The Three Feathers return home for the Kia Oval’s special Pride-themed double header today.
Bryony Smith’s team will kick off the match day against Lancashire Thunder at 2pm before Sam Curran’s side go up against the Sussex Sharks from 6:30 pm.
Surrey women climbed to the top of the Women’s Vitality Blast with a nail-biting victory, off the final ball, over Hampshire Hawks in Southampton yesterday evening. Surrey men are third in the South Group, with four victories and two losses.
SQUADS
Tash Farrant and Sophia Dunkley come into the women’s squad. As an ECB contracted player, Alice Capsey is rested ahead of the upcoming India series. The Surrey men’s squad remains unchanged from last night’s victory at Hampshire.
HOW CAN I KEEP UP WITH THE MATCH?
Both the matches will be broadcast live on Surrey’s YouTube channel, with a link posted on the Surrey Match Centre and social media channels.
Surrey Cricket’s social media channels will provide live updates, with clips and highlights posted throughout the day. A written report and highlights will be available at the end of the match. The ‘Oval & Out’ podcast will be posted on Surrey’s YouTube channel after the conclusion of the match.
Thatchers “Guess the Score” Competition
Surrey County Cricket Club and Thatchers are giving two lucky winner the chance to win a case of twenty-four 440ml cans of Thatchers Gold or Thatchers Zero by trying to correctly predicting how many runs Surrey Men’s and Surrey Women’s team will score in their respective match’s, or being the closest to it, in a home T20 Vitality Blast match at the Kia Oval.
LANCASHIRE THUNDER
Previewed by Graham Hardcastle, ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay
Captain: Ellie Threlkeld
Overseas player: Katie Mack (Australia, first three group matches), Alana King (Australia, from match four onwards)
Key winter moves: Lancashire were busy ahead of 2025. Eve Jones arrived and is currently one of county cricket’s in-form batters. She’s been joined by England fringe fast bowler Grace Potts and Scotland spinner Darcey Carter. Batter Katie Mack will start the Blast before being replaced by one of the competition’s standout overseas signings, her fellow Australian Alana King, the superstar leg-spinner.
The big question: Lancashire have started the summer brilliantly, winning six of eight matches in the Metro Bank One-Day Cup. Can they transfer that momentum into the Blast? If so, they will definitely be a force. They look to be well balanced, with strength across all disciplines. In the regional era, Thunder’s only knockout cricket came courtesy of a 2023 Charlotte Edwards Cup Finals Day appearance.
Wildcard watch: Left-armer Sophie Morris is another one off a Lancashire spin-bowling conveyor belt which has nurtured Sophie Ecclestone, Olivia Bell and Hannah Jones in recent times. The 21-year-old played in the regional Charlotte Edwards Cup during the last two summers and, in a 2022 Academy T20 friendly, returned an astonishing 6-0. Her maiden senior five-for came against Durham earlier this month.
Final thought: Ashes rivals, Thunder team-mates. You could well see a spin bowling partnership of Sophie Ecclestone and Alana King during this summer’s Vitality Blast. Aussie leggie King loves Emirates Old Trafford. In 2021, she took a hat-trick there whilst playing for Trent Rockets in The Hundred, a particularly proud moment given it was at the scene of her idol Shane Warne’s ball of the century to Mike Gatting in 1993.
SUSSEX SHARKS
Previewed by Bruce Talbot, ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay
Captain: Tymal Mills
Overseas players: Nathan McAndrew (Australia, all group stage), Gurinder Sandhu (Australia, all group stage), Daniel Hughes (Australia, full competition).
Finals Day appearances: Six (2007, 2009, 2012, 2018, 2021, 2024).
Titles: One (2009)
2024 finish: Semi-finalists
2024 leading run scorer: Daniel Hughes (596)
2024 leading wicket taker: Tymal Mills (24)
Key winter moves: No major changes. Tall Australian seamer Gurinder Sandhu, who has played for three teams in the Big Bash, has mainly been signed for red-ball cricket in June and July but will be another option for Mills.
The big question: Mills was outstanding in his first season as captain. Calm and composed under pressure, he revelled in the responsibility, and rather than affecting his bowling he finished with 24 wickets – more than any other Sussex bowler and his most productive season since debut 14 years earlier. He will relish the opportunity to prove that reaching Finals Day was no fluke and going one better than the semi-finals.
Wildcard watch: Harrison Ward has been on Sussex’s staff since 2021 but until last season didn’t seem to have a defined role and sometimes came in as low as number eight. Mills gave him clarity by making him Hughes’ opening partner and he responded with 350 runs, three fifies and a strike rate of 157.65, form that earned him a chance in The Hundred.
Final thought: Sussex were unexpected semi-finalists last year, having won ten games out of 28 in the previous two seasons, but Mills led them superbly and with virtually the same squad there’s no reason why they shouldn’t be competitive. Head coach Paul Farbrace has set the bar high again, and both he and Mills will regard not reaching the knockout stages at least as failure.
