Surrey venture to the northeast to take on Lancashire for the first time since defeat in the County Cup final.
Surrey will take on Lancashire on Saturday at Old Trafford. Play will begin at 1pm as the two teams meet again after Surrey lost to the hosts in the Vitality County Cup final.
Surrey Squad
Ryana MacDonald-Gay is the only change to the squad as she returns in place of Tash Farrant. Farrant is resting to manage her work load through a heavily congested period of fixtures.
How can I keep up with play?
The match will be broadcast live on Lancashire’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 from Old Trafford, with clips and highlights posted throughout the day. A written report and highlights will be available at the end of each day’s play.
Last time out
Last time the two sides came face to face was in the Vitality County Cup final. The only T20 match of the season Surrey have lost, Lancashire hit 172/6 in Taunton after rain interrupted play throughout the day.
Bryony Smith’s side rose to the challenge with Smith and Kira Chathli starting the attack going for 29 in the first three overs. Chathli, off the bowling of England opening bowler Kate Cross dispatched each ball, two for six, back-to-back through mid-wicket and over mid-off.
Phoebe Franklin made a notable 41 offering a glimmer of hope to the Three-Feathers and Kalea Moore was an anchor to some quick falling wickets. Despite these stands, Surrey’s efforts weren’t enough to help the side over the finish line and their first T20 defeat of the season came at the last hurdle.
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, before lifting the T20 County 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
