Vitality Women’s T20 County Cup Preview: Yorkshire v Somerset
THE MATCH
Somerset take on Yorkshire at North Marine Road, Scarborough in the Vitality Women’s T20 County Cup tomorrow (Sunday June 21st).
The action is due to get underway at 1pm.
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.
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 Lauren Winfield-Hill
Overseas player:Â Jess Jonassen (Australia, all)
2025 finish:Â Finalists, Tier 2
2025 leading run-scorer:Â Georgie Boyce (288)
2025 leading wicket-taker:Â Ria Fackrell (16)
Key winter moves: Yorkshire have signed two international spin-bowling all-rounders in England’s Sarah Glenn and Australia’s Jess Jonassen. Both add quality and know-how to a largely inexperienced squad looking to make the step up to Tier 1 having impressed in last year’s Tier 2 Blast when they were beaten finalists against Middlesex. In all, they won nine of 10 matches in that competition.
The big question: Can they stand some absence through the middle phase of the season because of the T20 World Cup being played in England? Sterre Kalis and Rachel Slater will be missing a good chunk of matches due to Netherlands and Scotland duty. It’s far from ideal for coach Rich Pyrah, who isn’t blessed with a deep squad.
Wildcard watch: Ines Blackwell. Yorkshire’s Academy all-rounder turns 17 on May 30. She’s very highly rated by the White Rose hierarchy, as indicated by her being a regular fixture in the team through the early-season One-Day Cup block. A middle-order batter and a medium-pace, in-swing bowler, she is an ‘old head on young shoulders’ character. In a ODC tie against Durham, she even pulled Lauren Filer for six.
Final thought: Yorkshire’s start to life in Tier 1 has been a real mixed bag. They have played some brilliant cricket and even beat defending One-Day Cup champions Lancashire at Emirates Old Trafford. But they have also let some victories slip through their grasp. They won two of their first four matches and potentially should have won all four. Countless run outs and a lack of tail-end runs has hurt them. If they are going to progress quickly, they need to wise up.
TEAM NEWS
Somerset will be without Heather Knight, Charlie Dean and Dani Gibson (international duty). Emma Corney (knee) and Mollie Robbins (unavailable) will also miss the game.
International players are not eligible to play in this competition, so Somerset will also be without Anika Learoyd.
A starting XI will be named from the squad below:
VIEWS FROM THE DRESSING ROOM
Ahead of the match, Head Coach, Erin Osborne said: “We’re looking forward to this opportunity to get back into T20 cricket. We’ve had some really good performances in the format so far, so we’re looking forward to getting stuck in. The pleasing thing for me is that we’ve had different people stepping up, playing different roles and performing really well. We’ve got players in good form and hopefully we can play some good cricket and come away with the win.
“Obviously, no international players are allowed to play so they’ll lose Jess Jonassen, who’s played a pretty big role with both bat and ball for them, but we lose Anika Learoyd at the top of our batting order. I’m expecting it to be a pretty even game and I guess whoever performs the best under pressure will have a good day out.
“The nature of this week’s win over Warwickshire means that we’re feeling like we’re in a really good position ahead of our trip to Scarborough.”
NEXT MATCH
Somerset are next in action in the Vitality Blast when we take on Durham at the Cooper Associates County Ground on Friday June 26th.
This match is part of a Double Header which sees Somerset Men take on Gloucestershire Men.
There are less than 200 tickets left for this match so buy now before it’s too late!
