Homegrown all-rounder who has returned home to help Diamonds prosper
Halifax-born Yvonne Graves is an all-rounder who has returned home having played the first two years of regional cricket with the Loughborough-based Lightning side. She played three competitive matches for the Diamonds in 2022, including twice in the successful Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy campaign.
In a pre-season friendly, she even played against her twin sister Teresa, who remained with the Lightning. The pair even share the same Instagram account.
The twins started their cricketing journeys by playing age-group cricket for Yorkshire at Under 13s level in 2012, with Yvonne making her senior debut for the county two years later. She only played three times before moving to play for Nottinghamshire in 2017.
Graves bats in the middle order and bowls off-spin and has made over 50 senior appearances for Notts, still playing for the Trent Bridge side last summer as they reached the T20 County Finals Day.
Graves claimed 14 wickets in 13 appearances for Lightning in regional cricket, including friendlies, in 2020 and 2021. She enjoyed an impressive display against the Diamonds in the RHFT in her second season with that region, taking 1-18 from six overs and then hitting 19 as she nearly dragged a low-scoring game at Kibworth out of the fire.
