1997– : Women's County Championship
Hampshire Women joined the Women's County Championship for its inaugural season in 1997, finishing 3rd in Division 3. [5] Over the following seasons, Hampshire remained in the lower divisions of the Championship: they were promoted to Division Two in 2002, but only remained there for two seasons, and reached as low as Division Four in 2008 and 2011. [6] However, 2015 saw a sharp change in Hampshire's fortunes as they won Division 3 with six wins out of eight games, [7] and then two seasons later were promoted to Division 1, topping Division Two in 2017. [8] Hampshire then won Division One at their first attempt, in 2018, winning six of their seven matches. [9] Hampshire's remarkable rise was helped by England captain Charlotte Edwards, who played for the club in 2017 and 2018, and overseas player Suzie Bates, who was the Division's leading run-scorer in their Championship-winning season. [10]
Hampshire Women also had a similar rise in the Women's Twenty20 Cup. After playing in the lower regional divisions in the early years of the tournament, they gained promotion from Division 3 in 2015 [11] and from Division 2 in 2018, topping the league with 7 wins from 8 games. [12] Hampshire bowler Providence Cowdrill was the leading wicket-taker in the division, with 15 wickets. [13] In 2019, their first season in Division 1, they finished 4th with 4 wins. [14] In 2021, they played in the South East Group of the Twenty20 Cup, finishing 3rd with 3 wins. [15] Hampshire bowler Finty Trussler was the leading wicket-taker across the whole competition, with 16 wickets at an average of 6.50. [16] They finished third in their group of the 2022 Women's Twenty20 Cup. [17] They also joined the South Central Counties Cup in 2022, and won the inaugural edition of the tournament, going unbeaten. [18] They lost in their group final of the 2023 Women's Twenty20 Cup, and finished second in the 2023 South Central Counties Cup on head-to-head record. [19] [20] In 2024, the side finished won their group in the Twenty20 Cup before finishing third at the National Finals, and 6th in their group in the new ECB Women's County One-Day tournament. [21] [22]
