Match Preview: Glamorgan vs Lancashire Thunder - Vitality T20 Women's County Cup 3rd round
Lancashire Women squad to face Glamorgan:
Ellie Threlkeld (c&wk), Darcey Carter, Alice Clarke, Danielle Collins, Sophie Ecclestone, Phoebe Graham, Grace Johnson, Eve Jones, Emma Lamb, Ailsa Lister, Sophie Morris, Grace Potts, Seren Smale
Lancashire Thunder are certainly up for the new Vitality County T20 Cup, billed as the FA Cup of county cricket, which kicks off for them at the third round stage against Glamorgan on Saturday (1pm).
The prize? A potential Finals Day appearance at Taunton on Bank Holiday Monday later this month.
This competition has been introduced by the ECB to bring together the three tiers in the new county-led women’s domestic structure. Teams in Tiers 2 and 3 have been playing against each other during the first two rounds of a possible six, and now the big guns come in.
Lancashire head to Christ College in Brecon on Saturday afternoon (1pm) to face a Glamorgan side who have already beaten Gloucestershire and Sussex Sharks to get to this stage.
Should Thunder win this clash, they will tackle the quarter-finals next weekend away at either Northamptonshire or Leicestershire before a traditional Finals Day at the Cooper Associates County Ground, Taunton two days later.
The through draw has already been made, and there remains a possibility of a Lancashire v Yorkshire final.
Yorkshire are in Tier 2, as are Glamorgan. In fact, both counties will join Tier 1 in 2026 and 2027 respectively.
“It will be awesome,” said fast bowler Tara Norris, looking ahead to Lancashire’s involvement in this brand new competition.
“I think it's really exciting.
“I'm not sure how it's going to pan out, to be honest. But I think the knockout sense will be really interesting.
“Also, there's now a potential for us to win three trophies this year, which is brilliant.”
While Lancashire’s immediate priority is silverware, there’s also a bigger picture to consider with this competition - the development of the women’s game.
For Tier 2 and Tier 3 teams to have the opportunity to play against fully professional sides can only aid their progression. Three Tier 3 teams - Cambridgeshire, Devon and Oxfordshire - have all made it through to the third-round stage.
“It’s something which will be a little bit different, and hopefully that can engage other people into watching the game,” continued USA international Norris.
“I really hope the Tier 2 and 3 stuff kicks off and that almost brings the club cricket level up, because it feels like if you're not playing Academy cricket or Tier 1 cricket, there isn't a massive pathway.
“Then you're trying to bridge the gap, which hopefully this cup does.
“From that development side, I think it could be a really good thing.”
Lancashire head into this competition in fine fettle having won five of their opening seven matches in the Metro Bank One-Day Cup competition, most recently against Warwickshire at Edgbaston on Wednesday when England spin bowling star Sophie Ecclestone made a successful return from a knee injury with a fifty and one wicket.
Emma Lamb with 88 and Fi Morris 5-48 stood out as the Red Rose successfully defended a 277-target to win by 101 runs.
Glamorgan, meanwhile, have won three from four so far in the Tier 2 equivalent of the same competition. They beat Derbyshire on Thursday by nine wickets chasing 214.
They are captained by top order batter Lauren Parfitt and coached by former New Zealand international Rachel Priest.