Fresh off her maiden season of Dream11 Super Smash with the CENTRAL HINDS - going with the team all the way to the Grand Final, HOLLIE ARMITAGE has been called up for the England Women T20 International squad for the first time.

Armitage was the Hinds' top run-maker in their impressive 2023/24 T20 campaign and slotted into the side as an overseas pro fresh off a breakthrough England A tour in India.

PHOTOSPORT

Now the UK Northern Superchargers captain has been selected for the England squad for the first three T20 Internationals against the WHITE FERNS, coming up in Dunedin (Game One) next month and then Saxton Oval, Nelson (back-to-back on 22 and 24 March 2024).

Power-packed Armitage, 26, finished the Dream11 Super Smash with 318 runs at a 120.91 strike rate, including a knock of 78 in the Hinds' Elimination Final in Hamilton that almost surpassed her career best in the format.

That ranked her in the top three players nationally this summer (in the men's and women's Super Smash combined), and inspired the Central team on and off the field, where her leadership skills were to the fore.

Power-packed performer | PHOTOSPORT

Noted England Women Head Coach Jon Lewis when the international team to tour New Zealand was announced overnight, “I've been really impressed with Hollie across the course of last summer, especially over The Hundred - which is a really good indicator of how she might play at the next level.

"On the England A tour to India in November, I thought she was a standout performer in terms of the role she can play in the England side.

"We're really looking forward to the upcoming T20 International and ODI series in New Zealand.

"This tour is another important step in our build-up to the IT20 World Cup in Bangladesh later this year and we’re delighted to bring in Hollie and [Otago Sparks pro] Linsey Smith to the T20 group."

Tickets to the WHITE FERNS T20 Internationals in Nelson are available now at www.nzc.nz with the WHITE FERNS squad yet to be announced.

Article added: Saturday 3 February 2024