Match Preview: Essex v Hampshire Women, Metro Bank One Day Cup

Essex v Hampshire Women

Women's Metro Bank One Day Cup

Thursday 4^th September (10:30am start)

Ambassador Cruise Line Ground, Chelmsford

Hampshire Women return to Metro Bank One Day Cup action following the conclusion of The Hundred with a trip to Chelmsford to face Essex.

The Rose and Crown will be buoyed by six players featuring in the final of The Hundred, with Linsey Smith lifting the trophy for the first time with Northern Superchargers, whilst a total of 12 Hampshire Women players took part in the competition.

In Hampshire’s last outing, back on 30^th July, Georgia Adams’ side hammered The Blaze by 80 runs, thanks to a maiden century from Freya Kemp along with 77 (78) from Nancy Harman.

Daisy Gibb and Australian superstar Ellyse Perry then claimed three wickets each to bowl the Nottinghamshire-based side out for 211.

In the last meeting between Hampshire and Essex, Georgia Adams scored a fourth career century as she made 110* at Utilita Bowl, with Linsey Smith’s 4-33 making sure the visitors fell short.

Hampshire

Hampshire have named a 14-player squad for their trip to Chelmsford.

Mary Taylor returns to the squad after her stint with Birmingham Phoenix, whilst Ellyse Perry returns to Australia.

England World Cup duo Lauren Bell and Linsey Smith are unavailable and opening batter Ella McCaughan continues to recover from injury.

Full Hampshire squad

Essex

Captain: Grace Scrivens

Head Coach: 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: 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: Grace Scrivens (captain), Maddie Blinkhorn-Jones, Amara Carr, Kelly Castle, Kate Coppack, Ariana Dowse, Jo Gardner, Eva Gray, Jodi Grewcock, Cordelia Griffith, Liberty Heap (on loan), Esmae MacGregor, Lissy Macleod, Abta Maqsood, Flo Miller, Sophie Munro, Sophia Smale.

Tickets

Tickets for Hampshire Women’s Metro Bank One Day Cup match against Essex are available here.

Coverage

A live stream will be available for the match and a link to this stream will be available in the at www.utilitabowl.com/cricket, along with a live match centre with the scorecard, statistics and insight available throughout the match.

Weather Forecast

Please follow the link to view the latest weather forecast for Chelmsford: https://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/2653266.