MATCH PREVIEW: Warwickshire vs. Lancashire, Women's Metro Bank One-Day Cup
Warwickshire v Lancashire
Metro Bank One-Day Cup, Women
Saturday June 13, 2026, 10.30am
Edgbaston Community Sports Ground
Champions Lancashire face a crucial three-game run in 11 days which will go a long way to deciding their fate in the Metro Bank One-Day Cup.
Currently bottom of the table with two wins and six defeats from eight games, they can still make it into the top three for knockout cricket come September. However, the time has come to make their move.
We are at the halfway point in a competition which the Red Rose gloriously won last season. But it just hasn’t happened in 2026.
The One-Day Cup resumes on Saturday with a trip to face Warwickshire (10.30am) at the Edgbaston Community Sports Ground, a venue which is a stone’s throw away from the county’s headquarters.
There has not been a game since May 16 because the first half of the Vitality Blast has been played.
“We've obviously not had the start to the season that we wanted,” said captain Ellie Threlkeld, ahead of the Bears’ fixture.
“But, ultimately within that, we've not been a million miles away.
“It feels like we’ve played some good cricket, but it's been the same story really every single week. We've probably been 30 or 40 short with the bat and then struggled to defend it.
“I don’t think we’re going too far wrong, but it’s up to us as players to take a bit of responsibility to put it right.
“It’s a pretty big block for us to try and get some results over the line.”
After this trip to the Midlands, the Red Rose have back-to-back home games at Blackpool, against group leaders The Blaze and Essex, a team who are just above Threlkeld and co in the table.
“We like playing at Blackpool,” continued the wicketkeeper-batter. “We’ve had some good results there in the past.
“We’re really looking forward to getting stuck into this format again, and there’s a lot of belief in the dressing room that we can turn the season around.”
Warwickshire actually beat Lancashire at Southport on May 13, by four wickets chasing 227 in a rain-affected contest reduced to 42 overs per side. That was one of four wins from eight for the Bears, who sit fourth in the table and just outside the top three knockout places.
“Most teams have come pretty hard at us this year,” said Threlkeld. “That game in particular, and a couple of others, we’ve been on the tough side of the conditions. It’s not an excuse. But, when things aren’t going your way, these little bits of luck go against you
“Sometimes when you’re on a losing run, you find ways to lose, whereas last year we got into winning positions and were ruthless. We need to try and get back to that.”
A huge part of Lancashire’s success last season was the opening partnership of Emma Lamb and Eve Jones. But things haven’t worked out as well this year.
Lamb’s availability has been disrupted by an England call-up and then a back issue. She hasn’t played a county game since May 2. Ireland overseas international Gaby Lewis then only played a couple of games at the start of the summer before leaving due to injury.
Maddie Penna replaced her for the last four One-Day Cup matches before the T20 block started, and fellow Australian batter Katie Mack has been signed for these three upcoming matches.
Popular Mack returns to the county for a third overseas spell.
Threlkeld said: “When you’re missing Lamby and Gaby, it’s tough, because you’re then asking girls who last year were coming in towards the end of an innings and getting good 20s and 30s to go and get the really big scores.
“I’m in that bracket. And I’m not saying we’re not capable - I believe we are - but, ultimately, it’s not a position we’ve been in before to be relied upon for that.
“The middle order, we do need to take more responsibility and go on.”
Despite the disappointment and frustration of results - and that includes the Vitality Blast as well - the age-old cliche of, ‘What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger’ will hopefully ring true.
“When things aren't going so well, it tests a lot of things,” added Threlkeld. “It tests character, it tests skills and the group's confidence. I think that's where we're at. But, as I said, there’s a lot of belief we can turn this around.
“We know what we’re doing wrong, but now it’s about fixing it.”
Warwickshire, meanwhile, have in their ranks the competition’s leading run-scorer in Charis Pavely with two hundreds in a haul of 466 runs.
Opposition player to watch
Yes, this may well feel a touch repetitive given we featured Charis Pavely ahead of the Southport game midway through last month. But her form deserves continued recognition.
Pavely, 21, is the leading run-scorer in this season’s Metro Bank One-Day Cup with 466 from eight matches, including two hundreds and three fifties.
As aforementioned, one of those fifties came in the reverse fixture a month ago.
The left-hander’s influence on games isn’t solely down to just her runs. For example, the Redditch-born player mixes left-arm spin with her batting.
In the two games in which she scored centuries, against Somerset and The Blaze, she took two wickets as well.
Pavely’s good early-season form in 50-over cricket hasn’t transferred through to the Vitality Blast, which has been played for the last few weeks. It will be fascinating to see if the switch in formats can bring about runs and wickets once more.
Previous meeting
On May 13, Warwickshire defeated Lancashire by four wickets in a Southport clash reduced to 42 overs per-side due to rain.
Chasing a target of 227, Charis Pavely top-scored with 63 before an unbeaten seventh wicket stand of 75 off 66 balls between Mary Taylor (42 not out) and Nat Wraith (34 not out) clinched victory with nine balls to spare as Warwickshire finished on 230-6.
Lancashire totalled 226-9 having been inserted, with Ellie Threlkeld and Maddie Penna, 39 and 38m sharing a third-wicket partnership of 83.
Kate Cross marshalled the lower order with 34, while Taylor returned her best Warwickshire bowling figures of 3-47 and both Phoebe Brett and captain Georgia Davis took two wickets apiece.
The Red Rose had the advantage with the Bears at 155-6 in the 32nd over of their chase. Unfortunately, however, Taylor and Wraith impressively turned the tables.
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