England · Bowling All-Rounder

Lucy Higham: Age, Stats, 5/19 and The Blaze Career

Lucy Higham is an English bowling all-rounder for The Blaze and a 2026 London Spirit squad member. Born in Leicester on 17 October 1997, she was 28 on 24 August 2026. The right-arm off-spinner has more than 100 Women's List A wickets, a career-best 5/19, three List A fifties and a Women's T20 best of 4/16. She helped The Blaze win the 2024 Charlotte Edwards Cup, won The Hundred with Northern Superchargers in 2025 and signed a Blaze extension through 2028 before producing two three-wicket spells in June and August 2026.

By StumpScope Cricket Desk · Edited by StumpScope Editorial Team

Right-handedRight-arm off break bowlerBorn 17 October 1997

Current squadLondon Spirit WomenThe Hundred · The Blaze in 2026; London Spirit in The Hundred 2026

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Full nameLucy Florence Higham

Age28As of 24 August 2026

Date of birth17 October 1997Leicester, Leicestershire, England

Batting styleRight-handed

Bowling styleRight-arm off break

Career overview

Lucy Higham cricket career

Born in Leicester on 17 October 1997; aged 28 on 24 August 2026.

Right-handed batter and right-arm off-spinner used by The Blaze as a bowling all-rounder.

Career-best Women's List A figures of 5/19 against Central Sparks at Trent Bridge in April 2023.

Scored an unbeaten 62 in a 105-run stand to complete a 2024 chase against Western Storm.

Won the 2024 Charlotte Edwards Cup with The Blaze and The Hundred 2025 with Northern Superchargers.

Contracted to The Blaze through 2028 and represented London Spirit in The Hundred 2026.

Career story

Lucy Higham career and playing journey

Who is Lucy Higham?

Lucy Florence Higham is an English bowling all-rounder who plays for The Blaze. She bats right-handed and bowls right-arm off break. London Spirit listed her as a bowler for The Hundred 2026, while The Blaze uses the broader all-rounder label because she can contribute useful lower-order runs as well as spin and fielding.

Her career has remained rooted in the East Midlands. Higham began with Leicestershire, moved to Nottinghamshire, entered the regional era with Lightning and stayed through the team's 2023 move and renaming as The Blaze. Her franchise path has included Trent Rockets, Northern Superchargers and London Spirit.

How old is Lucy Higham?

Lucy Higham was 28 years old on 24 August 2026. She was born on 17 October 1997 in Leicester, so she turns 29 in October 2026. Stating the date alongside her age keeps the answer clear after another birthday passes.

Higham made her senior county debut as a teenager in 2013 and had already accumulated more than a decade of senior domestic cricket by 2026. Her experience therefore comes from both the earlier county system and the professional regional and county structures that followed.

What is Lucy Higham's playing role?

Higham's primary skill is right-arm off-spin. The Blaze calls her a bowling all-rounder, London Spirit lists her as a bowler, and the statistical record shows why both labels can be reasonable. Her bowling carries the larger workload, while her batting has produced important rescue innings and three Women's List A fifties.

She is not a top-order run accumulator. Her value comes from controlling phases with spin, taking wickets when batters attack, fielding at a high standard and extending an innings from the middle or lower order. That combination explains why teams can describe the same player differently without creating an identity conflict.

How did Lucy Higham start playing cricket?

Higham told her school magazine that a friend invited her to a Friday training session at City Cricket Academy when she was young. She had already tried several sports and took up the invitation. The local academy became the start of a pathway that led into Leicestershire cricket and senior county selection.

Her school years also included indoor cricket. Higham captained an England under-19 indoor side at a 2014 World Cup in New Zealand, where the team finished third. She described the tour as her first experience of playing abroad and said balancing training, travel and schoolwork demanded careful time management.

What did Lucy Higham achieve at school level?

Leicester Grammar School recorded Higham as a member of its first XI and as an England representative. A 2014 school report noted selection for an England under-19 outdoor development side as well as the indoor tour. The school's later retrospective identifies her as an alumna from the class of 2016.

In a school interview, Higham also recalled scoring a youth century and taking four wickets in the same under-17 match against Oxfordshire. That innings is part of her development story, not a senior career statistic, so it should not be merged into her Women's List A or Women's T20 record.

When did Lucy Higham make her county debut?

Higham made her senior county debut for Leicestershire in 2013 against Scotland. She was 15. The match began a county career in which she became a leading wicket-taker for Leicestershire across both the 50-over and T20 competitions before moving to Nottinghamshire in 2017.

The early seasons established her as an off-spinner rather than a batter who bowled occasionally. She led Leicestershire's wicket chart in the 2014 Women's Twenty20 Cup and in the 2015 and 2016 Women's County Championship campaigns. Her senior List A high score of 74 also came for Leicestershire in 2015.

Why did Lucy Higham move to Nottinghamshire?

Higham joined Nottinghamshire in 2017 as her East Midlands career developed. She was part of the side that won Division Two of the Women's Twenty20 Cup that year and later captained Nottinghamshire in the 2019 competition. The move added leadership responsibility without taking her away from her regional base.

Her strongest county T20 bowling season came in 2018. Higham took nine wickets and recorded career-best Women's T20 figures of 4/16. She also took eight wickets in the 50-over county championship, showing that the same off-spin skill transferred across different innings lengths.

How did Loughborough Lightning shape Lucy Higham's career?

Higham represented Loughborough Lightning in the Women's Cricket Super League from 2017 to 2019 while studying at Loughborough University. The competition placed her alongside established international cricketers and gave her experience in a national franchise-style tournament before The Hundred began.

She stayed within the Lightning set-up when the regional women's structure started in 2020. The team was different from the earlier Super League franchise, but the continuity of coaches, facilities and East Midlands relationships helped turn a university-era opportunity into a professional domestic career.

When did Lucy Higham become a professional cricketer?

Higham was among the first group of English domestic women to receive full-time regional contracts at the end of 2020. That change allowed players outside the centrally contracted England group to train and prepare as professionals rather than relying only on match fees and work arranged around cricket.

Her first regional season had already shown the value of a regular role. In the 2020 Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy, Higham took eight wickets at 24.37 and scored 42 runs. The following season she added 101 runs and five wickets in the 50-over competition.

How did Lightning become The Blaze?

The East Midlands regional side moved its base from Loughborough to Trent Bridge and became The Blaze for the 2023 season. Higham stayed through that transition. The Blaze's 2026 contract announcement described her as one of the players who had remained from the regional era into the newer county structure.

The name change did not create a separate career. Statistics may list Lightning for 2020 to 2022 and The Blaze from 2023, but the official club narrative treats Higham's service as a continuous East Midlands professional journey. That distinction matters when comparing team-only totals with her full career.

Why is Lucy Higham's 5/19 important?

Higham took 5/19 against Central Sparks at Trent Bridge on 22 April 2023. It was her first five-wicket haul in senior Women's List A cricket and remains her career-best bowling performance. The Blaze won by 59 runs in their first competitive match at Trent Bridge under the new name.

The performance was not only a five-for. Higham had earlier made 24 with the bat, helping The Blaze reach a defendable total. She later said the pitch began to turn after a difficult opening spell. The match captured her full role: lower-order resistance followed by decisive off-spin.

What made the 2023 season a breakthrough for The Blaze?

The Blaze reached the finals of both the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy and Charlotte Edwards Cup in 2023. Higham played across the two formats and contributed 13 wickets in the 50-over competition, including the 5/19 that launched the season.

The team lost both finals, so 2023 should not be described as a trophy-winning year. Its importance was the consistency of reaching two showpieces in the first season after the move to Trent Bridge. Higham's experience and control were part of the stable core that returned in 2024.

How did Lucy Higham help beat Southern Vipers in 2024?

Higham made 36 not out in a three-run Charlotte Edwards Cup win over Southern Vipers on 18 May 2024. The Blaze had collapsed to 25/5 and later 43/7 before she and captain Kirstie Gordon added 52 for the ninth wicket. Their stand lifted the total to 112/9.

The innings mattered because it changed what the bowlers had to defend. The Blaze then restricted the defending champions to 109/9. Higham did not need a rapid fifty to influence the result; an unbeaten 36 in a damaged innings was enough to turn a likely defeat into a defendable contest.

Why was Lucy Higham's unbeaten 62 a career milestone?

Higham made 62 not out against Western Storm at Cheltenham on 10 July 2024. The Blaze were chasing 218 and had slipped to 115/5 when she joined Ella Claridge. Their unbeaten 105-run partnership completed a five-wicket victory with 7.3 overs unused.

The innings was Higham's third Women's List A fifty and her first half-century in regional cricket. It was also an answer to the idea that her batting is only incidental. A player used mainly for off-spin read a chase, absorbed pressure and stayed to finish it.

What did Lucy Higham win with The Blaze in 2024?

The Blaze won the 2024 Charlotte Edwards Cup, their first trophy after moving to Trent Bridge. Higham appeared in both the semi-final and the final. The title followed the two final defeats of 2023 and confirmed that the side's strong run had produced silverware.

Higham signed a two-year contract in July 2024 alongside Marie Kelly and Georgie Boyce. The club highlighted her skill with the ball, calm approach, fielding and ability to contribute with the bat. Those qualities describe the role she had already shown in the Vipers rescue and Western Storm chase.

Why did Lucy Higham return to Leicestershire in 2025?

Higham joined Leicestershire on an open-ended dual-registration loan in June 2025 while remaining a Blaze player. She was returning from a foot injury, and the arrangement allowed her to regain match exposure when her primary club did not require her.

The move was a temporary playing arrangement, not a permanent transfer. It took her back to the county where her senior career started and preserved her main contract with The Blaze. The official announcement said availability would determine when she could appear for Leicestershire.

How did Lucy Higham win The Hundred in 2025?

Higham was part of the Northern Superchargers squad that won The Hundred women's title in 2025. The Superchargers beat Southern Brave by seven wickets in the final at Lord's. The Blaze's annual report specifically recognised Higham, Grace Ballinger and Ella Claridge as members of the winning group.

A squad title and an individual tournament record answer different questions. Higham's medal belongs among her achievements, but it should not be presented as if she alone decided the final. The value of the season was contributing within the team that finished first after losing the 2023 final.

How long is Lucy Higham contracted to The Blaze?

Higham signed a two-year extension on 30 June 2026 that keeps her with The Blaze through the end of the 2028 season. At the time, the club credited her with 48 wickets and almost 500 runs in 73 all-format appearances under The Blaze name.

Those club figures have a narrower scope than her complete career totals. They cover appearances for The Blaze and stop at the announcement date. They do not include earlier Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire or Lightning records, and they do not include matches played after 30 June 2026.

How did Lucy Higham begin the 2026 one-day season?

Higham contributed with both disciplines during The Blaze's strong opening run in the 2026 One Day Cup. Against Durham on 2 May, she made 32 in an 83-run eighth-wicket partnership with Kirstie Gordon and then took one wicket as The Blaze won by 92 runs.

Two days later she took two wickets against Surrey at Trent Bridge. The Blaze dismissed Surrey for 164 and completed a five-wicket win, their fourth successive victory. Neither match produced a personal record, but both showed why lower-order batting and controlled spin remain useful across a full campaign.

What did Lucy Higham do against Essex in June 2026?

Higham took 3/24 against Essex in the Women's Vitality Blast on 28 June 2026. Her four overs formed part of a spin-heavy plan that restricted Essex to 136/9. The Blaze chased the target for the loss of one wicket and earned a bonus-point victory.

The spell targeted the middle order rather than simply protecting a low scoring rate. Higham removed Liberty Heap one stroke short of fifty and helped stop an Essex recovery. Captain Marie Kelly later singled out the contribution of the spin group and Higham's three wickets.

Why did Lucy Higham's 3/15 matter in August 2026?

Higham took 3/15 against Lancashire Thunder in the Women's T20 County Cup quarter-final on 23 August 2026. The Blaze defended 160/8 by bowling Thunder out for 95 and advanced to Finals Day with a 65-run victory.

Her first wicket ended a 52-run opening stand, after which Thunder lost all ten wickets for 43 runs. Josie Groves led the figures with 4/14, while Higham's spell supplied the second major source of wickets. The result is a useful example of two spinners sharing the decisive phase rather than one bowler carrying the attack alone.

What was Lucy Higham's role for London Spirit in 2026?

London Spirit bought Higham for £15,000 in the 2026 Hundred auction and listed her as a bowler. She appeared in two recorded matches: bowling five balls for 13 runs against MI London on 6 August and making an unbeaten eight from five balls against Welsh Fire on 12 August.

The two appearances are too small a sample for a broad judgement. They show a limited 2026 role rather than a decline or breakthrough. Higham's longer Hundred record was built mainly with Trent Rockets and Northern Superchargers, including the 2025 title.

What are Lucy Higham's current career statistics?

The latest consistent 2026 CricketArchive snapshot lists 112 Women's List A matches, 1,157 runs and 115 wickets for Higham, with a batting high of 74 and best bowling of 5/19. It also lists 147 Women's T20 matches, 939 runs and 87 wickets, with a high score of 53 and best bowling of 4/16.

The same snapshot lists 37 Women's Hundred matches through the end of 2025, with 57 runs and 18 wickets. Her two London Spirit appearances in 2026 sit outside that Hundred cutoff. Readers should therefore keep each row's date and competition scope attached instead of adding separate formats or snapshots together.

How effective is Lucy Higham's off-spin?

Higham's long-form domestic value comes from repeatable control as much as isolated five-wicket hauls. In the latest 2026 career snapshot, her 115 Women's List A wickets cost 25.37 runs each at an economy of 4.14. Her 87 Women's T20 wickets cost 21.44 at an economy of 6.11.

Those figures describe different demands. The 50-over record rewards sustained middle-over control and wicket creation across longer spells, while the T20 record reflects shorter, more attackable phases. Her 5/19 and 4/16 show the ceiling; the career averages show how often she has kept contributing between headline performances.

Lucy Higham records

Lucy Higham career statistics and records

Batting, bowling and fielding figures are kept separate by competition and format.

Women's List A career · 2026 CricketArchive snapshot112matches