Fixtures for The Blaze’s inaugural season in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy and Charlotte Edwards Cup have been announced, with 20 days of regular group-stage cricket throughout 2023.
The East Midlands’ new women’s regional team will take to Trent Bridge, the Uptonsteel County Ground, the Incora County Ground and Welbeck Cricket Club for their home fixtures, with the T20 over campaign fixed between two 50-over blocks at the start and end of the summer.
Six out of their seven home and away Charlotte Edwards Cup fixtures will be double headers with Vitality Blast games, with Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and Leicestershire each sharing the stage with The Blaze.
View the fixture list in full here
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Chris Guest’s side begin their season at their new base, Trent Bridge, in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy against Central Sparks on Saturday 22 April.
The squad then travel south to the Cloud County Ground to face Sunrisers a week later, with home fixtures against Thunder (Welbeck) and Western Storm (Uptonsteel County Ground) sandwiching a trip to Durham to face Northern Diamonds.
On 20 May, The Blaze get their Charlotte Edwards Cup campaign underway against South East Stars with games in the East Midlands on 26 May (Uptonsteel County Ground), 29 May (Incora County Ground) and 4 June (Trent Bridge) against Central Sparks, Southern Vipers and Sunrisers respectively.
The T20 regular season concludes with a visit to Sophia Gardens to face Western Storm on 7 June, before Finals Day at New Road on 10 June.
The Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy resumes against Western Storm at Bristol on 2 July, with four further fixtures before a break for The Hundred.
Away games versus Central Sparks and South East Stars in mid-September precede the final two regular season fixtures in the East Midlands against Sunrisers (Welbeck) and Southern Vipers (TBC), before the play-off on 21 September, and the final at the County Ground, Northampton, three days later.
“It’s always exciting getting the fixture list for the new season, perhaps even more so this year with the anticipation of playing as a new team with a fresh start,” Guest, Head Coach of The Blaze, said.
“Playing at Trent Bridge is a great way to start the season, given the hard work that will have gone into preparing ourselves here.
“But we are fortunate to receive strong support all over the East Midlands, and playing our home games across at least four venues gives us a chance to visit the counties who ultimately help us to succeed.
“We have players in our squad and Academy who have been through the pathways of, or played at, all of Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Lincolnshire, so to take our cricket across the region is pleasing for us.
“Our aim is to be successful on the pitch, but also continue our transition as a squad. All eight teams in the competitions are rich with talent and ability, and we believe we will be in a good place to be competitive come the start of the season.”
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