Rising Black Country stars Perrin and Baker have net an England World Cup call

Wolverhampton’s Davina Perrin and Kingswinford’s Hannah Baker have earned a call-up for England Women’s under-19 squad for next year’s inaugural ICC U19 Women’s T20 World Cup.

The duo are part of a 15-strong travelling party that will head to South Africa in January.

All-rounder Perrin made history earlier this summer when, aged 15, she signed for Birmingham Phoenix in The Hundred, becoming the youngest player in the competition.

She started her career with Fordhouses and has represented Staffordshire and now plays alongside Baker for Central Sparks.

The teenager celebrated her call up during a family holiday in Jamaica and proud dad Dave said: “It’s her first England call-up and brilliant news.

“We found out a month ago but were told not to say anything until it was officially announced by the ECB.

“We are all ready proud of her. She has done really well and all the hard work is paying off.

“Her attitude is good, her feet are firmly on the floor and she doesn’t take things for granted.

“She knows she has to keep working hard.

“She is the youngest in the squad but she will be going out there determined to win a place in the side and looking to make an impact.”

Leg-spinner Baker, 18, played her junior cricket at Beacon and has turned out for Worcestershire and Warwickshire, and figured in this summer’s Hundred for Welsh Fire.

She has been part of the England academy set up and had been set to tour South Africa only for the trip to be cancelled due to Covid.

But now she is eagerly looking forward to pulling on an England shirt when the tournament kicks off.

“I’m really excited,” she said. “It hasn’t really sunk in yet but we have some training camps in November at Loughborough and I’m sure everything will become a bit more real then.

“I enjoyed playing in The Hundred in the summer and played with and against some really good players which helped my game. The World Cup was a target of mine and I’m really happy to have been selected.”

Hannah’s mum Lisa added: “We are extremely proud parents and we can’t quite believe it at the moment.

“It’s great news and it’s also nice for Beacon. They don’t get much recognition but they do some fantastic work in their junior section and it’s nice to know that she has progressed having started playing cricket there.”

The action in South Africa runs from January 14 to 29 with 16 countries competing.

England will be in Group B, alongside Pakistan, Zimbabwe and Rwanda.

And Perrin and Baker will have a familiar face coaching them with former Fordhouses coach and player Chris Guest in charge.

He was Perrin’s first coach at Fordhouses and also coached Baker during some West Midlands RDC sessions.