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Match Preview: Hampshire Women v Essex, Metro Bank One Day Cup
Match Preview: Hampshire Women v Essex, Metro Bank One Day Cup
Hampshire Women host Essex at Utilita Bowl in the opening round of the 2026 Metro Bank One Day Cup
Hampshire Women v Essex
Metro Bank One Day Cup
Saturday 11 April (10:30am start)
Utilita Bowl
The 2026 Metro Bank One Day Cup gets underway tomorrow, as Hampshire Women host Essex at Utilita Bowl.
Led by Head Coach Paul Prichard and skippered by Georgia Adams, the Rose and Crown reached the final of last year’s competition, on home soil at Utilita Bowl, and will be hoping to go one step further this summer.
In their pre-season fixtures, Naomi Dattani and Abi Norgrove starred with the bat against Warwickshire at Edgbaston – the former hitting a scintillating century, with 72 from the latter.
Daisy Gibb shone with the ball as she took 3-61 against the Bears, as she looks to lead the pace attack following the retirement of Freya Davies and the departure of Mary Taylor to Warwickshire.
The swing bowler followed it up with 2-40 against Somerset, whilst Ella McCaughan continued her fine form from 2025 by making 66 in the same match.
Hampshire
Hampshire have named a 14-player squad for their opening Metro Bank One Day Cup match of the season.
Maia Bouchier, Freya Kemp, and Linsey Smith are all available, along with Rhianna Southby, who was part of England’s intra-squad matches in South Africa. Lauren Bell is unavailable, however.
Naomi Dattani will captain the side whilst Georgia Adams misses out as a precautionary measure for a quadricep injury.
All-rounder Francesca Sweet, who has signed a two-year deal with the club, could make her professional debut, having featured for Leicestershire in Tier 2 last year.
Full Hampshire squad
Maia Bouchier (14)
Linsey Smith (50)
Naomi Dattani Captain (11)
Rhianna Southby † (17)
Daisy Gibb (15)
Megan Sturge † (3)
Nancy Harman (25)
Francesca Sweet (13)
Freya Kemp (6)
Poppy Tulloch (24)
Ella McCaughan (8)
Bex Tyson (35)
Abi Norgrove (12)
Amanda-Jade Wellington (10)
Essex
Previewed by Ben Kosky, ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay
Captain: Grace Scrivens
Head coach: Stephen Parry
2025 finish: 8th
2025 highest run-scorer: Grace Scrivens (429)
2025 highest wicket-taker: Eva Gray (15)
Winter moves: Former Lancashire and England spinner Stephen Parry has taken over as head coach following Andy Tennant’s exit, with Nick Browne, who recently brought down the curtain on his 13-year stint as a top-order batter for Essex’s men, filling the role of batting coach. On the field, batter Liberty Heap completed her permanent move from Lancashire, while former Essex captain Kelly Castle was released along with Maddie Blinkhorn-Jones.
The big question: In a nutshell, can Browne’s input and experience coax more consistency with the bat from an Essex side who topped 250 just once in last year’s tournament? Grace Scrivens hit back-to-back hundreds at the top of the order, but Jodi Grewcock was the only other batter to pass 50 more than once and Essex must at least ensure they bat out their full allocation of overs more frequently.
Player to watch: The move to Chelmsford may turn out to be just whatLiberty Heap needed to reignite her career. Having shown potential with the bat as an England Under-19 player a few years ago, the 22-year-old had stalled at Lancashire, but she made a promising start after joining Essex on loan at the back end of last season, hitting 33 from 37 balls against The Blaze.
Final thought: After finishing bottom of the table in their inaugural season, the only way is up for Essex. However, one of their two group successes was achieved against eventual champions Lancashire, suggesting there’s plenty of potential to do better under a revamped coaching set-up. Essex may also have to find ways of coping without the influential Scrivens if, and more likely when, she graduates to the England side.
Head-to-Head
Hampshire Women’s record in Metro Bank One Day Cup matches v Essex:
Played
Won
Lost
Tied
Abandoned/No Result
2
2
0
0
0
Previous meetings:
September 4 2025 | Chelmsford | Hampshire won by four runs (DLS method)
May 11 2025 | Utilita Bowl | Hampshire won by 17 runs
Ticketing
Tickets for Hampshire Women v Essex in the Metro Bank One Day Cup are available online or on the gate.
Fans can stay updated on the match via the Hampshire Cricket X/Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook accounts where regular score updates, photos from the game, and match clips will be shared.
