The ECB have today announced the players who will make up both the England Women’s Senior Academy (EWSA) and the England Women’s Academy (EWA), the two squads that form the pathway towards selection for the full England side.
The EWSA has been reduced in size from 18 players to 14 players this year, with Izzy Cloke, Lauren Bell and Charlie Dean making the step up from the EWA to take up places in the Senior Academy.
Meanwhile a number of senior players who have played a key role in the KSL appear to have lost out in the overhaul, including Georgia Adams, Thea Brookes, Georgia Hennessy, Eve Jones, Sophie Luff and Paige Scholfield.
There has been a bit of a shake-up in terms of personnel, too, with EWA head coach Salliann Briggs stepping down from her role due to “wider work commitments” (presumably not least her role as head coach of the Loughborough Lightning KSL side).
John Stanworth, as head coach of the EWSA, will now also oversee the EWA.
Both groups will be attending a series of camps over the winter and playing a number of competitive matches in the summer to enhance their development and help them become more effective performers.
Full squads:
England Women’s Senior Academy
- Hollie Armitage (Yorkshire)
- Ellen Burt (Sussex)
- Lauren Bell (Berkshire)
- Georgie Boyce (Nottinghamshire)
- Izzy Cloke (Kent)
- Alice Davidson-Richards (Kent)
- Freya Davies (Sussex)
- Charlie Dean (Hampshire)
- Sophie Dunkley (Middlesex)
- Katie George (Hampshire)
- Emma Lamb (Lancashire)
- Bryony Smith (Surrey)
- Linsey Smith (Sussex)
- Ellie Threlkeld (Lancashire)
England Women’s Academy
- Alice Dyson (Derbyshire)
- Danielle Gibson (Gloucestershire)
- Sarah Glenn (Derbyshire)
- Amy Gordon (Surrey)
- Eva Gray (Surrey)
- Rhianna Southby (Surrey)
- Alexandra Travers (Surrey)
- Katie Wolfe (Middlesex)
CRICKETher 
The inclusion of Lauren Bell for the Senior Academy is rather confusing, definite potential, but erratic throughout the Berkshire games I have seen last season.
Some strange choices in the EWA team?
A serious Surrey bias, who did not set the world on fire during the domestic season. Admittedly the girls may develop, but having seen most of the Surrey matches this year there were numerous other county performers who outplayed the selected Surrey players.
I hope these selected girls will get a fair chance in the KSL……if they are involved in the competition!
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Interesting geographical distribution; out of 22 players:-
Lancs x 2
Yorks x 1
Notts x 1
Warks x 0
Interesting statement about the county championship.
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The squads have been devastated with a lot of good players dropped. Does this raise questions about the thinking behind a two-tier academy? The junior academy side can’t even field a team of 11. Seems strange to me.
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I don’t watch enough County Cricket to comment on individuals but it has the feel of a decision having been made – rightly or wrongly – that a group of players around a certain age who may or may not have been given enough opportunities to stake their claims are (a) not good enough to play for England, and (b) past the stage where they might develop into good enough players.
Consequently, the energies are now going to be focused on the “next batch”.
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Agreeing with Richard along the lines of who “might be good enough later”, but there are many young county girls in the squads or periphery of the Super League teams. They simply do not get enough quality “trust” time with the ball or bat in real, competitive situations. To a slightly lesser degree the same applies to the County games. This means the very fortunate selected few have a gilt edged chance to progress, the ones on the edges will simply stay on the edge.
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