By Grockle
July 12 2026

So we will not be at the Finals day next Friday but we are so far on from where we were or expected to be in T20 cricket at the start of the season.  We have not been anyone's kicking post in this tournament and now have players other sides fear.  So let's say thank you to the women and enjoy the last Balst game of the season while llooking forward to what Erion Osborne has in stroe for us next year in the shortest form of the game.

Women's Blast - v Essex @Taunton Sunday 12 July 2026

Essex won the toss and decided to have a bat first so we face Scrivens and Bosch again for the second time in not a lot of time.  The Somerset side is unchanged from the Friday one;

Odgers, Luff (c), Learoyd, Holland, Griffiths, Dean, Hazell (wk), Skelton, Harris, Barnes, Vukusic

Charlie Dean will open the bowling after her heroics in Nottingham on Friday and she nearly does it again with Bosch first ball!!  Essex end the first with 6 and Griffiths takes the first from the River.  They open up a bit but Bosch opens up too much and sends the 5th ball into the hands of Niamh Holland at the Hildreth end of the the Somerset to go for 10 at 17 for 1.  Smale is the next bat in with Scrivens now facing Erin Vukusic from the MT. 21 after 3 as Erin concedes 5.

They turn to Skelton for the 5th at 32 for 1 and she has Scrivens dropped behind the stumps off her first ball - inside edge onto pad.  Oh dear - there is a bit of work to do with the keeping behind the stumps over the wnter one would have to say.  Alex is spraying it about a bit and Scrivens fires it past Lola Harris 3 times in the 6th.  A wide takes essex to 50 for 1 with Scrivens on 25 (17) and Smale on a run a ball 10.  She ends with 30 from her 2 and they finish the 'Powerplay' at 53 for 1Smale goes big off Chloe but she finds Alex in front of the Ondaatje and she departs for 10 at 54 for 2.  Skelton has 1 for 3 from 10 balls. She maintains that for the over and has figures literally TEN times less than Griffo's 

Liv Barnes is introduced to bowl to Grewcock in the 8th and she holds the visitors to an increase of 4.  Plus Scfrivens hits the ball into the floor, it flies up and hits Grewcock on the arm, which pops the ball into Liv's hands, who throws it to Hazell who runs Scrivens out for 32 at 59 for 3.  A bizarre wicket. 

Niamh is on at the MT with Heap taking her on from ball one a nd going to 8 very quickly.  Holland goes for 14 off her first and Esssex move to 72 for 3.  Erin changes ends as we move to halfway and after 10 the visitors have reached 78 for 3

The 100 arrives in the 13th from the bat of Grewcock who moves on to 19 from 15 at the end of the Harris over while Heap has moved to 21 from 18.  The partnership has moved to 44 in 5.2 overs before Liv Barnes bowls Grewcock for 19 off 17 at the start of the 14th at 102 for 4.   Gardner is the new bat and she nearly goes as the ball dies just before it reaches Learoyd in the covers.  They reach the end of the over at 105. 

Chloe changes ends to the River for her third but she is coming back with Heap going after the spinners a little more.  Gardner also gets inon the act as she hits Skelton for 6 to the Botham as she goes for 13 off the 16th.  Lola is also getting some treatement as Gardner also hits her for six to the MT.  She doubles the runs off Lola but then drives it straight to Anika after taking 30 off 17 at 138 for 5.  Excellent catch and an important wicket with 3 to go.  Gilgrass comes in and pushes the score up towards the 150 mark off Barnes in the 18th.  Essex end it at 148 for 5.

Erin returns for the 19th from the MT and Gillgrass moves the score to 150 off her second ball and her own score to 10 from 5.  With Anika in the field she takes a wicket with her slow ball into the Aussies safe hands at 152 for 6 as Gillgrass goes for 12 from 7 and Carr arrives. 

154 for 6 with 1 over to go from Charlie who will bowl out with this one and starts at 0 for 27.  Heap hits her for six into the Somerset but she then tries to sweep it, top edges it and is well caught by Harris for the Essex top score of 37 at 163 for 7.  Gray arrives and then is bowled to bring Coppack in to face the last delivery.  163 for 8 becomes 163 for 9 as she bowls Coppack.  Which means that the first game of next season's Vitality Blast, Charlie Dean is on a hat-trick!!  Essex need 164. 

The Reply

Bex and Sophie come out for the last time in this season and after 4 from the first from Gray, Bex fires the second ball of the second over to Bosch off Coppack to leave for 8 at 9 for 1.  This brings Anika in for her last game of the season.  In the 5th Smale's spin is introduced.  Sophie straight drives her first ball for four.  She then lobs the second to mid on where she is caught by MacGregor for 11 from 9.

Niamh is in too early again and after her heroics against this lot a week ago we hope.  But she's gone before she starts and is caught behind off Coppack before the end of the 6th for 1 at 29 for 3.  Alex Griffiths is also in far, far, far too early as the 'Powerplay' comes to an end at 30 for 3 with Coppack on 3 overs 2 for 15.

Learoyd needs to hit about two thirds of what is left if Somerset are to get anywhere near this and then we have to hope that Skelton or Dean can help out.  

In the 10th over Alex looks to sweep, misses the ball, falls over and is out before she hits the ground LBW for 15 off 18 at 49 for 4 from the bowling of Gray.  In comes Dean and we need 115 to win just before the halfway point and Learoyd stops any hope as she fires the ball to Gardner at long on for 12 from 17 as we reach 50 for 5 with 2 balls of the 10th still to come.  Jess Hazell comes in, hits it straight.  Gray gets a hand to it and Charlie is run out at the non strikers end as it smashes into the stumps.  Dean goes for 1 and it is 50 for 6.  Gray has removed 3 Somerset bats this over and we have Skelton and Hazell in without a run to their name.

In the 11th we lose another as the bats try to take 3 but Chloe hesitastes halfway through the third and is run out by Heap and Smale for 4 at 59 for 7.  There's not much point in shaking the head when both are part way through the third run before they wonder whether it was a good thing!  Either clearly say 'NO' after 2 or COMMIT to the third.

Lola Harris is in and Somerset have a mountain to climb needing 102 from 8 overs with 3 wickets remaining.   Gillgrass bowls the 14th when Lola skies one to Bosch coming in from the Somerset stand.  She goes for 9 and at 74 for 8 it's pretty much done and dusted.  Barnes arrives with 90 required and 2 wickets left.  Liv takes a single to get off the mark and therefore steals the strike.  Jess is still fighting in this one as she ramps MacGregor for four to the Botham to take us into the 80s. At the end of the 15th MacGregor finishes with 0 for 35 as Jess sends her to the Ondaatje for four to take us to 90.  Barnes reverses a four to the MT car park as we look at the possibility of reaching 100.  With 4 to go we have 96 for 8 as Smale returns to the MT for the 17th.  The 100 comes up in the 17th.    The stand of 27 comes to an end as Barnes mistimes one and top edges to keeper Carr for 9 from 11 at 101 for 9 from the bowling of Smale,  In comes Vukusic who really does not look at home with abat in her hand presently - though I doubt she's done this all that often.  

Scrivens brings herself on for the 19th with us needing 55 from 12 with 1 wicket in hand.  No pressure!!  Jess has worked hard for her runs and will go down fighting despite the fact it is an impossible task.  With 49 needed off the last Gillgrass will bowl out.  They take 2 off the first and off the second and then a single.  The fourth is a dot and then Erin neatly knocks it through for two.  The last ball is fired to the mid on fielder Coppack to be all out for 122 and a loss by 41 runs.  Jess Hazell top scored with 37 off 28 with 3 fours.

It fell apart at the front end and they looked a little 'off the boil' today with a number of errors we would have expected last season but were surprised to see this year.  

So the 2026 Vitality Blast women's season ends with us not getting to the Fimal but ,missing by a slim margin rather than coming last as 2025 ended.  The loss of our England trio did not affect this format as much as it as affected the 50 over games and we grew into this format to become a side still suffering from inconsistencies but much much harder to beat than last year and a real handful on our day - of which we had more than a few.

The women's county domestic game now goes into stasis while the franchise stuff gets played - a decent tournament for those lucky enough to be in it and stopping county stuff for the rest of the professionals who will not see another game until the 19th of August when we again play Essex in the Metrobank 50.