Rachael Heyhoe Flint 2022: 3rd
Charlotte Edwards Cup 2022: 3rd
Most Runs RHFT: Bryony Smith (226) Most Runs CEC: Aylish Cranstone (235)
Most Wickets RHFT: Alice Davidson-Richard & Eva Gray (9) Most Wickets CEC: Bryony Smith (11)
New Signings: Paige Scholfield (Domestic Contract)
New Domestic Contracts: Phoebe Franklin, Kalea Moore, Ryana MacDonald-Gay, Emma Jones, Kira Chathli, Alexa Stonehouse
Departed Players: Eva Gray, Rhianna Southby
Star Player: Aylish Cranstone
Young Player: Ryana MacDonald-Gay
South East Stars are stacked with talent. Eight members of their team have earned England U19 or England senior caps and they have a wealth of players to choose from. Silverware, however, has been scarce, as they have only won the Charlotte Edwards Cup in 2021. The Stars finished third in both tournaments last year, despite their talented squad.
The Southern Vipers and South East Stars do share a similar problem; they have too many talented players. South East Stars missed Bryony Smith, Alice Davidson-Richards, Alice Capsey, Sophia Dunkley and Freya Davies at various points during the season due to international call ups. This was not helped by England contracted, Tash Farrant, being ruled out of the season with a stress fracture in her back.
This did, however, provide opportunities for batters in particular, such as Aylish Cranstone and Kira Chathli. Former Academy bowlers, Alexa Stonehouse and Ryana MacDonald-Gay, also played their fair share of games as a result.
The Stars have only made one new signing, Paige Scholfield, who joined from Southern Vipers. Player turnover was lower than other sides with Eva Gray moving north of the river to Sunrisers and wicket-keeper, Rhianna Southby, switching to the Vipers.
As mentioned, the 2022 season gave opportunities to some quality domestic players. Aylish Cranstone relished the opportunity to open the batting and despite carrying a wrist injury, scored 235 runs in the Charlotte Edwards Cup. This included three half-centuries (56, 59* & 66*), making her the leading run scorer for the Stars.
Her form at the start of the season was astounding. Speaking last summer, she explained that it was down to her lack of expectations on herself due to her injury. “It's been an interesting journey” she says. “I’ve not actually had a winter at all, so I was struggling with a lot of wrist pain last year and then through the Hundred, I was having injections and I had to have surgery in November.”
It was an invasive operation and a tough injury to recover from. “They took a chunk of bone out of my forearm and put a metal plate in it” she explains. “I’ve got quite a lot of arthritis in my wrist and some torn cartilage and tendons and it's not in a great way.”
Her mindset was completely different heading into the 2022 season, with no expectations on herself. “I think sometimes when you train so long over the winter there's that pressure going into a game” she tells us. “I've been able to go in with a clear head, no pressure because I’ve not done any winter training.”
South East Stars have a strong academy set up with a plethora of players making their way through the Surrey and Kent pathways. Ryana MacDonald-Gay is a product of the Academy and made her senior debut at the back end of the 2021 season. Although she made just five senior appearances, the all-rounder made her maiden list A half-century, finishing 54*.
The 19-year-old held her own in the Hundred, playing for winning side Oval Invincibles despite not having played much senior cricket. “I played all the games which was so unexpected” she says. “I was honestly gobsmacked when he [Johnathan Batty] said ‘you're in the playing XI’ because I'd been playing hockey this season as well, so I didn't play a huge amount of Stars games for the seniors.”
MacDonald-Gay has so far balanced her cricket career with an equally impressive hockey career, playing in England age-group teams. This meant she was slightly underprepared heading into the Hundred. This did not phase her. “Coming into the competition of not playing a lot of matches I was really nervous” she explains.
“I remember for the first game I was honestly shaking. We played the later game, we played the men's slot at the Oval, the opening. It was a massive crowd; you couldn't hear anyone. It was an amazing experience, and I loved every second of it.”
Ryana’s stand out game of the season was her unbelievable 6-fer, including a hat-trick, against India for England A in a warmup game. She dismissed the likes of Shafali Verma, Harmanpreet Kaur and Deepti Sharma.
This was just days after the elation of winning the Hundred at Lords, so she took some learnings into this game.
“I think I just went into the game and I was just like bowl how you did in the Hundred” she explained. “I think the main concept was just bowl on the stumps and if you bowl on the stumps, you can't go wrong!”
The success was flowing as MacDonald-Gay was selected for the U19 Women’s World Cup, finding out soon after the Hundred. An intense training schedule, conveniently at her university, Loughborough, brought together the squad from all over the country. “It's been great to know get to know all the other players” she says. “We've really all gelled together really well so it's been really incredible.”
What will the South East Stars want?
To make a final. South East Stars missed out twice on a final in 2022. They will be keen to improve their semi-final results and get over the line at some point.
Comentarios