SACA WOMEN – REVIEW OF THE 2026 SEASON
Having already successfully created a proven pathway into the professional game for 18 male cricketers since SACA launched in 2022, in January this year the Academy opened up the application process for female cricketers to register their interest in joining SACA’s inaugural Women’s programme, being run as a pilot throughout the 2026 season.
The application process was simple enough – tell SACA why you should be part of the programme, send in your ‘career CV’ and video evidence of yourself in action, and meet SACA’s criteria to qualify! Applications flooded in, and the quality of them was superb, with SACA inundated with a high volume of talented female cricketers from across the country eager to get themselves onto the programme and take the next step towards becoming professional cricketers.
The influx of talent led to initial plans for the programme being redrawn, and the decision being made to increase the size of the original planned squad, to 15 players, creating a SACA Women’s squad that could work with SACA’s coaches throughout the summer, individually in one-to-one sessions, in small groups, and on several occasions as a squad.
The Women’s squad would then have the opportunity to take to the field and compete against county opponents – mirroring the men’s programme, and providing the players with the platform to showcase their skills against their professional peers.
Alongside the elite coaching the Women’s squad would receive from SACA’s elite coaching group, came the collaborative support from Take Her Lead - the registered charity founded by former England international and Broadcaster Isa Guha.
Take Her Lead brought together an advisory panel of experts from across the Women’s game to support the players in the programme, chaired by Guha herself, delivering specialist advice on areas like strength and conditioning, nutritional and sports psychology support.
Take Her Lead’s advisory panel worked with the Women’s playing group across the summer, with players receiving dedicated sessions delivered by the likes of former South Asian professional player Sonia Odedra, Scottish international Abtaha Maqsood, England Women’s S&C Coach Helen Shipman, England Selector Lydia Greenway, and the National Asian Cricket’s Councils’ Women & Girls Manager Kay Baig, to name but a few.
A successful media day was held at Leamington Cricket Club in May, where we got to see the Women’s squad’s new playing strip for 2026 for the first time, designed and created by specialist Women’s kit manufacturer Lacuna. The Women were all set to take to the field, with their first ever competitive fixture lined up against Yorkshire in the first week of June – the first of nine fixtures the squad were scheduled to play in their inaugural season – one that was eagerly anticipated.
The highlight of the season for SACA Women undeniably came at the end of the year, when Riva Pindoria became the very first female graduate of SACA, signing professional terms with Tier One Lancashire Cricket Women. Pindoria’s elevation in the professional ranks saw her become the 20th player to graduate through the SACA Academy, as she looks forward to life as a professional cricketer, signed on a two-year deal at Emirates Old Trafford.
Women’s performance round-up…
Despite witnessing one of the hottest summers in England for the past three decades, the Women’s programme got off to a disappointing and sodden start, with their opening two fixtures, a T20 double header against Yorkshire in Harrogate, completely washed out!
That was to be the only rain interference all summer however, as the Women’s squad’s remaining seven matches went off without a hitch.
After opening up their account with an impressive victory against Glamorgan in Abergavenny, fortunes changed, with the side coming out on the wrong end of results in their remaining five fixtures, although there were plenty of individual performances to celebrate as the season evolved.
A total of 18 players were used across the season, with three further players added to the initial 15 strong squad that was announced in March.
We witnessed one century, two further half-centuries, and one five wicket haul across the season, as despite results not going SACA’s way, there was plenty of evidence on show of the quality within the playing group.
Women’s T20 round-up…
Five T20 matches were completed in the T20 format, with SACA winning one of them and losing four.
Maryam Faisal showed her class with the bat throughout the campaign, with knocks of 32, 40, 67 and 38 in four of the five innings she played, finishing the season as SACA’s leading run-scorer in the T20 format, with 185 runs at an average of 37.00.
Riva Pindoria came next, with 109 runs to her name, with an impressive unbeaten 55 being the highlight of her campaign, as she finished with an average of 27.25.
With the ball, it was the pace of Bhoomika Bhat that stood out, as a five-wicket haul in the opening match, when she took 5 for 9 from 2.4 overs, saw her finish the season as the leading wicket-taker for SACA in T20 cricket, ending the year with 7 wickets to her name from the three matches she played.
Women’s 50-over round-up…
Just two matches were played in this format, both ending in losses to Hampshire and Durham.
Against Hampshire, Sanya Khurana, making her SACA debut, notched the only century of SACA Women’s season, hitting a brilliant 100 off 77 balls in a losing cause, which ultimately saw her go on to finish the campaign as SACA’s leading run-scorer in this format, with 116 runs at an average of 58.00.
With the ball, Zaynah Rayman’s 3 for 37 against Hampshire saw her finish the season as the leading wicket-taker in 50 over cricket, with her only playing one of the two fixtures.
In summary…
Reflecting on the inaugural pilot year, there was plenty of evidence from across the group that there is undoubtedly an abundance of quality within the SACA Women's squad.
Whilst results didn’t go SACA’s way, gelling a new squad together and going up against experienced, well-established opposition, was always going to present challenges, however most importantly, SACA competed, came together well as a group, and showed that there is plenty to build on.
With Lancashire Cricket Women’s signing of Riva Pindoria, the pilot year can be looked back on as a success, with the foundations being laid for the SACA Women’s programme to build on in 2027 and beyond as SACA look to emulate the success seen in the Men’s game across the Women’s game.
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