Whitchurch cricket star Eve Jones thanks her sponsor ahead of Ashes tour

Whitchurch star cricketer Eve Jones paid a visit to her sponsor Tilley Green Coffee, of Prees, on her brief return home between two high-profile tours to Australia.

Following a breakthrough summer last year when she made a major impact for her club Warwickshire-based Central Sparks and in The Hundred for Birmingham Phoenix, Eve signed a contract with Melbourne Renegades to play in the popular Women’s Big Bash League, with games hosted across Australia.

The team enjoyed a successful campaign which saw them reach the final stages of the league.

Now, Eve has caught the attention of the England cricket selectors and in December she was named in the England ‘A’ team for the prestigious Ashes Tour of Australia.

Last week, she flew out to Australia with the 17-strong senior team. While the ECB’s focus will be on the senior group, there will be scope for Eve and the eleven other ‘A’ team players to be called into the Ashes squad while on tour.

This is the first occasion that an England Women’s ‘A’ squad has been taken on tour alongside the senior team.

As part of the ‘A’ squad, Eve will feature in a series of T20 and 50-over one day international fixtures against Australia’s Women’s ‘A’ Team beginning on January 26. She will also be involved in warm-up matches against the England senior squad.

Speaking about joining the Ashes tour, Eve said: “This is a very special opportunity for me. It doesn’t get better than representing your country at national level, but to do this on an Ashes Tour is the stuff of dreams.

“I plan to enjoy every moment of the experience and I’m really looking forward to working with and playing alongside the country’s best players. It’s also a developmental opportunity for me to be coached at this high level and, of course, there is the chance to break into the senior squad.”

At Tilley Green, Eve met and chatted to staff about her experience with the Melbourne Renegades, although one member of staff, her mum Ruth, had lived every moment of every match out in Australia, alongside Eve’s dad Rod, a well-known local cricket coach and ECB Coach Developer.

Tilley Green has provided sponsorship funds to support Eve with her expenses.

Operations manager Shaun Bond said: “What a year Eve has had! We are very proud to be associated with her stunning achievements and we would like to wish her great success in Australia.

"We’ll all be following her progress with interest throughout the winter and we look forward to hearing about her experience when she returns.”