Match Preview: Hampshire Hawks Women v Durham, Vitality Blast

Hampshire Hawks Women v Durham

Vitality Blast

Saturday 7^th June (2:30pm start)

Arundel Castle

Hawks Women visit Arundel Castle as they take on Durham in the Vitality Blast.

The Hawks will look to bounce back from defeat in a high-scoring game against Surrey at the Kia Oval on Thursday.

Ella McCaughan continued her stellar form with a career-best 80 off 50 balls.

Durham, meanwhile, are winless from their two matches so far.

They were comprehensively beaten by 42 runs by Birmingham Bears in their first outing, despite 65 from former Hampshire all-rounder Suzie Bates, followed by an 18 run loss to Lancashire Thunder last Sunday.

Hampshire Squad

Hampshire have named a 15-player squad for their Vitality Blast match against Durham.

Poppy Tulloch is removed from an otherwise unchanged squad that travelled to the Oval on Thursday.

Full Hampshire Hawks Squad

Durham

Captain: Hollie Armitage 

Overseas player: Suzie Bates (New Zealand, full competition)

Key winter moves: Durham have signed a plethora of eye-catching talent, some young, some experienced. England stars Hollie Armitage, Lauren Filer, Bess Heath and Mady Villiers are chief amongst them. New Zealand batting legend Suzie Bates will be key to their hopes of success. Given the importance of quality spin in T20 cricket, the presence of gun leg-spinner Katie Levick in Durham’s line-up may be most telling.  

The big question: It’s been an inconsistent start to the summer for Durham in the Metro Bank One-Day Cup, winning three of eight matches. Perhaps that’s understandable given this was a newly assembled squad for 2025. But, a couple of months down the line, can they kick on in the Blast and challenge the competition favourites such as The Blaze and Lancashire Thunder?

Wildcard watch: Grace Thompson. The 17-year-old fast bowler has all the attributes to be a future star for Durham and England. Tall, pacy, accurate and with, seemingly, a good temperament. Think Lauren Bell, and you won’t be a million miles off if you haven’t seen her. Amazing Grace? Quite possibly. If Thompson gets it right in the Blast, she will be hot property.                                                                                                                                                                   

Final thought: The next couple of months are key for the progression of women’s cricket in Durham. With the likelihood of bigger crowds for Blast fixtures than 50-over matches at the Banks Homes Riverside, this is a great opportunity for this new professional side to really build a connection with cricket lovers, especially children, in the North East. Silverware is important, of course it is. But there’s somewhat of a bigger picture at play in this summer’s Blast for Durham Cricket.

Tickets

Tickets for Hampshire Hawks Women’s Vitality Blast match against Durham are available here.

Hampshire Cricket Members and Women’s Season Ticket Holders are permitted free entry to this fixture.

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 Arundel Castle: https://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/2656997.