Article contributed by Matthew Kingdom
An audio version of this article has been added here
On 29th August 2006, on Day 1 of the England v India Women’s Test match at the County Ground, Taunton, it was announced that Taunton would become the new “Home of England Women’s Cricket”, with the aim of hosting at least one women’s international match at the ground each year, as well as key domestic matches and training camps.
Although the use of the title has faded in recent years and some of the plans proposed for Taunton never came to fruition, the area still has a long association with women’s cricket on a national and international scale, and still has a claim to be the “spiritual home of women’s cricket” in England.
The first recorded match at the County Ground, Taunton came on 20 June 1953, a 1-day single innings match between South Women and the Women’s Cricket Association. The match was drawn, with 15 players who had or would go on to play international cricket on the field, including the current England captain, Molly Hide, who led the side between 1937 and 1954. This was followed by the first recorded match at the ground for [West Women] in 1963, and finally the first match for [Somerset Women] at the County Ground in 2005.
It was 1997 when the first women’s international match was played at the County Ground, an ODI between England and South Africa, which saw South Africa win despite Charlotte Edwards scoring 102. The first England win at the County Ground came in 2000, against the same opposition, with Charlotte Edwards again standing out, scoring 96 and passing 1,000 ODI runs.
2002 saw the first Women’s Test match take place at the ground, with England playing India. Mithali Raj scored 214 in that match, which at the time was the highest individual score in a women’s Test match. In 2003, England beat South Africa in a Test match at the County Ground, with Claire Taylor scoring 131.
In 2005, the first Ashes matches took place at the County Ground, three in total, including the first WT20I at the ground. The following year came that Test match between England and India, with the confirmation that Taunton would become the new Home of England Women’s Cricket. 2007 saw a clear manifestation of this, with four matches from the visits of New Zealand and South Africa taking place at the County Ground, with two more T20Is being played at North Parade, Bath and tour matches taking place at The Wyvern Club and Taunton School. The culmination of the 2007 Women’s County Championship also took place in Taunton, with matches at the County Ground, Taunton Vale, Queen’s College, Taunton School and The Wyvern Club, including a crucial Division 1 title decider being played between Kent and Sussex at the County Ground. One match in the 2007 Super Fours was also played at the County Ground, Taunton, a competition that involved the best women’s cricketers in the country competing in four teams. King’s College had hosted matches in the competition between 2002 and 2004, whilst in 2007 and 2008 the Junior Super Fours were hosted at various grounds in Taunton, a further reflection of the town’s new status.
Taunton and Bath were the primary hosts of India’s tour of England in 2008, and the culmination of the 2008 Women’s County Championship was held across Somerset and Devon, in Taunton, Wellington, Glastonbury and Exeter. 2009 saw the County Ground awarded with an even bigger prize: hosting every group stage match of the inaugural ICC Women’s World Twenty20. This led to the ground hosting 12 matches in just six days! The final, which took place at Lord’s, was won by England by six wickets over New Zealand.
Taunton retained its status as a primary centre of women’s cricket through the following years: hosting two ODIs between England and New Zealand in 2010, a T20I between England and India in 2011 and two ODIs between the same sides in 2012. However, no women’s international matches were awarded to the ground in 2013 (a Women’s Ashes year)and 2014: evidence of a desire to spread women’s cricket around the country.
International cricket, and the Women’s Ashes returned to Taunton in 2015, as England won the opening match of their series against Australia by 4 wickets. In 2016, records fell as Tammy Beaumont scored 168* and Katherine Brunt took 5/30 against Pakistan at the County Ground – both ODI records at the ground.
Whilst by this point the claims of Taunton to still be the “Home of England Women’s Cricket” had faded, the period between 2017 and 2019 saw a revival in the use of the County Ground: seven group stages matches in the 2017 Women’s World Cup took place at the ground, including England’s clash with Sri Lanka, whilst a 2018 tri-series involving England, South Africa and New Zealand saw four matches take place at the County Ground. The first day of these was extraordinary: in the afternoon, New Zealand set a new world record for the highest innings total in WT20Is, scoring 216/1 against South Africa. Yet the record lasted just a few hours, as England came out firing later in the day, smashing the record by scoring 250/3, also against South Africa. Finally, 2019 saw the County Ground host its first Ashes Test match, which ended in a draw between England and Australia.
Post COVID-19, Taunton continues to be a regular hunting ground for England: matches in 2021 against India and New Zealand, another Test match in 2022 against South Africa, and the return of the Women’s Ashes in 2023 for an ODI. However, it is clear that Taunton is no longer viewed as the sole “Home of England Women’s Cricket”. Plans to move the administration of women’s cricket in the country to Taunton never came to fruition, with this eventually being moved to Lord’s to align with the men’s game. There is a general recognition, perhaps, that England women’s cricket need not have one specified home, but that there is an advantage in spreading the game across the country wherever possible.
However, the legacy of Taunton’s time as the “Home of England Women’s Cricket” lives on, not least in the Somerset Cricket Museum itself, which claims the only permanent display on women’s cricket in the country, including memorabilia from past England glories and memorable moments. England Women, along with the domestic teams Somerset Women and [Western Storm], will continue to return to the County Ground, Taunton, perhaps allowing it to at least claim the title of the “spiritual home of women’s cricket” in the country