MATCH PREVIEW: Somerset v Lancashire Thunder
Lancashire Thunder return to the scene of their greatest triumph, with Ellie Threlkeld reflecting on a “special day” but admitting that focus has now shifted to adding more silverware to their recent Vitality County T20 Cup triumph at Taunton.
Somerset v Lancashire Thunder
Vitality Blast
Friday June 13, 2025, 6.30pm
The Cooper Associates County Ground, Taunton
Late last month, Thunder beat The Blaze and Surrey at Finals Day at the Cooper Associates County Ground.
Now, they return there to face Somerset (6.30pm) under the lights bidding for win number three of the Vitality Blast competition.
“It was a very special day, and I feel like it's a reward for all the hard work that's gone on for the last few years,” said captain Threlkeld. “It's been really nice to get our hands on some silverware, and it’s given the group a real boost.
“We were up against two good sides, and we played some good cricket. It was an excellent start (to the summer for us). But, obviously, that competition's done and dusted now.
“We've got to sort of go again in this Blast, and these games come thick and fast. There’s a lot of them.
“We'll be hoping to take that momentum into this and keep that in our minds that actually we're a really good team, we’ve won silverware, and we can beat anyone.
“There's three trophies on offer, and we want to win all three.”
Thunder have made a mixed start to the Blast, winning two and losing three. Most recently, they beat the Bears at Edgbaston on Sunday afternoon and sit just outside the top-four places which seals a place at Finals Day after 14 group games.
Former head coach Paul Shaw has been an interested onlooker for a number of Lancashire games this season as part of his work with the LancsTV live stream.
During his time as coach for four seasons between 2020 and 2023, Shaw spoke about the Thunder project being a five-year plan through to winning silverware.
And with that County Cup triumph, the former England women’s coach was proved to be spot on.
Threlkeld continued: “Shawsy actually spoke to me at the beginning of this year and said, 'It's year five, mate’.
“A lot of our success - obviously, we’ve had a decent start to the season - it was probably down to him laying the foundations in year one, really. We've done so many things well this year. It feels like we're a proper team now, and all that work we've done has been building towards this year.”
Along the way, there were plenty of rocky patches which Threlkeld, Shaw and even new head coach Chris Read had to deal with.
But did Threlkeld ever doubt that things would come good?
“Yeah, I did,” she admitted. “A lot of times.
“I felt like there were some real tough moments, and when you're losing it's really hard.
“It felt like in previous years we were probably finding ways to lose games, whereas this year we’ve found ways to win and have done it at times when we haven’t been at our best.
“We’ve got that in us now.
“There's been a lot of tough points, and it feels like we're more resilient as a group now. We know when we're not at our best, and it feels like we're in a better place to put that right.
“Different players are standing up.
“We’ve actually got a GOAT Award that we give out every game we play, and different people are winning that, which is a good sign.”
Lancashire will face a Somerset side who currently sit bottom of the Blast table having lost three of their four games and had the other one washed out.
Their most recent game, against The Blaze at Trent Bridge on Saturday, was the one which was washed out - abandoned without a ball bowled.
Before that, they were beaten by the Bears at Edgbaston on Friday.
Captained by experienced batter Sophie Luff, they also have Australian leg-spinning all-rounder Amanda-Jade Wellington as their overseas signing.
Thunder left-arm spinner Hannah Jones spent last weekend on loan with Somerset, taking one wicket in their defeat against the Bears.
Opposition player to watch
No Somerset player is yet to really get going in the Vitality Blast, but captain Sophie Luff enjoyed an excellent start to the summer in 50-over cricket.
A top order batter who is the glue which holds everything together for their batting line-up, Luff scored 305 runs in the first eight matches and averaged 50.83.
If Somerset are going to hoist themselves up from the bottom of the Blast table, you feel as though Luff will be key to that. The 31-year-old has a top score of 22 in three innings so far in this competition.
She is only three appearances away from 300 across all formats in her senior career.
How’s Stat!
Tara Norris starred with 33 not out and three wickets in Sunday’s win over the Bears at Edgbaston.
Lancashire’s left-arm seamer is closing in on 100 career T20 wickets. She is eight away from that milestone.
The USA international is also only 10 away from 200 in all senior cricket.