Durham are looking to bounce back on Friday when they return to Chester-le-Street to take on Warwickshire Bears at 2:30pm tomorrow.
Dani Hazell has named a squad of 13 with Lauren Filer dropping out as she rejoins the England squad for their IT20 series against India.
Durham suffered a narrow two-wicket defeat to Surrey on Wednesday night and are looking for their second T20 victory of the campaign against the Bears.
Ali Maiden’s side sit eighth in the Vitality Blast having gone winless from their opening three games while Hazell’s side are fifth with one win from two.
Words from Dani Hazell
The first innings against Surrey is not where we want to be. There were a few mistakes in how we executed, but equally you can’t take away from someone getting 6-11. It was a pretty special performance from Macca (MacDonald-Gay).
For us to come back and fight like that, it is one of those games where you spend your time thinking if we had 20 more. We can take positives away, but at the end of the day you want to be on the winning side.
You can’t knock the heart that we showed going out with an under par score. You can easily roll over in games like that. We’ve got to take positives from those bowlers standing up in those moments on a test ground. But at the end of the day cricket is about scoring one more run than the opposition and getting points on the board.
It’s a tough one to take when you’ve fought so hard, but we’ve got to take some momentum into the game on Friday as games come thick and fast now.
Squad v Warwickshire Bears (29 May)
Hollie Armitage*, Leah Dobson, Abi Glen, Heather Graham, Bess Heath, Trudy Johnson, Katie Levick, Emma Marlow, Mia Rogers, Grace Thompson, Sophia Turner, Mady Villiers, Emily Windsor.
Opposition Corner
Captain: Georgia Davis
Overseas players: Georgia Redmayne (Australia, all)
2025 finish: finalists
2025 leading run-scorer: Davina Perrin (385)
2025 leading wicket-taker: Millie Taylor (22)
Key winter moves: Australia wicketkeeper/batter Georgia Redmayne has been signed and will bring valuable experience and nous to a squad which is highly talented but still relatively young and inexperienced.
The big question: Can Warwickshire’s squad cope with injuries to key personnel which will affect them in the group stage? Katie George (abductor) and Davina Perrin (hamstring), two integral members of the first-choice top order, will miss at least the early group games. With Issy Wong and Em Arlott away on England duty, the Bears’ squad depth will be tested.
Wildcard watch: Meg Austin – an aggressive top-order batter who scores quickly with a range of strokes, the 21-year-old from Staffordshire is a ‘proper’ batter who can also improvise. Quick between the wickets, she is capable of delivering exciting, match-turning innings.
Final thought: The Bears did brilliantly to finish as runners-up in the Blast last year. They finished third in the group stage to reach Finals Day at which they beat much-fancied Blaze in the semi before losing to Surrey in the final. To have done all that has raised expectations among their supporters this time round, Can the Bears rise to the challenge of higher expectations…as successful teams must do?
Match Centre
The Club’s match centre will be in operation for the fixture with live scorecards, statistics & video highlights as they happen. You can watch the game live via Durham’s match centre and the Durham Cricket YouTube channel. Durham Cricket will have full coverage on social media, with a full match report at the close.