Lancashire Thunder were an English women's Twenty20 cricket team based in Manchester, Lancashire that competed in England's women's Twenty20 competition, the Women's Cricket Super League.[1] Thunder played their home matches at Old Trafford and various grounds across the North West.[2] They were captained by Kate Cross and coached by Mark McInnes, working with General Manager Bobby Cross.[3] In 2020, following reforms to the structure of women's domestic cricket, some elements of Lancashire Thunder were retained for a new team, North West Thunder.[4]
Lancashire Thunder were formed in 2016 to compete in the new Women's Cricket Super League, partnering with Lancashire CCC.[5] In their inaugural season, they finished bottom of the group stage, winning just one game.[6] In 2017, they fared even worse, failing to win a game as they finished bottom of the group once again.[7]
2018 brought an expansion to the WCSL, with each side now playing 10 games, and Lancashire Thunder improved under the new format, winning 5 out of their 10 games.[8] However, this still meant they just missed out on progressing to Finals Day, finishing 4th. Thunder bowler Sophie Ecclestone was the third highest wicket-taker in the tournament, with 15.[9] In 2019, Lancashire Thunder once again finished bottom of the group, with no wins and one tie.[10] Following this season, women's cricket in England was restructured and Lancashire Thunder were disbanded as part of the reforms; however they survived in spirit for a new team, North West Thunder, who represented a larger area, but retained some of their players.[11]
Final squad, 2019 season[12]
Deandra Dottin – West Indies (2016) Hayley Matthews – West Indies (2016)
Amy Satterthwaite – New Zealand (2016–2018).svg/1280px-Flag_of_Australia_(converted).svg.png){kind=small}
Jess Jonassen – Australia (2017) Lea Tahuhu – New Zealand (2017)
Harmanpreet Kaur – India (2018–2019) Nicole Bolton – Australia (2018) Tahlia McGrath – Australia (2019)
Suné Luus – South Africa (2019)