Player Profile
Thunder captain Ellie Threlkeld has earned high praise for her skills as a wicketkeeper, with England legend Sarah Taylor saying in 2021: “She has got phenomenal hands - one of the best in the country.”
Threlkeld is also a hugely talented and rapidly improving batter.
She has shown that particularly over the last couple of summers - 2022 and 2023 - scoring just shy of 1,000 runs in all cricket for Thunder, including five fifties and a maiden career century.
Threlkeld, 25, hit a measured 91 in a 2022 Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy defeat against Lightning before bettering that score in the final game of 2023. In the same competition, she hit a brilliant 107 not out off 115 balls to seal a victory over Western Storm at Emirates Old Trafford in the same competition.
To be precise, across the last two summers, she has posted 977 runs in 42 Thunder matches across all cricket. That included 593 in 25 in the 2023 summer - the best of her career to date - added to 16 dismissals behind the stumps.
Threlkeld has been named as Thunder’s One-Day player of the year for two years running, 2022 being her first as captain as well.
Threlkeld was born in Knowsley near Liverpool, a place made famous for its Safari Park. She will be aiming to lead Thunder’s tigerish bid for silverware in 2024 having gone close during the most recent summer when she led the side to their first Finals Day appearance in the Charlotte Edwards Cup. They were beaten semi-finalists.
She is a product of the Rainford club near St Helens and is a former footballer for Wigan Athletic.
Threlkeld, who toured Australia with England A in early 2022, has been an ever-present for Thunder across the first four years of regional cricket.
She was also an ever-present for Lancashire Thunder in the days of the Kia Super League between 2016 and 2019.
Despite her tender years, Threlkeld is a Lancashire stalwart and is an inspirational leader who also skippered the Manchester Originals for the latter stages of the 2023 Hundred when Sophie Ecclestone went down injured.
In all cricket, since making her senior debut in July 2013 - aged 14 - she has gone on to make 98 appearances for the Red Rose in county cricket alone with a best of 110 in a 50-over friendly against the Lightning regional second team in 2022.
She was part of the Lancashire team which won the county one-day and T20 double in 2017 and captained the side as they won the 2022 regional T20 title.
In all women’s List A and T20 cricket, for all teams, she has made 196 career appearances, meaning a landmark moment will arrive during the early stages of the 2024 campaign.
She came through the Lancashire age-groups from Under 13s and has played Development, Academy and A cricket for England.
Threlkeld has played men’s cricket - and kept wicket - for Rainford’s first team in the Liverpool Competition.
She was a team-mate of England legend Taylor’s for a brief time in Lancashire Thunder colours during the days of the old Kia Super League.
Speaking about Threlkeld’s development three years ago, World Cup winner Taylor said: “She has got phenomenal hands - one of the best in the country.
“The talent has always been there. The next thing you know, she scores a fifty, gets more experience and knows her game a bit more.”
Her game is clearly in an exciting place now having developed significantly since those comments by Taylor - and that is fantastic news for all concerned with Thunder.