Durham Women are looking for a third win in a week to close out their home T20 campaign, facing Essex in Chester-le-Street tomorrow [2:30pm].
Dani Hazell has named a squad of 15 for the visit of Essex.
Mady Villiers has joined up with England alongside Lauren Filer for their one-off Test match against India at Lord’s, starting this Friday.
After back-to-back home wins against Lancashire Thunder and The Blaze, Hazell’s side secured qualification for women’s Vitality Blast Finals Day when The Blaze suffered defeat against Hampshire on Wednesday, with a spot in the top four confirmed.
Durham sit third on 31 points and will be looking to avoid a fourth-place finish, coming up against Stephen Parry’s Essex team who are sixth in the Blast with 17 points.
Words from Hollie Armitage
We’ve played some really good cricket at home this year and it was the epitome of that. Against The Blaze. We battled well with the ball and then to finish the game as we did was really pleasing.
I had a gut feel about bowling first and we took a lot of momentum from bowling first last Friday. Maybe we didn’t start as well as we wanted to but we then managed to pick up regular wickets and keep The Blaze to a reasonable total.
It’s really important to have our spinners to call on. We know that spin can control the middle phase of T20 matches and they do an incredible job, although that’s not to discredit the other bowlers like Heather and Trudy.
Squad v Essex (10 July)
Hollie Armitage*, Leah Dobson, Katherine Fraser, Abi Glen, Heather Graham, Bess Heath, Trudy Johnson, Katie Levick, Emma Marlow, Harriet Robson, Mia Rogers+, Charlotte Stubbs, Grace Thompson, Sophia Turner, Emily Windsor.
Opposition Corner
Captain: Grace Scrivens
Overseas players: None
2025 finish: 7th
2025 leading run-scorer: Lauren Winfield-Hill (334)
2025 leading wicket-taker: Esmae MacGregor (21)
Key winter moves: Batter Liberty Heap, signed from Lancashire, is yet to feature for Essex – and the bigger issue as arguably who they’ve lost, rather than gained, since the 2025 Blast campaign. Lauren Winfield-Hill, back at Yorkshire after last season’s loan spell, was Essex’s leading run-scorer with Australian all-rounder Maddie Penna, now lining up for Lancashire, a close second.
The big question: It’s not only how Essex replace Winfield-Hill and Penna, but how they go about putting runs on the board collectively. The team only posted two totals above 160 last year, one in a dead rubber against Durham, and the likes of Cordelia Griffith, Grace Scrivens and recent England ODI cap Jodi Grewcock need to find ways of improving that.
Wildcard watch: Flo Miller has begun the 50-over tournament in good form, hitting unbeaten half-centuries against Somerset and Surrey and her strike rate of almost 96 is the best among Essex’s recognised batters. The 22-year-old could really come into her own as a T20 finisher – provided the top order give her a solid foundations to work with.
Final thought: Essex may miss Abtaha Maqsood’s wicket-taking skills in the post-powerplay overs while the leg-spinner is on World Cup duty with Scotland, but they possess a good stock of seamers who can do some damage. Esmae MacGregor’s return of 21 wickets was the second-best in last year’s Blast while Eva Gray, Sophie Munro and Kate Coppack should all help to make Essex more competitive, as long as they have something substantial to bowl at.
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.