The Vitality Blast returns to the cinch County Ground tomorrow as the Steelbacks welcome Essex under the Friday night lights.

The Steelbacks are currently the only unbeaten team left in the tournament, having won the first six games before the break for the County Championship.

Essex have also enjoyed a strong start and currently sit second in the South Group, having won four and lost two in their opening six games.

As part of the new Vitality Blast format, each team faces another team from outside of their group. This fixture is the first time that Essex have played a T20 game against the Steelbacks in Northampton.

Match information:

Play is set to start at 6:30pm tomorrow, with gates opening at 4:30pm. Tickets are now SOLD OUT and there will not be any available on the gate or online.

At the interval, there will be a live music performance from Northampton based artist Billy Lockett.

There will also be a chance to get your hands on some merchandise during the interval, courtesy of our Principal Partner cinch. They will be driving a car round the outfield during the innings break and will be throwing t-shirts, replica shirts, bucket hats and much more.

With the current weather forecast, spectators are advised to take care in the sun and ensure they stay hydrated throughout the fixture. Paramedics will be on-site and on hand to assist anyone who has any issues.

The fixture will be livestream on the Steelbacks TV YouTube channel, and you can follow the action with live match updates across our social media channels.

Concessions:

Tempeo Foundation FanZone: Rocky Gelato, Hey Spud

Standing area: Mem Saab, Nuts For Your Coffee & Gaucho Stu

Water is available at all external bars at the ground for £1.

The Tempeo Foundation FanZone will be open, with plenty of things to do for our younger fans. We’ll have a bouncy castle, a speed tunnel, face painting and plenty of food and drink options. The FanZone is located behind the Briggs & Forrester stand.

From 4:30pm-5:30pm, you can enjoy our Carlsberg Happy Hour, with Carlsberg available for just £3.50 a pint.

Squad news:

Lewis McManus is involved in the squad for the first time since our away trip to Durham. The wicket keeper has missed recent games with a broken toe but McManus came through a 2XI game well on Wednesday and could feature tomorrow night.

Louis Kimber continuing his rehab from injury but is nearing closer to a return.

Luke Procter will miss the next couple of weeks after suffering a broken finger in the four day game in Durham.

Steelbacks squad to face Essex:

David Willey (c), George Bartlett, Justin Broad, Calvin Harrison, Louis Kimber, Chris Lynn, Lewis McManus, Nathan McSweeney, Gus Miller, James Sales, Ben Sanderson, George Scrimshaw, Ricardo Vasconcelos, Raphy Weatherall, Saif Zaib

We caught up with Darren Lehmann to discuss playing in front of a sold out crowd, not getting complacent and how the squad’s shaping up.

Opponent Preview:

Essex

Previewed by Martin Smith, ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay

Captain: Simon Harmer

Overseas players: Simon Harmer (South Africa, all)

Finals Day appearances: Six (2006, 2008, 2010, 2013, 2019, 2023)

Titles: One (2019)

2025 finish: 9th in South Group

2025 leading runscorer: Michael Pepper (364)

2025 leading wicket-taker: Mohammad Amir (20)

Key winter moves: With wicketkeeper-batsman Adam Rossington not re-engaged after his T20-only contract did not work out, South African all-rounder Wiaan Mulder is the only addition to Essex’s Vitality Blast squad. Mulder’s most recent international T20 caps came as recently as March in New Zealand, and with approaching 150 appearances in the format, he should prove an asset in the early matches.

The big question: What will Jordan Cox have learnt from the IPL where he largely watched from the substitutes’ bench with Royal Challengers Bangalore rather than performing in the middle alongside Virat Kohli? Cox topped the Essex batting averages last season – 10 runs ahead of anyone else – and scored a memorable century against Hampshire. Can he do it again?

Wildcard watch: Luc Benkenstein. Leg-spinners are worth their weight in gold in white-ball cricket as Benkenstein showed in last year’s Blast where his 11 wickets earnt him a share of second place in the Essex wicket-taking list alongside Simon Harmer – and with a significantly superior average than his captain. Despite being only 21, he has T20 experience and temperament.

Final thought: Things can only get better for Essex. They won only three games last season, two of them late on with nothing at stake, to finish bottom of the South Group. The year before they were only edged out of a top-four place on run-rate, and in 2023 were beaten finalists. With their younger players a year more experienced, maybe an improved level of consistency can be expected to reverse the downward trend.