Sunrisers (women's cricket)
Sunrisers are a women's cricket team that represent the London and East region, one of eight regional hubs in English domestic women's cricket. They play their home matches at various grounds, including the County Cricket Ground, Chelmsford. They are captained by Kelly Castle and coached by Laura Marsh. The team is partnered with Middlesex, Essex, Northamptonshire, Hertfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Suffolk, Norfolk, Bedfordshire and Huntingdonshire, as well as Marylebone Cricket Club. 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. Sunrisers were one of the sides created under this structure, representing the London and East region, Middlesex, Essex, Northamptonshire, Hertfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Suffolk, Norfolk, Bedfordshire and Huntingdonshire, as well as Marylebone Cricket Club. The side was to be captained by Amara Carr and coached by Trevor Griffin. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 season was truncated, and only 50-over cricket was played, in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy. Sunrisers finished bottom of the South Group in the competition, losing all six of their matches. At the end of the season, five Sunrisers players were given full -time domestic contracts, the first of their kind in England: Amara Carr, Naomi Dattani, Cordelia Griffith, Jo Gardner and Kelly Castle. The following season, 2021, Sunrisers competed in both the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy and the newly-formed Twenty20 competition, the Charlotte Edwards Cup. The side again lost all of their matches in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy, finishing bottom of the eight-team group. For the Charlotte Edwards Cup, Kelly Castle was named as captain of the side. In the first match of the tournament, Sunrisers recorded their first ever victory, beating Western Storm by 7 wickets. However, they  did not win another match in the tournament and finished bottom of their group, although they did tie their home match against North West Thunder. Ahead of the 2022 season, it was announced that Castle was becoming captain of the side in all formats, and that Trevor Griffin was stepping down as Head Coach for personal reasons. Griffin was later replaced by Laura Marsh, taking on the Head Coach role on an interim basis for the 2022 season. Players. Current squad. As per 2021 season. Academy. The Sunrisers Academy team plays against other regional academies in friendly and festival matches  across various formats. The Academy selects players from across the Sunrisers regional hub, and includes some players who are also in the first team squad. Players in the 2021/22 Academy are listed below: Coaching staff. "As of the 2022 season."