Bring The Thunder follows the Lancashire women’s team through the 2023 season

Bring the Thunder Lancashire cricket

Lancashire CCC has produced a 50-minute documentary on its women’s team’s, Lancashire Thunder, 2023 season, called Bring The Thunder.

It was self-produced by the Club’s media team, and provides a deep dive into women’s domestic cricket, shot during Thunder’s 2023 Charlotte Edwards Cup campaign that saw the side make their first Finals Day appearance. 

Those features in interviews include captain Ellie Threlkeld, Kate Cross, Alex Hartley and Olivia Bell, the ECB’s director of the women’s professional game, Beth Barrett-Wild and commercial director, Tony Singh. There are also contributions from journalists and a number of representatives from Lancashire Cricket, including chief executive Daniel Gidney and director of cricket performance Mark Chilton.

Bring The Thunder will be available on the LancsTV YouTube channel from 9 April, ahead of the Thunder’s 2024 campaign beginning on 19 April. You can watch the trailer below. 

Gidney said: “Bring The Thunder is a really important film that authentically highlights the journey of the women’s game, the hurdles it faces, the controversy that surrounds it and, for some players, how just making it out to the middle is success.

“We believe Bring The Thunder is the first dedicated film profiling women’s domestic cricket, and it’s certainly the first long-format documentary LancsTV has produced. We are proud to be pioneering in our approach to women and girls’ cricket and this documentary is another example of our commitment to growing the game from grassroots to the elite.

“We are extremely grateful to long-term commercial partners Hilton and Sportbreaks.com for their continued funding, that supports the growth and development of our women’s cricket initiatives. Specifically, Hilton’s additional investment during 2024 has enabled the Thunder to increase its squad of professional players to 15 – the most full-time professionals of any team in England’s domestic women’s structure – and, for a third year in a row, has seen the Thunder participate in a joint pre-season tour to India alongside Lancashire Lightning.

“We are bidding to become a tier one women’s domestic team and alongside Emirates Old Trafford hosting international women’s cricket from 2025, we are incredibly excited about what the next few years, and beyond, have in store. Women’s elite sport will become a $1 billion industry in 2024 and we look forward to bringing the Thunder on the journey.”

Threlkeld added: “The pace of change in women’s cricket has been phenomenal but there are still many sacrifices that players have to make to realise their ambitions.

“The documentary does an incredible job of capturing the journey we are on to break boundaries and grow the sport. Cricket has become a genuine career choice for young girls and I hope this film inspires the next generation to pursue their dreams, as I did mine.

“It’s amazing to see the work Lancashire Cricket are putting into growing and developing the women’s game and I’m just so proud to be captain of the Thunder squad.”