Durham Women are back in action at Banks Homes Riverside, hosting Surrey tomorrow afternoon at 2:30pm live on Sky Sports.
Dani Hazell has named a squad of 14 with Lizzie Scott in contention to make her Durham debut in an otherwise unchanged squad.
Scott comes into contention after recovering from surgery earlier in the season as Durham look for a third straight win to continue their positive momentum in the Vitality Blast.
Hazell’s side sit in fifth place in the Blast with 23 points, having gone four games unbeaten and are just two points behind Lancashire Thunder in fourth.
Durham face a Surrey side who are unbeaten in their last seven games and stand top of the Vitality Blast table on 46 points with 10 wins from 12.
Suzie Bates is the top run scorer in the Women’s Vitality Blast with 394 runs in 12 innings while Katie Levick is Durham’s top wicket taker with 12 scalps in the competition this summer.
Words from Bess Heath
We’ve had a week off with these T20s which is good, and it gave us time to reflect and see where we needed to pick up our game. Now we’ve got two wins on the board after the break and it’s about momentum and keeping it going where we can and see where we end up.
It’s always nice to try and contribute where I can and try and get the team into a winning position and the girls managed to finish off the job for us against Lancashire on Sunday.
It was coming on quite nicely for me so I was backing my strengths to sit back and try and hit hard and sometimes it comes off, sometimes it doesn’t and in that moment I ended up winning the battle within that.
They obviously had a few bowling threats and it was being happy at taking them for singles or six and over and then dispatching the bad ball really, running hard and putting pressure back onto them as much as we could.
Squad v Surrey (15 July)
Hollie Armitage*, Suzie Bates, Leah Dobson, Katherine Fraser, Bess Heath, Katie Levick, Emma Marlow, Mia Rogers+, Lizzie Scott, Grace Thompson, Phoebe Turner, Sophia Turner, Mady Villiers, Emily Windsor
Opposition Corner
Captain: Bryony Smith
Overseas players: Grace Harris (Australia, available from June 5 until the end of competition)
Key winter moves: The big arrivals over the close season are England international Danni Wyatt-Hodge and Australian Grace Harris, both free-scoring batters who fit the profile of a side renowned for aggressive run-making. Alice Monaghan also comes in from Hampshire to offer options with both bat and ball.
The big question: How will they fit all the batters in? An already strong line-up now includes Harris and Wyatt-Hodge, the former possessing a higher strike rate (155) in international T20 than any batter achieved domestically in the format last year. Bowling stocks, be that seam or spin are hardly light either, even with skipper Smith and vice-captain Tash Farrant currently battling injuries.
Wildcard watch: Emma Jones. The all-rounder, a student of veterinary surgery at Cambridge, has had three separate contracts with The Hundred franchises, but been held back by injury. Trent Rockets have kept faith for 2025 when Jones’ height with the ball and long levers with the bat may mean that faith is rewarded.
Final thought: Under the guise of the South East Stars, the bulk of this group made Finals Day in the Charlotte Edwards Cup in three of the four years it was contested. Only Sophia Dunkley and Alice Davidson-Richards will miss the start of the competition on England duty while rival sides are harder hit. Smith’s leadership and powerplay hitting will be missed if her current muscle injury persists, but this squad has depth and should be contenders regardless.
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 match will also be available on Durham’s YouTube channel in addition to Sky Sports. Durham Cricket will have full coverage on social media, with a full match report at the close.