MATCH PREVIEW: Thunder vs Southern Vipers
Squad news
Paul Shaw has named a 15-player squad to face Southern Vipers at Charlotte Edwards Cup finals day - with Sophie Ecclestone and Emma Lamb being released from England duties.
Young left-arm spinner Sophie Morris, who made her debut against Diamonds, remains in the squad alongside fellow Academy graduate and spinner Olivia Bell. Bell has taken wickets in every game she has played since making her debut last time the sides met.
Thunder Squad: Ellie Threlkled (c), Olivia Bell, Danni Collins, Naomi Dattani, Deandra Dottin, Sophie Ecclestone, Mahika Gaur, Liberty Heap, Laura Jackson, Emma Lamb, Fi Morris, Sophie Morris, Daisy Mullan, Tara Norris, Seren Smale
Match preview
Thunder are confident they have the venom which can suck the life out of the Southern Vipers on Saturday as they bid for Charlotte Edwards Cup glory at New Road.
Captain Ellie Threlkeld leads her side into a first ever regional showpiece occasion, with Finals Day seeing them face the Vipers first (12pm) for the right to face the Blaze in the final four hours later.
Make no mistake, Thunder will have to do it the hard way to secure silverware.
They face the defending champions first - a Vipers side coached by the woman whose name adorns this trophy, a team who are gunning for their fourth 50-over and T20 title in three-and-a-half seasons of regional cricket.
Then, if they win, they will face a Blaze side who won the group with a seven wins from seven record and are the only remaining team left unbeaten across English domestic cricket this season, women and men.
But, quite rightly, Thunder are full of belief and absolutely not fearful.
Why wouldn’t you be after winning four of the last five matches to secure qualification, including blowing away a strong Northern Diamonds team at Blackpool yesterday when they bowled them out for 96 and chased down the target in 15 overs.
“Confidence is huge, and momentum is huge. And we’ve got that building into Finals Day,” said Threlkeld, whose side have bounced back well from losing their first two games to qualify.
Coach Paul Shaw said: “Any coach will tell you that it’s important to start well. But when they’re being totally honest, they tell you that it’s even more important to finish well because it’s the momentum you carry.
“It’s going to be a tough day, but one we’re really looking forward.”
Make no mistake, qualification is a huge deal for a Thunder side who have been battling at the wrong end of tables for much of the regional era, which began in the Covid summer of 2020.
But there have been signs of encouragement.
“We didn’t get the results some of our performances warranted last year for example, and it started like that a bit for us this year,” continued Shaw. “But now we’re starting to turn those performances into wins.
“We’ve had four wins in the last five games, which is fantastic.
“It’s great that the players are being rewarded for the hard work they’ve put in over the last few years. They’ve stuck together, and you build great teams by the people that are within them.”
Even when results haven’t gone their way, Shaw - the former England coach - has remained an oasis of calm, regularly pointing to young and developing players and stressing that potential will soon turn into performance.
“Hopefully now we’re turning that corner and starting to move forward,” he said. “There will still be the odd speed bump along the way that we’ll need to manage. But that’s the game.
“This is a journey, and we’re only at the very start of that journey.
“All we’ve done over the last two or three years is to try and build the foundations for days like this.
“To have so many young players experience this kind of occasion, it’s phenomenal for their careers. We’ll go there and look to play a real positive brand of cricket.”
Shaw was England coach - titled head of performance - for three years between 2013 and 2016. Charlotte Edwards was captain at the time.
He laughed at the suggestion that Saturday will be master versus apprentice: “I’m not sure Lotte will see it like that,” he said.
“It will be good to see her and fantastic if we were able to put one over them.”
It’s probably safe to assume Edwards won’t see it like that either!
Shaw heads up what Threlkeld describes as “the best coaching staff on the circuit”.
Former England men’s internationals Stephen Parry and Craig White help Shaw out.
“We’re really lucky with the amount of knowledge and experience in that room,” said wicketkeeper-batter Threlkeld. “They’re also really good people. You need that when you’re winning, but also when you’re losing.
“The environment that we’ve created has enabled us to turn our season around.
“We’ve struggled results wise for the last few years, and I think to do pretty well this year shows that we’re all building something special. We’ve got youngsters coming in, and we’re a team who will be together for a really long time.”
Thunder beat the Diamonds yesterday with a team including five players to come through their Academy programme - Liberty Heap, Seren Smale, Mahika Gaur, Olivia Bell and Sophie Morris.
Left-arm spinner Morris debuted, while offie Bell claimed a superb 3-9.
Whether they all play on Saturday remains to be seen, with a large part of that down to whether England trio Kate Cross, Sophie Ecclestone and Emma Lamb are released.
The Vipers, who finished second in the group with five wins to Thunder’s four, are also waiting on news of England availability.
Opposing player to watch
Vipers captain Georgia Adams just keeps on keeping on.
Adams has been a mainstay of the Vipers top order throughout their three and a bit seasons as a region, scoring 1,649 runs in 50-over and T20 cricket, including nine fifties. She has also taken 40 wickets with her off-spinners.
The daughter of former England batter Chris, Adams is a tall and versatile right-hander who has opened the batting and batted a bit further down for her region.
Though not short of power, as she showed with 63 not out off 33 balls in victory over Sunrisers earlier this week, you feel like she has to be prised from the crease.
Of course, back-to-back Charlotte Edwards titles is the aim for Adams - what would be her fourth regional trophy as captain - but she can also finish the tournament as its leading run-scorer. With 228 to her name, she is 28 behind current leader Bryony Smith (256).
If Thunder win the semi-final, they will also come up against the competition’s leading wicket-taker, the Blaze’s South African seam bowling all-rounder Nadine de Klerk, who has 14 wickets to her name.
She will also need to be kept quiet if Thunder are to win in Worcester.
Previous meeting
Less than a fortnight ago, on May 31, at the Ageas Bowl, Thunder were beaten by four wickets by the Vipers as the hosts chased down 112 with almost four overs to spare.
Deandra Dottin top-scored with 24 as Thunder were bowled out for 111, slipping badly from a decent position of 81-3 in the 13th over.
Anya Shrubsole, Linsey Smith and Georgia Adams all claimed two wickets before opener Ella McCaughan played the key innings in response - 42 off 37 balls.
Vipers actually slipped from 85-2 to 109-6 as Thunder fought back well without changing the course of the result.
Reflecting on that game, the Thunder camp are taking encouragement from the fact they were far from their best on that late May Wednesday but still took the game deep.
A week or so before that, Blaze beat Thunder by three wickets chasing 118 at Emirates Old Trafford. Opener Liberty Heap top-scored for the hosts with 26 in 117-6, though she fell to England star Nat Sciver-Brunt.
In a reply which was very similar to the Vipers one aforementioned, the Blaze stumbled after a strong start, falling from 56-0 to 113-7. England opener Tammy Beaumont made a quick-fire 38 before spinners Sophie Ecclestone and Fi Morris claimed two wickets apiece.