Maddie fits Yorkshire like a glove
Maddie Ward is an up-and-coming wicketkeeper-batter with international experience and already a player with a place in Yorkshire’s history.
Last summer, Ward first captained Yorkshire – in the absence of Lauren Winfield-Hill – at the age of 20 years and 133 days, becoming the county’s second youngest ever captain, male or female. The youngest, JJ Stephenson, an amateur who captained Yorkshire’s men once aged 19 in 1923.
It came amidst a trophy-winning summer, to which Ward contributed heavily, including runs, victims behind the stumps and wickets with her spin. She is an all-rounder in every sense.
2025 proved her breakthrough year – her first full campaign in senior cricket. Inventive with the bat, she hit a best of 69 not out in August’s Metro Bank One-Day Cup win at Kent having previously hit an unbeaten 150 in a 50-over friendly win over Scotland.
Ward was part of the England Under 19s squad which reached the final of the inaugural T20 World Cup in South Africa at the start of 2023. At the end of the same year, she also helped an England National Counties XI win the European Championship T10 title in Malaga.
Ward spent time on both the Blaze and Northern Diamonds Academies in the old regional structure, joining the latter ahead of 2024. A native of Worksop, she is also a Sheffield United football fan and says she has “always had a soft spot for Yorkshire Cricket”.
She has also played senior county cricket for Nottinghamshire.
Ward has played eight times for the England Under 19s, all abroad in either South Africa or Sri Lanka.
She made her senior regional debut for the Northern Diamonds in late August 2024 – a Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy 50-over match against Sunrisers at Chelmsford in which she kept impressively and hit an encouraging 20 down the order.
She built on that impressively in 2025 and signed a contract extension through until the end of 2027.
UPDATED: Feb 2026.
