Yorkshire Preview: New opportunity beckons as Womens Rapids head north

Vitality T20 Blast: Yorkshire Women v Worcestershire Women’s Rapids 

Venue: Headingly

Date: Friday 27th June

Scheduled start time: 2:30pm

Worcestershire Women’s Rapids head to Headingly on Friday, in a crucial clash as they search of their first win of the season in the Vitality Blast League 2 North Group.

Almost two-weeks on from a seven-wicket defeat away at Leicestershire, the side will be looking to turn their near misses into positive results, as the quest for winning momentum continues.

Worcestershire Rapids Womens’ search for a first win of the season in the Vitality T20 Blast continues after a seven-wicket defeat at the hands of Leicestershire Women on Sunday afternoon.

In a frustrating batting display, plenty of batters got in, but failed to kick on as Chloe Hill (19*) showed positive signs on her return to the side.

Defending a modest 120, Flora Bertwistle continued her impressive run of form as she returned (2-27), but the Rapids failed to make frequent inroads as they fell to a seven-wicket defeat.

After a challenging start to the 2025 Women’s Vitality Blast League 2 North Group campaign, Head Coach Ed Wilson says his side have prepared as best they can as their search for a first win of the campaign takes them to Headingly on Friday, to face Yorkshire.

The reality of life in Tier 2 cricket has been a harsh one for the Women’s Rapids, after failing to collect a win in their opening three matches.

Showing signs of encouragement throughout however, Wilson, revealed the players have taken charge of preparations for Friday’s important clash.

“I know the batters have got together and discussed all of their plans for the match. We talked a lot about bowlers having plans, fielding plans and bowling plans, but not really much about batters.

“I know that’s been led by the players themselves, and they’ve all been and they’ve all been sharing their plans leading up to the Yorkshire game.

“I mean, we’re still obviously all getting used to tier two cricket and the increased standards and exposure, the big learning curve for the girls is that there’s no easy rides.

“If you’re not quite on it, you can get beat by anybody in tier two. There are no easy games, we just need to get our processes right.

Despite a disappointing double-header loss at home to Derbyshire and Northants Steelbacks, and the seven-wicket loss away at Leicestershire Foxes in their most recent encounter, plenty of individual performances took the Rapid’s close on every occasion.

Skipper Clare Boycott, youngster Bryony Gillgrass and the ever-impressive Flora Bertwistle have all made significant contributions along the way.

The Rapids have previous against their next opponents, having already travelled to Yorkshire, earlier on in the season and pulling off a memorable win.

Wilson, said it is important his team don’t lose sight of those important showings as he emphasised the value of enjoying the big matches and experiences along the way.

“We talk about number of balls that hit the stumps when we bowl, the standards in the field, you know, the professional sort of attitude and approach around the warmups in the game.

“As long as we’re doing all those things, I think we’re heading towards results improving.

“The girls are probably feeling a little bit low on confidence, so we will try and strip it all back and enjoy the fact that we’re going to Yorkshire to play at Headingly.

“We’ve got a real challenge, but I think it’s a challenge that the girls will be up for. We’re excited about. It’ll be a really tough game, but that’s kind of why we play this level of cricket.

Yorkshire welcome the Rapids to Headingly having won nine of the 11 matches they have played across all competitions this season, setting an early pace in their charge for silverware in the Women’s arena.

Having lost to Tier 2 rivals Worcestershire in the opening encounter of the season, by 114 runs as they failed to chase 229, the Northern outfit will be looking to right some wrongs during Friday’s encounter.

Yorkshire’s leading run-scorer, Ami Campbell, is enjoying a fine season to date, with 388 runs from 12 matches across all formats, including one hundred and one fifty.

Campbell top-scored in her side’s recent win over Derbyshire, and her time spent at the crease will go a long way in determining the outcome of Friday’s fixture.