With England involved in the T20 World Cup and England A in the middle of a low-key series with India A, many of the county sides have been struggling to field full-strength teams. The positive spin is that it gives some the Academy members the chance to make their first team debut. The negative is that some games are less than competitive.
In this sandwich filler section Surrey were surprisingly the big losers. They only played two games, but lost to both The Blaze and to Durham. They have slipped to fifth in the table, but are only 2 points off the play-off places.
Two wins for Durham have taken them to the dizzying heights of third, behind The Blaze and Hampshire.
Essex lost all three of the games they played in this segment of the competition and are rooted to the bottom of the league, but, with five games still to play even they are not out of possible contention for the play-offs, although you’d have to say it looks a pretty distinct possibility.
Any team that can get on a roll in August and September can make the play-offs. The England v Ireland series could interfere in team selection in that period, but most teams should be back to full strength, subject to post-Hundred injuries and resting players.
Current table
Here is what happened in Round 12…..
The Blaze v Yorkshire
Yorkshire 150 ao lost to The Blaze 151/6 by 4 wickets
Choosing to bat did not work out too well for Yorkshire who struggled along for nearly 43 overs to put just 150 runs on the board. Only four Yorkshire batters made it into double figures and Sarah Glenn was the top scorer with 30. Charley Phillips added another 3 wickets to her season tally.
The Blaze shot out of the gates in search of the bonus point win, and were 59/3 at the end of the powerplay. Stand-in skipper Marie Kelly held them together with 66 and they got over the line 6 down in the 31st over for a short, sharp day.
Durham v Surrey
Surrey 179 ao lost to Durham 183/4 by 6 wickets
A somewhat depleted Surrey batting line-up – missing Capsey, Wyatt-Hodge, Dunkley, and Chatli – crashed and burned to the spin of Katie Levick (4/31) and Mady Villiers (3/23). Bowled out in under 40 overs for just 179 Surrey might have felt they had a chance as they reduced Durham to 81/4, but skipper Hollie Armitage (76*) and Aussie Heather Graham (40*) completed an unbeaten century stand to claim the bonus point win.
Lancashire v Essex
Lancashire 272/9 beat Essex 119 ao by 153 runs
Lancashire’s top eight batters all made it to double figures as Lancs piled on the runs against an Essex team deprived of skipper Grace Scrivens , Jodie Grewcock and Sophia Smale, on England A duties. The writing was on the wall pretty early into the Essex innings as they struggled to 43/3 in the powerplay. Saffer Anika Bosch delayed the inevitable for a while top scoring with 32, but even she could not resist the off-spin of Fi Morris as one after another five batters holed out. Morris finished with career best figures of 6/27. She will bowl a lot better and get far less by way of reward.
Hampshire v Warwickshire
Hampshire 265/7 beat Warwickshire 194ao by 71 runs
Hampshire built their way slowly and steadily to 265 based around a fine knock from keeper Rhianna Southby (90*) and 64 from Abi Norgrove. Amanda Jade Wellington added a bit of oomphed at the end of the innings with a run a ball 42 as they players melted in the 35 degree temperatures at the Utilita Bowl.
Warwickshire looked out of it at 40/3, including the wicket of the returning Davina Perrin (16), but Georgia Redmayne (53) and Abbey Freeborn (54) seemed to have Warwickshire back on track before the late introduction of Wellington lead to Redmayne’s downfall with 128 on the board. From there there was a steady procession of batters to and from the wicket with Georgia Adams claiming 3/30, including the important wicket of Freeborn with an instinctively one-handed return catch. A win that looked in doubt at one stage ended up being a 5 point bonus win, keeping Hampshire in second spot, albeit 9 points behind The Blaze.
Martin Davies
25/VI/2026
