Devon Women's Emma Corney has signed a contract extension at Western Storm.

The 20-year-old top order batter was selected for the Storm Regional Development Centre in 2018 and went on to make her First XI debut against South East Stars at Beckenham in the Rachael Heyhoe-Flint Trophy in 2020. She was a part of the Western Storm Academy in 2021 and signed her first professional contract earlier this year.

A product of the Devon Performance Pathway, Emma has featured in 23 matches for Western Storm across the two formats, scoring 399 runs with a best of 69 against Southern Vipers at Millfield School earlier this summer.

After signing her extension, Emma is looking to build on her first year as a professional: "I’m really excited to have signed for another year," she said. "It’s great to know that the coaches and staff have faith in me, and I’m looking forward to what the next year has in store.

"I feel like I’ve come a long way skills-wise and tactically this year, and credit for that has to go to the coaches and my teammates. I would have liked to have scored a few more runs but I would say that it was a good first season for me.

"We’ve got some great characters in the squad and a great team spirit. Playing for Storm is special, and you take real pride in representing the region. It’s important that we show girls across the South West that it can be done.

"I’ll be working hard over the winter with the goal of making that opening position my own. I want to be the player that Storm can rely on at the top of the order in both formats."

Western Storm Head Coach, Trevor Griffin has been impressed with Emma’s progression: "She made her debut for us last year and within the first over she played a backfoot punch through the covers and showed that she can compete at this level.

"We were delighted to see her make her first 50 for Western Storm this year and we have no doubt that her determination and passion for scoring runs will see her have a successful career.

"Emma’s transition into the First Team is again a testament to our development programme and what was put in place by Dan Helesfay and the continuation of that under the stewardship of Jack Bradbury. Emma is a product of the Devon County Pathway Programme and that once again shows how important it is to have such productive links with the counties across the whole of the South West and Wales."

Watch Emma and Western Storm in action in 2024 with Western Storm Membership!