• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Cricket Yorkshire

  • HOME
  • SHOP
  • Club cricket
  • Yorkshire CCC
  • Newsletter
  • Advertise
  • WRITE FOR US
  • ABOUT
You are here: Home / Yorkshire CCC / Yorkshire Diamonds prepped for Kia Super League

Yorkshire Diamonds prepped for Kia Super League

July 28, 2016 by John Fuller

  • 31Share on Twitter
  • 44Share on Facebook

yorkshire diamonds squad

The Yorkshire Diamonds squad came out in dribs and drabs for the Media Day photoshoot with the Carnegie Pavilion looming in the background.

Captain Lauren Winfield, Beth Mooney, Jenny Gunn and Danielle Hazell plonked themselves on the front row with the shouted excitement from a sponsors game taking place out in the middle as the soundtrack.

So, this is it. After being unveiled as one of the six teams in the inaugural Kia Super League, the logo design, the hashtag (#shinebright) and squad announcements, Yorkshire Diamonds are ready to rock.

This T20 tournament intends to aid the transition between county and international cricket, boost the standard and profile of womens cricket still further and inspire those of all ages to play the game.

There can be no doubting the quality. Yorkshire Diamonds will have four England women’s players, three overseas players, two England Women’s Academy players and six cricketers who have been picked through a county talent identification process.

Yorkshire Diamonds Head Coach Richard Pyrah

Talking to Head Coach Richard Pyrah, there’s a sense of excitement at what’s to come but also a slight step into the unknown:

“The challenge now is to get them gelled together in a five-day period and away we go on Saturday.”

He believes winning trophies is the name of the game, you’d expect nothing less from a Yorkshire cricket team, but that will partly depend on the sharp learning curve for less experienced county players who’ll need to adapt to the occasion and professional environment around this league:

“I think exposing them to a bit more pressure, to the professional game so having sports psychologists and full-time physios…they’ve never had this before…it’s going to be a big shock to them. The ones who will be successful are the ones who take all of it in their stride.”

Pyrah’s looking to senior players and internationals to bring the county cricketers along and that dynamic will be fascinating as there is a gap between England Women who have professional contracts and the amateur status of the county game.

beth mooney

I grab a word with Beth Mooney, the Australian wicketkeeper-batsman who is returning to Headingley after helping Yorkshire Women win the County Championship last season.

Alongside her international teammate Alex Blackwell, Mooney is expected to deliver the runs and nous to power the Diamonds top order, though my glib notion that she’s one of three overseas ‘superstars’ is dismissed with an easy laugh.

Last season Mooney played for Wrenthorpe in the Ladies Northern Division One League and assisted the staff with the county age group teams: “I was more of a mentor and a coach. They’re a really good bunch of girls and really talented.”

As for Mooney’s own expectations with Yorkshire Diamonds, she’ll be keeping things simple: “I’ve come here to play my brand of cricket, I think you’ve got to take it one game at a time, the old cliché…I guess you need to hang in there and do the hard work.”

Yorkshire Diamonds

Yorkshire Diamonds begin the inaugural Kia Super League against Loughborough Lightning at Headingley on Saturday 30 July at 2.30pm before Western Storm visit HQ on Sunday 14 August.

No-one quite knows what the public reaction will be to this new tournament given the volume of cricket already.

With any luck, Yorkshire cricket fans will get behind the Diamonds and come along to Yorkshire County Cricket Club to give their support.

With only two home games, building a Yorkshire fanbase may take time but womens cricket is set for a bold new adventure.

YORKSHIRE DIAMONDS 2016 SQUAD:

Hollie Armitage (Yorkshire & England Academy)
Alex Blackwell (New South Wales & Australia)
Katherine Brunt (Yorkshire & England)
Steph Butler (Staffordshire & England Academy)
Alice Davidson Richards (Kent)
Teresa Graves (Yorkshire)
Jenny Gunn (Warwickshire & England)
Danielle Hazell (Yorkshire & England)
Shabnim Ismail (Western Province & South Africa)
Katie Levick (Yorkshire)
Beth Mooney (Queensland & Australia)
Anna Nicholls (Middlesex)
Laura Spragg (Yorkshire)
Katie Thompson (Yorkshire)
Lauren Winfield – captain (Yorkshire and England)

http://yorkshireccc.com/diamonds

Filed Under: Yorkshire CCC

About John Fuller

Journalist, author and conquering Yorkshire one cricket tea at a time.

Primary Sidebar

TEAMWEAR & KIT DEALS

FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA

  • Facebook
  • Twitter

CRICKET EQUIPMENT DEALS

club cricket - kitlocker deals

SPORTS SHOES DEALS

© 2021 Cricket Yorkshire. All rights reserved.

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. Click if you accept and the button disappears. Just like the best cricket teas! Accept Read More
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled

Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.

Non-necessary

Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.