Southern Vipers bidding to win T20 tournament named in honour of head coach Charlotte Edwards

The tournament sees eight women’s regional teams competing for the trophy which has been named after the woman who played in the first-ever T20 international, against New Zealand at Hove in 2004, and remains her country’s leading run scorer in the format.

Edwards said: ‘It’s a huge honour to have my name attached to the competition. The regional players who’ll take part in the competition are at the beginning of such an exciting journey, and the pathway has progressed and developed so far since I was in their position.

‘I hope, like we saw with the Rachael Heyhoe Flint (Trophy), that players from across the eight teams can continue to impress at regional level and push hard for international selection.

‘The new domestic set-up is a real game-changer for women’s cricket in this country and I’m really proud to be a part of it.’

Edwards is England Women's most-capped player - including 191 ODI appearances and 95 T20 outings - and captained England between 2006-2016, leading the team to three Ashes wins, an ICC World Cup and an ICC T20 World Cup.

She captained the Southern Vipers to the inaugural Kia Women’s Super League T20 title in 2016, and played her last game for the Vipers in the following year’s final defeat against Western Storm.

Edwards also coached Vipers to Rachael Heyhoe-Flint Trophy final success in 2000.

The 41-year-old last turned out for Hampshire in 2018 but scored 76 off 55 balls in a MCC women’s T20 game at Lord’s in April of this year.

In addition to her Vipers role, Edwards will also be head coach of the Southern Brave women’s team in this summer’s Hundred.

Vipers’ Charlotte Edwards Cup campaign starts against Central Sparks at Edgbaston this Saturday, with the first home game against Lightning at Arundel on July 3.