Match Preview: Western Storm v Thunder

THE MATCH

Western Storm begin the 2021 Rachael Heyhoe-Flint Trophy by welcoming Thunder to the Bristol County Ground tomorrow (Saturday May 29th).

This is a 50-over match and play is due to get underway at 10:30am with gates opening at 8:30am.

Tickets for this match are still available in advance at a cost of £10 for adults and £5 for Under 18s.

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HOW CAN I KEEP UP TO DATE?

There will be a live stream of this match via this website’s match centre.

You can keep up to date with the action on Twitter.

In addition to this a report on the day’s play along with quotes will be posted after the close.

TEAM NEWS

England trio Heather Knight, Anya Shrubsole and Katie George are all available for selection and Head Coach, Mark O’Leary will pick the starting XI from the following players: Sophie Luff (c), Fi Morris (vc), Heather Knight, Anya Shrubsole, Katie George, Georgia Hennessey, Danielle Gibson, Nat Wraith, Alex Griffiths, Nicole Harvey, Lauren Parfitt, Lauren Filer, Mollie Robbins, Emma Corney, Steph Hutchins, Emily Edgcombe, Niamh Holland and Bethan Gammon.

LAST TIME OUT

In the 2020 competition, Western Storm finished second in the South Group with 18 points from six matches whilst Thunder finished in third place in the North Group after claiming nine points from their six matches.

VIEWS FROM THE DRESSING ROOM

Ahead of the match, Somerset Captain, Sophie Luff said: “We’re all looking forward to what we hope will be a successful campaign and we can’t wait to get started. Everyone’s in a really good place and the girls have all trained really hard over the winter. Hopefully we can build on the momentum that we built up in the warm up games and get off to a winning start.

“Thunder are a good outfit and it’ll be good to test ourselves against a team that we’ve not faced before.

“Bristol is a great place to play cricket and it’s always nice to start the season with a home game. We are allowed to have supporters in the ground and it will be great to be able to play in front of a good West Country following again. Hopefully, we can give them something to cheer about.”

EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW

If you are planning on attending this fixture you can find out everything that you need to know by visiting the Gloucestershire CCC website.