This year’s Regional Academy Competition took place at Oakham School in the East Midlands.
The event saw 120 academy players from each regional academy side compete in a T20 competition over three days with the residential aspect mirroring a team camp environment as well as additional off field activities with a focus this year on the theme of managing a successful dual career as a student athlete.
Following the Oakham Competition, two 24-player squads representing the four north regions and the same-sized squad representing the south regions were selected to contest two fixture days at Loughborough University’s Brockington Cricket pitch, known as North v North and South v South events.
The two fixtures brought together identified players from across Blaze, Central Sparks, Northern Diamonds and Thunder (north region teams) and players from South East Stars, Southern Vipers, Sunrisers and Western Storm (south region teams).
Both groups played two 20-over fixtures across both days which aim to help the ECB strengthen their talent ID opportunities and assist, in combination with observations from across the season, in the selection process for the National School Games Finals competition at the end of August and subsequently the England Women U19 squad to compete in the World Cup in Malaysia in January 2025.
As well as developing clear on-field learning and understanding through match-play experience, competing against other strong players in the country and the attendance of scouts, off-field development is key too.
The primary message is for players to keep enjoying their cricket and continue working towards being a better player and person as they gain further experience in the sport.
Stewart Davison, Senior Regional Talent Manager at Thunder explained: “For us, this is the centre point of the summer.
“Oakham was brilliant, it gives players experience of a ‘camp environment’, which is great for team morale and also personal development.
“A lot of the players have aspirations of playing franchise cricket in the future which can take you all over the world and far away from home for long periods.
“We are also really mindful of how much work goes into getting 120 young people together in the same place and it was a big team effort across the ECB and participating regions.
“Having the North v North and South v South fixtures and then the National School Games Finals means there is always a selection element.
“For these young players, enjoyment remains key and the most important factor, but for those that have ambitions to play in professional sport then selection is always going to be an important part that players will need to learn to manage. Hopefully by having selection at this stage, it isn’t a huge shock when players reach senior level, and they are not experiencing those conversations for the first time.”
Cain Hamilton-Boyle, The Blaze’s Senior Regional Talent Manager, echoes those sentiments and supports the holistic approach.
He added: “We want to develop rounded players, so we look at everything. While a player might have excellent cricketing ability, you can’t have 11 bowlers or batters in one team so at times someone must miss out and it’s important to learn that and how to react to that.
“These August events are brilliant. The regional academies are an open-age structure so there were players at Oakham and Loughborough as young as 14 and as old as 19. These competitions are part of an ongoing scouting and selection process. The U19 World Cup next year is a big focus and there are growth opportunities for every age of player that takes part in all or some of these opportunities.”
For these pathway players, The Hundred has been taking place alongside their own match commitments where the growth of the women’s game at the elite level is clear.
And two players from the north regions believe these pathways can be a key part of the starting point on that journey.
Northern Diamonds all-rounder Trudy Johnson and Thunder’s Summer Carrington have both been involved with England Women U19s programme activity during this calendar year and were part of the regional activity matches at both East Midlands locations.
Speaking from the North v North day at Loughborough, Johnson reflected: “It is a really good standard and level of competition.
“These matches and events definitely bring out the best in everyone. The training day beforehand is good build-up and gives you chance to bond with the team.
“Seeing the excitement and enthusiasm for The Hundred over the last month pushes you to do extra as players.”
Meanwhile, Carrington added: “When we got to Loughborough, there was some chat about the memories at Oakham. You cross paths with players quite a lot, especially the northern teams in our case. We have a laugh with them on and off pitch, its so good to see everyone again and play against them and keep building knowledge when we play with and against them.
“Having the free time in the pool after for recovery, seeing who can dive the best, takes your mind off just playing cricket, being able to focus when you need to is important and when you can do that as a team it shows you’re a good group and can stick together well.
“This exposure is so important. You get to learn about yourself as a player and also how other teams work and other individual athletes as well. You can start to build a network of knowledge and hopefully that can help you to improve and one day progress into tournaments such as the Hundred and regional first teams.”
Attentions now turn to the National School Games Finals (29 August-1 September 2024) which this year will be an expanded event with the addition of three new teams with Ireland, Scotland and West Indies U19 sides joining the competition.
The ECB will enter three sides hosted at Loughborough University. The competition will be played in a two-group structure and the teams will be managed and delivered by regional staff, with ECB presence throughout.
Di Lewis, the ECB’s National Talent Manager said: “As always at this time of year we are focused a lot on the players and ensuring we deliver the best events possible for them to thrive and to be able to showcase their talent.
“However, we couldn’t do this without the support of the regional staff involved and we are so grateful for their commitment and the time dedicated to these events.
“As a National Team of Talent Managers (both senior & regional) I can’t praise them enough for the way they seek to shape the development environments for all players to have positive experiences as part of their journeys along the pathway.
“Likewise, we are also grateful for the support we get from our officiating department, like the players and support staff everyone can use these events to learn and develop and it’s great to see this approach also being used for scorers and umpires alike.”
Richard Bedbrook, head of England Women performance pathways added: “The events at Oakham and Loughborough were a huge success.
“The standard was excellent and is testament to the hard work of those working in the regions and efforts of all players and staff.
“These are important stages in the build up to the U19 World Cup next January and provide us with key opportunities to observe players in best v best environments that support the selection process.
"They are also great environments in which to keep encouraging players to play the game in a really positive way and enjoy their cricket whilst continuing their development on becoming a better player and person as they gain further experience in the sport.
“We are all looking forward to the National School Games Finals which will cap off a fine month of activity.”