Northamptonshire Steelbacks Women begin their Vitality T20 County Cup campaign on Sunday as they host Herefordshire Women at The County Ground.
After kicking off their season with a victory in the One Day Cup over Kent Women earlier in the month, David Ripley’s side are looking to start strongly in both formats by putting themselves in the hat for the next round of the County Cup.
Warwickshire loanee Meg Austin blasted a superb 123 for the Steelbacks Women against Kent, whilst Chloe Hill and Beth Ascott also made very useful contributions with scores of 59 and 56 respectively as they won by 39 runs.
Lenny Sims is unavailable for the match due to international commitments with Italy, alongside Bethan Robinson, Mabel Reid and Clara Thacker who will also not be available for selection.
David Ripley has named a squad of twelve for the match with Gemma Marriott continuing her role as T20 captain this season.
Entry is free for spectators with play getting underway at 2:30pm and gates opening at 1:30pm. The match will be 20 overs per side with an interval between innings.
The Long Room bar will open and Nuts For Your Coffee will be located by the groundsman’s hut, serving refreshments and snacks.
The fixture will be live streamed on the Steelbacks TV YouTube channel.
We spoke to David Ripley about building on the momentum of an opening match victory, taking on Tier 3 opposition and squad selection.
Steelbacks Women Squad:
Gemma Marriott (c), Beth Ascott, Emily Carpenter, Ava Clive, May Drinkell, Emma Gibbs, Chloe Hill, Amelia Kemp, Anisha Patel, Ella Phillips, Alicia Presland, Liz Russell
Opponent preview:
Herefordshire
Captain: Chloe Tingle
Head Coach: Ritchie Harley
2025 finish: Round 1
Tournament highest run-scorer: Georgie Williams (21)
Tournament highest wicket-taker: Chloe Tingle (3)
Squad information: Herefordshire Women are led by former Gloucestershire Women player, Chloe Tingle who took three wickets for just one run against Cambridgeshire Women in the competition last year. With 23 year old Head Coach Ritchie Harley in charge, there is a youthful exuberance to a squad competing in the second round of the County Cup after falling just short of this stage in 2025, after a 9 run narrow defeat to Cambridgeshire Women.