Bryce sisters and head coach Rob Taylor bring Scottish feel to Lightning

RACHAEL HEYHOE FLINT TROPHY PREVIEW, by RAF NICHOLSON: Uniquely, Lightning are a conglomeration of not just counties – Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire – but also Loughborough University, where the teams will be based

Head coach: Rob Taylor

Squad: Abbey Freeborn, Alicia Presland, Bethan Ellis, Bethany Harmer, Grace Ballinger, Ilenia Sims, Kathryn Bryce, Leah Kellogg, Lucy Higham, Nancy Harman, Ria Fackrell, Sarah Bryce, Shachi Pai, Sophie Munro, Teresa Graves 

Allocated England players: Tammy Beaumont, Kirstie Gordon

Fixtures: August 29 - Thunder (h, 10.30am); August 31 - Northern Diamonds (a, 10.30am); September 5 - Northern Diamonds (h, 10.30am); September 11 - Central Sparks (a, 10.30am); September 13 - Thunder (a, 10.30am); September 19 - Central Sparks (h, 10.30am)

Squad Background

Uniquely amongst the eight teams, Lightning are a conglomeration of not just counties – Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire – but also Loughborough University, where the players will be based.

Unsurprisingly, the majority (nine) of the 15-strong squad are current students at the university, with Alicia Presland (Northamptonshire), Leah Kellogg (Derbyshire) and Ilenia Sims (Staffordshire) making up the rest.

 Loughborough is of course also (in non-Covid times) the training base for the England players, and were home to a successful Kia Super League side which reached Finals Day in both 2018 and 2019; they will be hoping to carry that momentum forward into the new regional competition.

What do I need to know?

Three of the squad will be familiar to those who followed the KSL, having represented Lightning in the 2019 competition – wicketkeeper Abbey Freeborn (watch out for her distinctive keeping mask behind the stumps), off-spinner Lucy Higham, and allrounder Kathryn Bryce.

Freeborn played second fiddle to England’s Amy Jones for much of the 2019 season, playing in just three matches, so will be hopeful of getting more of a chance to strut her stuff in the new competition. The team’s coach, former Scotland and Leicestershire batsman Rob Taylor, is also continuing in his KSL role.

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Who are the star names?

Given coach Rob Taylor’s background, it’s no surprise that Lightning’s two “pros” are both Scotland players – sisters 20-year-old Sarah and 22-year-old Kathryn Bryce.

Having once shared an unbroken partnership of 336 for Scotland Under-17s, the pair are now both core components in the full Scotland side – Sarah behind the stumps and Kathryn (a swing bowler and top-order batter) appointed captain in 2018.

Both have also benefitted from the ICC’s Associate Rookie Programme, enjoying stints in 2018 at Hobart Hurricanes and Melbourne Stars respectively.

The official line is that they will be released to play for Scotland as required, but it’s surely not out of the question that they might be hoping to follow in Kirstie Gordon's footsteps and take up professional England contracts somewhere down the line.

Youngsters to look out for

Eighteen-year-old Ilenia Sims, better known as Lenny, is a promising off spinner who is part of the England Women’s Academy Spin Bowling Group and also happens to be the great-great-niece of Harold Larwood.

With the bat, Nancy Harman has enjoyed a promising start to the 2020 season, hitting 42 off 22 balls for her county Sussex in their warm-up “El Classicoast” friendlies against Hampshire in a fiery display that bodes well for the forthcoming fixtures.

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