Match Preview: Hampshire Hawks v Essex, Vitality Blast Double Header

Hampshire Hawks v Essex

Vitality Blast

Friday 30^th May

Gates open - 2pm

Women’s match - 3pm start

Men’s match - 7pm start

Utilita Bowl

Hampshire Hawks Blast Off against Essex at Utilita Bowl on Friday 30^th May at Utilita Bowl.

James Vince will make his return to Hampshire colours having enjoyed personal success in the Pakistan Super League where he finished as the competition’s fifth-leading run scorer, and the most for Karachi Kings, with 378 runs.

Hampshire Women will look to continue their strong form from the start of the 2025 season which has seen them end the first block of One Day Cup fixtures top of the table, although their one T20 in the County Cup ended in defeat to Surrey.

Hampshire Hawks Squads

Hampshire Hawks Women

Hampshire Hawks Women have named a 15-player squad for their opening Vitality Blast match.

England all-rounder Freya Kemp is included for the first time having recovered from a back injury.

Naomi Dattani is currently on a short-term loan at Middlesex.

Australian all-rounder Ellyse Perry will join up with the Hawks in July.

Hampshire Hawks Men

Hampshire Hawks Men have named a 13-player squad for their clash with Essex.

All-rounder Scott Currie returns having recovered from injury.

New signing Bjorn Fortuin will join up with the team next week ahead of their match against Surrey, whilst Lhuan-dre Pretorius is unavailable due to his selection for South Africa A against West Indies A.

The Opposition

Essex Women

Captain: Grace Scrivens

Overseas: Maddie Penna (Australia, full competition)

2025 MBODC Run Scorer: Grace Scrivens (392)

2025 MBODC Wicket Taker: Eva Gray (13)

Key winter moves: Seasoned opener and wicketkeeper Lauren Winfield-Hill has moved to Chelmsford on a loan deal from Yorkshire for the duration of the Blast. The arrival of Penna – part of the Adelaide Strikers squad that won successive Women’s Big Bash League titles – will strengthen Essex’s options in the middle-order batting and leg-spin departments.

The big question: How do Essex reshuffle their bowling attack to compensate for Sophie Munro’s absence? The seamer caught the eye during Sunrisers’ T20 campaign last year, finishing as their leading wicket-taker, but is currently out with a back injury. Despite their potent spin line-up, Essex will need alternatives to fill Munro’s role at the back end of the innings.

Wildcard watch: Esmae MacGregor. The 20-year-old can vary her pace and bowled well in the powerplay overs during Essex’s recent T20 County Cup defeat to Yorkshire. Although she featured more prominently in 50-over cricket last season, Munro’s injury could mean that MacGregor finds herself shouldering greater responsibility in the shorter format over the coming weeks.

Final thought: Essex should be capable of posting challenging totals in this tournament. As well as Winfield-Hill and Grace Scrivens at the top of the order, they can expect runs from the likes of Cordelia Griffith, Jodi Grewcock and Sophia Smale – while Jo Gardner, who begins the Blast in impressive form with the bat, could take on the finisher’s role. But they will also need to develop a ruthless streak that has so far been lacking in their 50-over campaign.Big hitting medium pacer Eva Gray leads the way in wickets for Essex, with 13 scalps, whilst the accurate Kate Coppack has seven.

Spin-wise, Scottish leggie Abtaha Maqsood is their leading tweaker with seven wickets whilst left armer Sophia Smale has three.

Essex Men

Captain: Simon Harmer

Overseas players: Simon Harmer (South Africa, full competition), Mohammad Amir (Pakistan, full competition).

2024 Blast Run Scorer: Michael Pepper (535)

2024 Blast Wicket Taker: Paul Walter (17)

Key winter moves: With Sam Cook likely to be requisitioned by England for much of the summer, Essex reacted by re-signing Mohammad Amir to replenish their seam-bowling stocks. The experienced Pakistan international left-armer returns after taking 24 wickets across two Blast spells in 2017 and 2019, the latter helping Essex along the road towards their only success in the competition.

The big question: Can Essex shrug off their perennial enigmatic form in T20 cricket? Their entire history in the short format has been littered with fits and starts, false dawns and letdowns. Now, will the new management axis of (coach) Chris Silverwood and (captain) Simon Harmer align to produce something more concrete and significant?

Wildcard watch: Matt Critchley has played in all four iterations of The Hundred – for Welsh Fire (2021-2022) and London Spirit (2023-24) – but was overlooked in the 2025 Draft. The golden-arm all-rounder was Essex’s second-highest wicket-taker in last season’s Blast with 14, evidence that leg-spinners are more than worth their weight in white-ball cricket. What’s more, he’s also an explosive bat.

Final thought: Michael Pepper has established himself as one of the most exciting of big-hitting gunslingers. In a personal 2024 Blast campaign that included two centuries, he peppered the stands and terraces of South Group venues with 32 sixes – seven more than anyone else and that during a season in which Essex failed to qualify for the latter stages. He toured West Indies with England’s white-ball team in the winter; is he ready to step into the first XI at international level?

Tickets

Tickets for Hampshire Hawks Vitality Blast double header match against Essex are available here.

Gates will open at 2pm.

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 Utilita Bowl: https://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/2634447.