Lauren Winfield-Hill released to play in the Rachael Heyhoe-Flint Trophy final

Winfield-Hill was part of the 18-member England squad in the ongoing five-match T20I series against West Indies. England won the series after defeating the visitors by 20 runs in the third match on Saturday (September 26) with two matches to spare. England players were available for the first two matches of the competition before they returned to the bio-bubble ahead of the series which started on September 21.

“We want to ensure players get the opportunity to play as many games as possible and we couldn’t turn down the chance for Lauren to play in a domestic final,” Jonathan Finch, Director of England women’s cricket, said. “We want to do right by the player and going forward we’ll be keen to offer domestic playing opportunities to England players where possible.”

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Winfield-Hill, who has played 85 international matches for England across formats, captained Northern Diamonds in the first two matches of the new 50-over regional domestic competition. She helped the Diamonds register a bonus-point win their first match scoring a match-winning 72 while sharing a 139-run partnership with Hollie Armitage.

Northern Diamonds won five out of their six matches to make it to the final from the North group with 23 points to their name. Their opponents, Southern Vipers have been unbeaten in the competition winning all their South group matches.

Winfield-Hill won’t able to play in the remaining two matches of the West Indies series as she won’t be able to return to the bio-bubble under the bio-secure protocols that are in place for the series due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.