Surrey Women start the defence of their 50 over London Championship tomorrow with a visit to Brighton to play Sussex.
Eva Gray will captain a young side that features a number of debutants at the Brighton Aldridge Community Academy ground. It is the first fifty over game of the season for Surrey, who will go onto face Middlesex, Kent and Essex for the right to be crowned champions of the south east.
Two of the debutants, Lucy Pickton-Allen and Olivia Daniels, are graduates of the Surrey age group programme whilst Bethan Miles, also set to make her Surrey debut, is dual registered with Buckinghamshire and part of the regional Academy.
Maddie Blinkhorn-Jones played for Surrey in two T20s last summer but did not feature with bat or ball, so will be hoping to register the first stats of her young career.
It is a first London Championship appearance for Sussex, who have been added to an expanded competition, following a successful launch in 2020 – where Surrey became the first champions after enjoying a dominant summer.
A number of regular names including, club captain Hannah Jones, are missing from the game as they play for South East Stars in the ongoing Rachael Heyhoe-Flint Trophy.
Surrey finished second in the regional T20 competition that kicked off the summer, securing wins over Essex, Hampshire and Middlesex but losing both encounters with Kent, the eventual winners – who feature a large number of players who are now team mates with Surrey stalwarts in the South East Stars.
Sadly Covid19 considerations mean that fans are not permitted in Brighton – but those that want to catch some women’s cricket can do at The Kia Oval this weekend, when South East Stars play Western Storm at The Kia Oval. The match will feature England stars including Surrey’s Bryony Smith and Sophia Dunkley – a centurion for the Stars last weekend – and on the opposition, England captain Heather Knight and her teammate Anya Shrubsole.
Full Surrey squad
Eva Gray (c) Izzy Berry Chloe Brewer Maddie Blinkhorn-Jones Claudie Cooper Olivia Daniels Amy Gordon Danielle Gregory Beth Kerins Bethan Miles Lucy Pickton-Allen Rhianna Southby
