Durham Women are looking for their fourth win in the Vitality Blast, taking on Yorkshire at Headingley tomorrow, Friday 5 June at 3pm.
Dani Hazell has named a 13-player squad for her side’s first trip to Headingley with Harriet Robson replacing Leah Dobson.
Durham are set to face Yorkshire for the first time in the Vitality Blast after a dramatic tie with the White Rose in the Metro Bank One Day Cup in Scarborough earlier this season.
Hazell’s side sit fourth and are looking to resume their strong start to the women’s Vitality Blast after picking up three wins from their opening four games.
Richard Pyrah’s side lie in eighth place, looking for their first win after a winless opening four matches.
Words from Hollie Armitage
We let The Blaze get off to a bit of a flyer with the bat but we pulled it back really well and got regular wickets just at the right times after that, which stemmed their flow and restricted them to what we thought was a chaseable total.
And then the way Mady set the tone for us in our batting powerplay was brilliant. She’s a fantastic striker of the ball and plays all-round the ground, so she’s someone who is really hard to bowl at. And with the ball she is someone who can bowl in three phases of the game and who picks up key wickets, so she’s had a very good day out today.
From my point of view it was nice to help contribute and we feel we’ve got lots of momentum going into Friday. We’ve talked within the group about the importance of winning away from home so to come here and win against a team like The Blaze who have been in form all season, we’ll take huge confidence from that.
Squad v Yorkshire (5 June)
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: Lauren Winfield-Hill
Overseas player: Jess Jonassen (Australia, all)
2025 finish: Finalists, Tier 2
2025 leading run-scorer: Georgie Boyce (288)
2025 leading wicket-taker: Ria Fackrell (16)
Key winter moves: Yorkshire have signed two international spin-bowling all-rounders in England’s Sarah Glenn and Australia’s Jess Jonassen. Both add quality and know-how to a largely inexperienced squad looking to make the step up to Tier 1 having impressed in last year’s Tier 2 Blast when they were beaten finalists against Middlesex. In all, they won nine of 10 matches in that competition.
The big question: Can they stand some absence through the middle phase of the season because of the T20 World Cup being played in England? Sterre Kalis and Rachel Slater will be missing a good chunk of matches due to Netherlands and Scotland duty. It’s far from ideal for coach Rich Pyrah, who isn’t blessed with a deep squad.
Wildcard watch: Ines Blackwell. Yorkshire’s Academy all-rounder turns 17 on May 30. She’s very highly rated by the White Rose hierarchy, as indicated by her being a regular fixture in the team through the early-season One-Day Cup block. A middle-order batter and a medium-pace, in-swing bowler, she is an ‘old head on young shoulders’ character. In a ODC tie against Durham, she even pulled Lauren Filer for six.
Final thought: Yorkshire’s start to life in Tier 1 has been a real mixed bag. They have played some brilliant cricket and even beat defending One-Day Cup champions Lancashire at Emirates Old Trafford. But they have also let some victories slip through their grasp. They won two of their first four matches and potentially should have won all four. Countless run outs and a lack of tail-end runs has hurt them. If they are going to progress quickly, they need to wise up.
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 Yorkshire YouTube channel. Durham Cricket will have full coverage on social media, with a full match report at the close.