cup Matches Overs Wickets Average Economy BBI 5wi Matches Overs Wickets Average Economy BBI 5wi Hollie Armitage 9 23.0 2 62.50 5.43 2/32 0 8 9.0 3 23.66 7.88 2/18 0 Katherine Brunt 3 27.0 9 8.33 2.77 4/23 0 – – – – – – – Helen Fenby 1 – – – – – – 1 1.0 0 – 7.00 – 0 Phoebe Graham 6 49.0 6 41.66 5.10 3/44 0 4 13.0 4 19.75 6.07 2/20 0 Jenny Gunn 6 45.0 9 18.44 3.68 3/10 0 8 28.3 13 12.69 5.78 4/15 0 Beth Langston 9 73.5 13 20.69 3.64 2/12 0 2 6.0 4 12.75 8.50 2/19 0 Katie Levick 8 59.1 12 15.83 3.21 4/34 0 8 30.0 10 15.30 5.10 2/19 0 Alex MacDonald 4 3.0 0 – 7.00 – 0 7 26.0 9 14.11 4.88 4/17 0 Nat Sciver 3 23.2 2 50.50 4.32 2/24 0 – – – – – – – Rachel Slater 3 22.0 2 50.00 4.54 2/39 0 4 12.0 5 14.00 5.83 2/16 0 Linsey Smith 8 73.0 12 23.83 3.91 5/34 1 8 32.0 10 15.60 4.87 2/12 0 Ella Telford 3 14.0 0 – 7.00 – 0 – – – – – – – Source: ESPN Cricinfo

Fielding PlayerRachael Heyhoe Flint TrophyCharlotte Edwards Cup Matches Innings Catches Matches Innings Catches Hollie Armitage 9 9 3 8 8 4 Katherine Brunt 3 3 2 – – – Ami Campbell 8 8 4 3 3 2 Leah Dobson 5 5 0 8 8 2 Helen Fenby 1 1 0 1 1 1 Phoebe Graham 6 6 0 4 4 3 Jenny Gunn 6 6 2 8 8 3 Rachel Hopkins 4 4 0 8 8 0 Sterre Kalis 9 9 2 8 8 2 Beth Langston 9 9 2 2 2 0 Katie Levick 8 8 0 8 8 0 Alex MacDonald 4 4 1 7 7 2 Nat Sciver 3 3 2 – – – Rachel Slater 3 3 0 4 4 1 Linsey Smith 8 8 1 8 8 6 Ella Telford 3 3 1 1 1 0 Lauren Winfield-Hill 4 1 0 3 3 2 Source: ESPN Cricinfo

Wicket-keeping PlayerRachael Heyhoe Flint TrophyCharlotte Edwards Cup Matches Innings Catches Stumpings Matches Innings Catches Stumpings Bess Heath 5 5 4 1 5 5 1 2 Sarah Taylor 1 1 0 0 3 3 3 1 Lauren Winfield-Hill 4 3 6 1 – – – – Source: ESPN Cricinfo

References