2000– : Women's County Championship
Essex joined the Women's County Championship in 2001, competing in Division Three, in which they came third, with two victories. [6] They played in the bottom tier of the Championship until 2008, when they were promoted to Division Two. [7] In Division Two, Essex performed strongly, finishing third and second in their first two seasons before being promoted in 2011. [8] In a rain-hit 2012 season, Essex then finished second in Division One, behind Kent. [9] After this, however, Essex fell away, being relegated from Division One in 2014, and then again from Division Two in 2016. [10] [11] They managed to bounce straight back, winning Division 3C in 2017, and playing in Division Two ever since. [12] Meanwhile, in the Women's Twenty20 Cup, Essex have been a volatile side: when the tournament was regionalised in its early years, Essex bounced between Divisions One and Two of the South section. [13] Since, they briefly fell into Division 3 in 2018, but apart from this have played in Division 2, achieving their best finish of 3rd in 2015.
The side began competing in the Women's London Championship in 2020. [14] In 2021, they competed in the South East Group of the Twenty20 Cup, but finished bottom. [15] They topped their group in the 2022 Women's Twenty20 Cup, but lost to Suffolk in the group final. [16] Essex finished third in their group in the 2023 Women's Twenty20 Cup, but won the Women's London Championship, winning all four of their matches. [17] [18] In 2024, the side finished 4th in their group in the Twenty20 Cup and 4th in their group in the new ECB Women's County One-Day tournament. [19] [20]
