Lancashire Thunder
# Lancashire Thunder

Lancashire Thunder were an English women's Twenty20 cricket team based in Manchester, Lancashire that competed in England’s women's Twenty20 competition, the Women's Cricket Super League. Thunder played their home matches at Old Trafford and various grounds across the North West. They were captained by Kate Cross and coached by Mark McInnes, working with General Manager Bobby Cross. In 2020, following reforms to the structure of women's domestic cricket, some elements of Lancashire Thunder were retained for a new team, North West Thunder.

## History

### 2016-2019: Women's Cricket Super League

Lancashire Thunder were formed in 2016 to compete in the new Women's Cricket Super League, partnering with Lancashire CCC. In their inaugural season, they finished bottom of the group stage, winning just one game. In 2017, they fared even worse, failing to win a game as they finished bottom of the group once again.

2018 brought an expansion to the WCSL, with each side now playing 10 games, and Lancashire Thunder improved under the new format, winning 5 out of their 10 games. However, this still meant they just missed out on progressing to Finals Day, finishing 4th. Thunder bowler Sophie Ecclestone was the third highest wicket-taker in the tournament, with 15. In 2019, Lancashire Thunder once again finished bottom of the group, with no wins and one tie. Following this season, women's cricket in England was restructured and Lancashire Thunder were disbanded as part of the reforms; however they survived in spirit for a new team, North West Thunder, who represented a larger area, but retained some of their players.

## Home grounds

| Venue | Games hosted by season | Games hosted by season | Games hosted by season | Games hosted by season | Games hosted by season |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Venue | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | Total |
| Old Trafford Cricket Ground | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
| Stanley Park, Blackpool | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| Aigburth Cricket Ground, Liverpool | – | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| Trafalgar Road Ground | – | – | 1 | – | 1 |
| Chester Boughton Hall | – | – | – | 1 | 1 |

## Players

Final squad, 2019 season

* 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 |||||||
| 8 | Georgie Boyce | England | (1998-10-04) 4 October 1998 (age 24) | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | |
| 11 | Evelyn Jones | England | (1992-08-08) 8 August 1992 (age 30) | Left-handed | Left-arm medium | England Academy player |
| 30 | Danielle Collins | England | (2000-06-07) 7 June 2000 (age 23) | Left-handed | Right-arm medium | |
| 77 | Ria Fackrell | England | (1999-09-16) 16 September 1999 (age 23) | Right-handed | Right-arm off break | |
| All-rounders |||||||
| 6 | Emma Lamb | England | (1997-12-16) 16 December 1997 (age 25) | Right-handed | Right-arm off break | England Academy player |
| 7 | Harmanpreet Kaur ‡ | India | (1989-03-08) 8 March 1989 (age 34) | Right-handed | Right-arm off break | Overseas player |
| 10 | Natalie Brown | England | (1990-10-16) 16 October 1990 (age 32) | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | |
| 14 | Tahlia McGrath ‡ | Australia | (1995-11-10) 10 November 1995 (age 27) | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | Overseas player |
| 47 | Sophia Dunkley ‡ | England | (1998-07-16) 16 July 1998 (age 25) | Right-handed | Right-arm leg break | |
| 96 | Sune Luus ‡ | South Africa | (1996-01-05) 5 January 1996 (age 27) | Right-handed | Right-arm leg break | Overseas player |
| Wicket-keepers |||||||
| 21 | Eleanor Threlkeld | England | (1998-11-16) 16 November 1998 (age 24) | Right-handed | — | England Academy player |
| Bowlers |||||||
| 16 | Kate Cross ‡ | England | (1991-10-03) 3 October 1991 (age 31) | Right-handed | Right-arm medium-fast | Club captain; England Performance squad |
| 19 | Sophie Ecclestone ‡ | England | (1999-05-06) 6 May 1999 (age 24) | Right-handed | Slow left-arm orthodox | England Academy player |
| 63 | Alice Dyson | England | (1999-01-28) 28 January 1999 (age 24) | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | |
| 65 | Alex Hartley ‡ | England | (1993-09-06) 6 September 1993 (age 29) | Right-handed | Slow left-arm orthodox | |

### Overseas players

* Deandra Dottin – West Indies (2016)
* Hayley Matthews – West Indies (2016)
* Amy Satterthwaite – New Zealand (2016–2018)
* Jess Jonassen – Australia (2017)
* Lea Tahuhu – New Zealand (2017)
* Harmanpreet Kaur – India (2018–2019)
* Nicole Bolton – Australia (2018)
* Tahlia McGrath – Australia (2019)
* Suné Luus – South Africa (2019)

## Seasons

| Season | Final standing | League standings | League standings | League standings | League standings | League standings | League standings | League standings | League standings | League standings | Notes |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Season | Final standing | P | W | L | T | NR | BP | Pts | NRR | Pos | Notes |
| 2016 | Group stage | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | –1.724 | 6th | DNQ |
| 2017 | Group stage | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | –1.692 | 6th | DNQ |
| 2018 | Group stage | 10 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 21 | –0.825 | 4th | DNQ |
| 2019 | Group stage | 10 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | –1.194 | 6th | DNQ |

## Statistics

### Overall Results

Summary of Results :

| Year | Played | Wins | Losses | Tied | NR | Win % |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 2016 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 20.00 |
| 2017 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| 2018 | 10 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 50.00 |
| 2019 | 10 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Total | 30 | 6 | 23 | 1 | 0 | 21.66 |

* 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 % |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Southern Vipers | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 41.66 |
| Yorkshire Diamonds | 6 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 33.33 |
| Western Storm | 6 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Surrey Stars | 6 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 16.66 |
| Loughborough Lightning | 6 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 16.66 |

## Records

* Highest team total: 164/8, v Loughborough Lightning on 3 August, 2016.
* Lowest team total: 71, v Yorkshire Diamonds on 12 August, 2016.
* Highest individual score: 87, Nicole Bolton v Surrey Stars on 31 July, 2018.
* Best individual bowling analysis: 4/17, Emma Lamb v Southern Vipers on 29 July, 2018.
* Most Runs: 533 in 20 matches, Amy Satterthwaite.
* Most wickets: 39 wickets in 30 matches, Sophie Ecclestone.
