Evelyn Jones named Lancashire Women captain

The 25-year-old will take over the reins from Meg Fairclough, who left the Red Rose county at the end of last season after relocating to Milan with her partner.

Jones, a left handed opening batter, joined Lancashire from Staffordshire last season and made an immediate impact in both T20 and One Day cricket, as she averaged 32 across both formats in 2017.

This led Jones to, who also represents Lancashire Thunder in the Kia Super League, being named player of the year as Lancashire Women sealed the domestic double, winning the T20 and 50-over titles last season.

She has just spent the 2017/18 winter in New Zealand playing for Canterbury Women and has also featured for England Senior Women’s Academy previously.

Shrewsbury-born Jones, who still represents the Heath Road club whenever her busy schedule allows, said: “It’s a huge honour for me to be named as captain of Lancashire Women and I can’t wait to get started.

“We’ve got a very talented group of players here, with a nice mixture of more experienced internationals such as Kate Cross and Alex Hartley as well as some younger girls coming through.

“I’d like to congratulate Meg on a fantastic couple of years captaining the side. Last year was really special to be part of winning the double.

“I feel privileged to have been given this opportunity to lead the Red Rose and I’m very excited to get going with the girls.”

Lancashire Women head coach Daniel Atkinson added: “Eve enjoyed an impressive first season with us last year and we’re delighted that she will lead the side this season.

“She has worked hard on her game during the winter in New Zealand and I hope that we can see the results of that with us this summer, in both her batting and captaincy.

“We’re all very excited for the start to the season and we’re determined to back up last year’s success with more silverware in 2018.”

Lancashire Women begin their season away at Middlesex on May 6 in the Royal London Women’s One-Day Cup.