Somerset v Hampshire Hawks
Vitality Blast
Friday 22nd May
Women’s match – 2:30pm start
Men’s match – 6:30pm start
Cooper Associates County Ground, Taunton
Hampshire Hawks head to Taunton as they take on Somerset in their opening fixtures of this year’s Vitality Blast.
Georgia Adams’ side finished a disappointing sixth place last summer, whilst James Vince led his team to Finals Day at Edgbaston to see Hawks Men to a record 11th appearance in the final four.
Bex Tyson starred with the ball in her first full season at Hampshire, taking 16 wickets – the joint-fifth most in the competition – whilst swing bowler Daisy Gibb will be a threat with the new ball.
Amanda-Jade Wellington has replaced Charli Knott and Ellyse Perry and will offer plenty of excitement with both ball and bat, whilst Ella McCaughan will look to back up her excellent start to last year’s Blast where she became the first player to score a century in the women’s competition, before injury prematurely ended her season.
The men will be looking to reset after a disappointing first block of Rothesay County Championship matches.
James Vince returns to the country with more silverware under his belt as he won the Pakistan Super League with Peshawar Zalmi.
Liam Dawson will also be fresh and raring to go having announced his retirement from red ball cricket to focus purely on the white ball, and Chris Wood enters his 16th season for the Hawks, with the left-armer looking to add to his tally of 210 wickets and overtake Gloucestershire’s David Payne to become the most prolific pace bowler in English T20 cricket.
A breakthrough season last summer from Toby Albert saw him end up as the leading run-scorer in the whole competition, with James Vince not far behind.
Power in the middle order from the ever-reliable Joe Weatherley and overseas signings Hilton Cartwright, Delano Potgieter, and latterly Tristan Stubbs on his return from the IPL, could see some huge totals from Hawks Men.
Hampshire Hawks
Hawks Women
Hawks Women have named a 14-player squad for their Vitality Blast match against Somerset.
New signing all-rounder Eliza Bristowe comes into the squad for her first taste of professional cricket.
Maia Bouchier, Lauren Bell, Freya Kemp, and Linsey Smith are away on international duty.
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Georgia Adams Captain (1)
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Abi Norgrove (12)
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Eliza Bristowe (18)
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Rhianna Southby † (17)
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Naomi Dattani (11)
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Megan Sturge † (3)
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Daisy Gibb (15)
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Francesca Sweet (13)
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Hannah Hardwick (19)
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Poppy Tulloch (24)
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Nancy Harman (25)
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Bex Tyson (35)
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Ella McCaughan (8)
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Amanda-Jade Wellington (10)
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Hawks Men
Hampshire Hawks Men have also named a 14-player squad for this fixture.
James Vince returns to lead the Hawks in another T20 campaign with Hilton Cartwright also coming back to Utilita Bowl.
Delano Potgieter will feature whilst Tristan Stubbs remains in the IPL with Delhi Capitals, with Stubbs expected to be in the UK for the Hawks’ next match against Essex on Tuesday 26th May.
Eddie Jack and Ben Mayes are on England Lions duty against South Africa A in a four-day match at Arundel Castle.
Spin bowling all-rounder Andrew Neal is included in a Blast squad for the first time.
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James Vince Captain (14)
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Manny Lumsden (43)
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Toby Albert † (15)
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Andrew Neal (17)
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Hilton Cartwright (35)
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Ali Orr † (27)
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Scott Currie (44)
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Delano Potgieter (67)
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Liam Dawson (8)
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Tom Prest (24)
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James Fuller (26)
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Joe Weatherley (5)
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Jake Lehmann (33)
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Chris Wood (25)
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Somerset Women
By Andy Stockhausen, ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay
Captain: Sophie Luff
Overseas player: Anika Learoyd (Australia, all)
2025 finish: 8th
2025 leading run-scorer: Amanda-Jade Wellington (254)
2025 leading wicket-taker: Molly Robbins (15)
Key winter moves: Australia A international Anika Learoyd will fill the overseas vacancy created by Amanda-Jade Wellington's switch to Hampshire, while England's Dani Gibson and Charlie Dean have signed one and two-year contract extensions respectively. England Under-19 seamer Bea Willis, batter Ruby Davis and leg spinner Lola Harris have agreed their first professional deals. Opener Amelie Munday and seamer Laura Jackson were released in the winter, while batter Fran Wilson took up a coaching role at Gloucestershire.
The big question: Can a relatively inexperienced squad find a way to win matches without their senior England players? In the anticipated absence of Heather Knight, Dani Gibson and Charlie Dean, it will be incumbent upon those with less experience to prove they can muster the consistency needed to translate last year's near misses into victories in 2026.
Wildcard watch: Lola Harris – playing her first season at this level and still something of an unknown quantity on the county circuit, the highly-rated teenage leg spinner has already made an impact in the Metro Bank One Day Cup. She has a great repeatable action and, providing she can maintain her composure under pressure, the England Under-19 international possesses the variation required to cause problems for batters.
Final thought: Although weakened by the loss of new ball bowler Mollie Robbins and batter Emma Corney, Somerset should still have sufficient resource to better last season's disappointing return of one win from 14 games. If Anika Learoyd, Bex Odgers, Sophie Luff and Niamh Holland can score runs consistently, Chloe Skelton and Alex Griffiths possess the bowling knowhow to restrict the opposition.
Head-to-Head:
Hampshire Hawks Women’s record in T20 matches v Somerset Women:
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Played
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Won
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Tied
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Lost
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No Result
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2
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2
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0
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0
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0
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Recent meetings:
- July 6 2025 | Utilita Bowl | Hawks won by eight wickets (with two balls remaining)
- June 19 2025 | Taunton | Hawks won by five runs
Somerset Men
Previewed by Richard Latham, ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay
Captain: Lewis Gregory
Overseas players: Riley Meredith (Australia, seventh group game onwards), Daniel Sams (Australia, all)
Finals Day appearances: 11 (2005, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2018, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025)
Titles: Three (2005, 2023, 2025)
2025 finish: Winners
2025 leading run-scorer: Will Smeed (620)
2025 leading wicket-taker: Riley Meredith (28)
Key winter moves: Josh Shaw was recruited from Gloucestershire, but the other main moves concerned departures from last year’s successful squad, with Sean Dickson, Ben Green and Kasey Aldridge leaving for Glamorgan, Leicestershire and Durham respectively and overseas signing Matt Henry not returning.
The big question: What impact will new overseas signing Daniel Sams have on Somerset’s exciting T20 squad? The 33-year-old all-rounder boasts more than 2,000 runs and 250 wickets in T20 cricket around the world, impressing in the IPL, Big Bash, CPL and PSL, while also gaining experience of English conditions with Essex and Nottinghamshire.
Wildcard watch: Thomas Rew. There is a school of thought that, while James Rew is a natural red-ball cricketer keen to improve his white-ball skills, the opposite applies to younger brother Thomas, who made three Blast appearances for Somerset as a 17-year-old last season. The England Under-19 captain has been busy completing his A Levels, but should be free from studies to add his aggressive batting qualities to the middle order, while also offering a wicketkeeping option.
Final thought: News that Riley Meredith had been called into Australia’s squad for the ODI series against Pakistan and Bangladesh was a severe, if not unexpected, blow to Somerset as it means he will miss the first six Blast ground matches. While there are the options of registering Migael Pretorius as an overseas player or making a last-minute signing, it will be hard to replace the genuine pace of Meredith, who claimed 28 wickets in last season’s competition.
Head-to-Head:
Hampshire Hawks Men’s record in T20 matches v Somerset Men:
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Played
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Won
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Tied
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Lost
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No Result
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31
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10
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1
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20
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3
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Recent meetings:
- September 13 2025 | Edgbaston | Somerset won by six wickets (with six balls remaining)
- July 6 2025 | Utilita Bowl | Somerset won by four wickets (with one ball remaining)
- June 19 2025 | Taunton | Somerset won by 17 runs
- July 14 2024 | Utilita Bowl | Somerset won by nine wickets (with 12 balls remaining)
- June 9 2024 | Taunton | Somerset won by 63 runs
Tickets
Tickets for Hampshire Hawks Vitality Blast double header against Somerset are available here.
Coverage
The match will be televised on Sky Sports Cricket with radio commentary available on the BBC Sport website and app, and on BBC Sounds.
A live match centre with scorecard, statistics, and insight will be available via www.utilitabowl.com/cricket/news.
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.
Weather Forecast
Please follow the link to view the latest weather forecast for Taunton: https://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/2636177.
