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Loughborough Lightning were an English women's Twenty20 cricket team based at Loughborough University. They were formed in 2016 to compete in the inaugural season of the Women's Cricket Super League. They primarily played their home matches at the Haslegrave Ground.[1] They were coached by Rob Taylor[2] and were captained by Georgia Elwiss.[3] The team was partnered with Loughborough University.[4] Together with the netball team and the women's rugby union team, the cricket team was one of three women's sports teams based at Loughborough University that used the Loughborough Lightning name.[5] In 2020, following reforms to the structure of women's domestic cricket, some elements of the Loughborough Lightning were retained for a new team, named just Lightning and representing a broader region.[6]
 | ||
| Personnel | ||
|---|---|---|
| Captain | Georgia Elwiss | |
| Coach | Rob Taylor (2018–2019) Salliann Briggs (2016–2017) | |
| Team information | ||
| Colours | Purple | |
| Founded | 2016 | |
| Home ground | Haslegrave Ground, Loughborough | |
| Secondary home ground(s) | Trent Bridge, Nottingham | |
| History | ||
| WCSL wins | 0 | |
| Official website | Loughborough Lightning | |
| ||
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2016–2019: Women's Cricket Super League
Loughborough Lightning were formed in 2016 to compete in the new Women's Cricket Super League, partnering with Loughborough University and playing across the Midlands.[7] In the first season of the WCSL, the Lightning finished 3rd in the group stage, progressing to the semi-final, where they were beaten by eventual runners-up Western Storm.[8][9] The following season, 2017, saw Loughborough miss out on Finals Day, finishing 4th with two wins.[10]
2018 was Loughborough Lightning's most successful season, as they topped the group with 7 wins from 10 games, progressing straight to the final.[11] However, they were defeated by Surrey Stars by 66 runs after the Stars' Lizelle Lee hit a century.[12] Lightning bowler Kirstie Gordon was the leading wicket-taker of the tournament, with 17.[13] In 2019, the Lightning again progressed to Finals Day after finishing 2nd in the group with 7 victories, but were beaten in the semi-final by the Southern Vipers.[14][15] Following this season, women's cricket in England was restructured and Loughborough Lightning were disbanded as part of the reforms; however they survived in spirit for a new team, Lightning, who represented a larger area, but retained some of their players.[16]
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| Venue | Games hosted by season | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | Total | |
| Haslegrave Ground | 3 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 12 |
| County Ground, Derby | – | 1 | – | – | 1 |
| Edgbaston Cricket Ground | – | – | 1 | – | 1 |
| Trent Bridge | – | – | – | 1 | 1 |
Final squad, 2019 season[17]
- 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Batters | ||||||
| 1 | Georgia Adams |  England | 4 October 1993 | Right-handed | Right-arm off break | |
| 22 | Mignon du Preez ‡ |  South Africa | 13 June 1989 | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | Overseas player |
| All-rounders | ||||||
| 17 | Kathryn Bryce ‡ |  Scotland | 17 November 1997 | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | |
| 20 | Alice Monaghan | England | 20 March 2000 | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | |
| 25 | Jo Gardner | England | 25 March 1997 | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | |
| 24 | Jenny Gunn ‡ | England | 9 May 1986 | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | England Performance squad |
| 34 | Georgia Elwiss ‡ | England | 31 May 1991 | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | Club captain; England Performance squad |
| 50 | Hayley Matthews ‡ |  West Indies | 19 March 1998 | Right-handed | Right-arm off break | Overseas player |
| 58 | Chamari Atapattu ‡ |  Sri Lanka | 9 February 1990 | Left-handed | Right-arm medium | Overseas player |
| Wicket-keepers | ||||||
| 27 | Abigail Freeborn | England | 12 November 1996 | Right-handed | — | |
| 40 | Amy Jones ‡ | England | 13 June 1993 | Right-handed | — | England Performance squad |
| Bowlers | ||||||
| 7 | Lucy Higham | England | 17 October 1997 | Right-handed | Right-arm off break | |
| 16 | Sarah Glenn | England | 27 February 1999 | Right-handed | Right-arm leg break | |
| 46 | Tara Norris | England | 4 June 1998 | Left-handed | Left-arm medium | |
| 48 | Kirstie Gordon ‡ | England | 20 October 1997 | Right-handed | Slow left-arm orthodox | England Performance squad |
Overseas players
Dane van Niekerk – South Africa (2016)
Ellyse Perry – Australia (2016–2017)
Sophie Devine – New Zealand (2016, 2018)- Kristen Beams – Australia (2017)
- Elyse Villani – Australia (2017–2018)
- Rachael Haynes – Australia (2018)
- Mignon du Preez – South Africa (2019)
Chamari Atapattu – Sri Lanka (2019)
Hayley Matthews – West Indies (2019)
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| Season | Final standing | League standings | Notes | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | W | L | T | NR | BP | Pts | NRR | Pos | |||
| 2016 | Losing semi-finalists: 3rd | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 | +0.170 | 3rd | Lost to Western Storm in the semi-final |
| 2017 | Group stage | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 10 | +0.664 | 4th | DNQ |
| 2018 | Runners-up | 10 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 33 | +1.361 | 1st | Lost to Surrey Stars in the final |
| 2019 | Losing semi-finalists: 3rd | 10 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 32 | +0.792 | 2nd | Lost to Southern Vipers in the semi-final |
Overall Results
- Abandoned matches are counted as NR (no result)
- Win or loss by super over or boundary count are counted as tied.
Teamwise Result summary
| Opposition | Mat | Won | Lost | Tied | NR | Win % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lancashire Thunder | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 73.33 |
| Southern Vipers | 7 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 42.85 |
| Surrey Stars | 7 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 71.42 |
| Western Storm | 7 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 28.57 |
| Yorkshire Diamonds | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 66.66 |
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- Highest team total: 174/7, v Southern Vipers on 4 August, 2018.[20]
- Lowest team total: 97, v Southern Vipers on 14 August, 2016.[21]
- Highest individual score: 91, Dane van Niekerk v Surrey Stars on 12 August, 2016.[22]
- Best individual bowling analysis: 3/10, Jenny Gunn v Lancashire Thunder on 22 July, 2018.[23]
- Most Runs: 636 in 31 matches, Amy Jones.[24]
- Most wickets: 28 wickets in 21 matches, Kirstie Gordon.[25]
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