Essex hope 'family feel' will help women's team

Grace Scrivens played for England A in all three formats during their recent Australian tour

Essex captain Grace Scrivens hopes a "family feel" will help them to be a competitive force in the inaugural domestic season of fully professional women's cricket.

Eight tier one teams will compete in the One-Day Cup and T20 Blast this season, with a new county-based format replacing the regional structure of recent years.

Several Essex players were part of the Sunrisers squad which won the 50-over Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy in 2024 and they start their One-Day Cup campaign away to Durham on Wednesday.

"We're all excited and to launch the new Essex team will be really fun," Scrivens told BBC Essex Sport.

"I think it's really important to have the base at Chelmsford, and build the fan base as well. We love playing here, it's always a great home for us.

"Every set-up is very different, but I think we're luck have a real family and home feel around Essex."

Scrivens recently returned from Australia where she played six games for England A.

And the 21-year-old hopes that recent changes to the senior England set-up, with Charlotte Edwards being appointed as the new head coach, may lead to international opportunities for those who do well domestically.

"There's been a lot of chat about county performances getting you recognised and that's really exciting for the domestic players, they want to put a hand up and play for England.

"If I can contribute some match-winning performances (for Essex), we'll see where that will take me."

One of the new faces in the Essex squad is Sophia Smale, who played for Western Storm last season and Scrivens expects her to make a big impact.

She added: "We are lucky to keep a lot of the (Sunrisers) team together which is nice but we've added Soph Smale, she's a left-arm spinner and a great batter as well, so I think she'll really add to the team."

Following their trip to the North East, Essex will play their first home game against Warwickshire on Sunday.

And chief executive Dan Feist wants to establish a strong connection to the team across the county and wider region.

"Chelmsford - we've seen it with women's international games - can create a really vibrant atmosphere. If we can get good numbers in here to watch, and that will grow over time as we've seen with the WSL [Women's Super League football] teams, it's going to be a great place to play, and great place to come and watch women's sport," he said.

"It's not just about showcasing the women players on the field, but also the opportunities and roles off the field as well, psychologists, through to our physios and administrators.

"It's not just about playing but also inspiring women's and girls at community clubs to think if I don't quite make it as a player, I can still be heavily involved in elite sport, and that's really important to us as well."

Women's One-Day Cup opening fixtures (Wednesday 10:30 BST start)

Chester LS: Durham v Essex

Beckenham: Surrey v Somerset

Trent Bridge: The Blaze v Lancashire

Edgbaston: Warwickshire v Hampshire