Warwickshire Women played their first recorded match in 1937, againstAustralia, which they lost by 7 wickets.[4] Warwickshire went on to play various one-off matches, including regular matches againstSurrey.[5] Meanwhile,West Midlands Women, which included players from Warwickshire, joined theWomen's Area Championship in 1980, and played in the competition until it ended in 1996, upon which they joined theWomen's County Championship.[6]
Warwickshire Women replaced West Midlands Women in the County Championship in2001, and finished 4th in Division 3 in their first season.[7] Warwickshire played in the lower tiers of the Championship in the early years of the competition, before making their way up the divisions, beginning with their promotion from the County Challenge Cup in2006, followed by promotions from Division Three in2007 and Division Two in2012.[8] Ever since, Warwickshire have played in Division 1, with their highest finish of 3rd coming in both2016 and2017.[9]
Warwickshire joined theWomen's Twenty20 Cup for its inaugural season in 2009. The team rapidly improved in recent years, being promoted from Division 2 in2015, then finishing 2nd in Division 1 in2016.[10] In2019, Warwickshire won Division 1, topping the league with 5 wins from 8 to be crowned Champions.[11] CaptainMarie Kelly was their star batter, ending the season as the division's leading run-scorer.[12] Key contributions also came from wicket-keeperGwenan Davies and bowlers Jessica Couser andBethan Ellis.[13] In 2021, the Twenty20 Cup was regionalised (and the County Championship discontinued), with Warwickshire competing in the West Midlands Group. They finished 2nd in the group, going unbeaten with 4 wins and 4 matches abandoned.[14] They topped their group in the2022 Women's Twenty20 Cup, before beatingSomerset in the group final on Finals Day.[15] Warwickshire bowlerAnisha Patel was the leading wicket-taker across the whole competition, with 15 wickets.[16] They also began competing in theWest Midlands Regional Cup in 2022, as a "consortium" team withShropshire, finishing third.[17][18] They again won their group in the2023 Women's Twenty20 Cup, beatingStaffordshire in the group final.[19] In 2024, the side won their group in theTwenty20 Cup before finishing 4th at the National Finals, and 10th in their group in the newECB Women's County One-Day tournament.[20][21]
Players who have played for Warwickshire and played internationally are listed below, in order of first international appearance (given in brackets):[23]
England
Lisa Keightley (1995)
Zehmarad Afzal (2000)
Sophie Devine (2006)
Violet Wattenberg (2007)
Kathryn Bryce (2018)
Christina Gough (2019)
