Northern Diamonds hoping to shine bright once again in 2023 after sparkling year

What a year it was for the Northern Diamonds, who won the 50-over Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy against holders Southern Vipers at Lord’s.

It was third time lucky for coach Danielle Hazell and her players, who lost to Vipers in the previous two finals.

The girls held their nerve superbly, successfully defending a score of 215-9 to dramatically prevail by two runs.

Now the Diamonds want more of the same in 2023, when the RHF Trophy doubles in size.

Instead of seven group games, Diamonds will play 14 ahead of what they hope will be an appearance in the semi-final eliminator and the final once more.

If that makes it potentially twice as difficult to win the cup, the increase in cricket is the most important thing, and eagerly awaited by all at Headingley.

Indeed, ahead of the fourth summer of regional and professionalised domestic cricket in England, the women’s game has never felt stronger, buttressed by The Hundred, which has rocketed its profile.

Although The Hundred per se is not everyone’s thing, with its knock-on effect on the men’s county season, it has been of clear benefit to the women’s game in generating interest and also participation.

Now it is hoped that by doubling the RHF Trophy, further advantages will emerge going forward in exciting times for the women’s game generally.

“We’ve been crying out for more cricket,” said Hazell recently. “For the last couple of years it’s felt like we’ve been training, training and then playing.

“It’s good now that the girls will get the opportunity to play more and develop quicker, so I think it’s a really good addition. The only other addition for me is multi-day cricket. Will that ever get in? I don’t know.”

Hazell, 34, the former World Cup-winning off-spinner, believes that the cricket played at international level should be replicated at the level below.

As she pointed out pithily: “You don’t want your first game of multi-day cricket to be in an Ashes Test match.”

But while such ambitions are a work in progress, and show how far the women’s game still has to travel, matters are moving in the right direction, with the Diamonds among those leading the way.

There is plenty of support for them within the Yorkshire club itself, with Diamonds an integral part of the overall operation.

Stephen Vaughan, the new Yorkshire chief executive, recently outlined plans to reflect the growing importance of the women’s team, ensuring that they are given every opportunity to build on their efforts.

He said that Diamonds are to have a dedicated home at Headingley stadium, something that the men’s set-up has always taken as read.

“We’re going to make sure that there’s a dedicated home here for the women and girls,” said Vaughan. “That’s important, and so effectively the away facility at the moment will be the home of the women’s team.

“That way, we’ll have a men’s home changing facility and we’ll have a women’s one. When the women are here, practising, playing, they will have their own facility which is branded for them.

“All their own lockers, all their own products, separate shower cubicles, you name it. We want to make sure all our facilities are best in class.”

It is joined-up thinking, as the saying goes, with the women’s operation well-served not only by Hazell and co but also by James Carr, the director of cricket, who is setting his sights on another strong year.

One of Carr’s chief objectives - much like that of the Yorkshire men’s team - is to really crack T20 cricket, with Diamonds not managing to advance beyond the group stage of last season’s Charlotte Edwards T20 Cup having finished runners-up the previous year.

“We have a real motivation to keep our hands super-glued on to that Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy, but we also want to nail T20 cricket,” Carr has stressed.

“I don’t think we’ve fired in T20 cricket, but we have all the ingredients to do so.”

As the women’s game becomes increasingly professional, attracting new fans and also media attention, it is inevitable that standards will rise across the board.

Carr has already noticed this, saying that “I expect all the regional teams to regroup this winter and push forwards again, and that includes us.

“The standard is getting better and better.”

After a successful year at a club which has had its well-documented challenges, Diamonds are determined to keep on putting a smile on the face.

Not so much out with the old and in with the new, then, as more of the same and better in 2023.