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Metro Bank One Day Cup Preview: Essex v Somerset
THE MATCH
Somerset travel to The Ambassador Cruise Line Ground, Chelmsford to take on Essex in the Metro Bank One Day Cup tomorrow (Thursday July 24th).
Play is due to get underway at 10:30am.
Somerset are currently fourth in the table with 17 points from eight matches whilst Essex are eighth with four points from the same number of fixtures.
Tickets for this match are still available.
HOW CAN I KEEP UP TO DATE?
You can keep up to date using the dedicated Match Centre on this website which will feature a live stream of the action courtesy of Essex CCC.
In-play updates will also appear on our X feed (formerly Twitter).
In addition to this, a report on the day’s play along with quotes will be posted on this website.
THE OPPOSITION
Captain:Â Grace Scrivens
Head Coach:Â Andy Tennant
The big question: Arguably, Essex have the most settled line-up of the Tier One sides having largely kept together the Sunrisers’ Rachael Heyhoe Flint winning team from last season. That success came after three seasons of huge struggles, so having found a winning formula can this already bonded group repeat the trick?
Player to watch: Sophie Munro. Only Phoebe Turner took more than Munro’s 22 wickets in 50-over cricket last term. The 23-year-old seamer excelled after arriving on loan from The Blaze, proving especially adept towards the back end of an innings including the ‘death overs’. Munro made the move south from Nottingham permanent last September.
Young gun: Sophia Smale. Winning sides tweak, so the fact Smale is the only new addition is intriguing. The slow left-armer fills the void left by Mady Villiers’s departure to Durham, complementing the right-arm leg-spin of both Jodi Grewcock and Abtaha Maqsood in a powerful bowling unit. Only 19, Newport-born Smale has huge potential.
Final thought:Â Essex will bowl opposition sides out, so the challenge will be scoring enough runs, particularly when setting a target. Skipper Grace Scrivens will lead from the front, and it may need Cordelia Griffith to follow up on her four fifties in the last five games of last season if they are to regularly post totals in excess of 250.
Squad:Â Grace Scrivens (captain), Maddie Blinkhorn-Jones, Amara Carr, Kelly Castle, Kate Coppack, Ariana Dowse, Jo Gardner, Eva Gray, Jodi Grewcock, Cordelia Griffith, Esmae MacGregor, Lissy Macleod, Abta Maqsood, Flo Miller, Sophie Munro, Sophia Smale.
TEAM NEWS
Somerset Women will be without Heather Knight (hamstring), Emma Corney (knee), Dani Gibson (groin), Amelie Munday (knee) and Charlie Dean (international duty).
The following squad has been named for this fixture:
VIEW FROM THE DRESSING ROOM
Ahead of the fixture, Somerset Head Coach, Trevor Griffin said: “Everyone is looking forward to the return to 50-over cricket. We’re in a good position in the table and the players are keen to get back out on the park. There’s disappointment regarding the results in the Vitality Blast but there’s still a sense of belief because we took so many of those games deep. The Metro Bank One Day Cup gives us the chance to go back to a format in which we’ve performed well in so far this season.
“Chelmsford is a great venue for women’s cricket and they usually get good support there. It’s an intimate ground but we know what to expect. The message is the same as it’s been all season, and that’s that there are no easy games in Tier 1 cricket. We will, as always, be focusing on what we do and looking to be the best versions of ourselves.”
EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW
If you are planning to attend the match, all the information you need can be found on the official Essex CCC Website.
NEXT MATCH
Somerset are next in action when we take on Durham at the Cooper Associates County Ground in the Metro Bank One Day Cup on Wednesday July 30th.
Tickets for this match are still available and can be purchased now:
