The Vitality Blast returns after the break for two County Championship rounds, with the next two weeks determining which eight sides will contest the quarter-finals in September.
The top two in the North Group face off in the standout fixture on a bumper Friday night of action, with Durham and Leicestershire Foxes also having the opportunity to strengthen their grip on the top four against sixth-placed Notts Outlaws and fifth-placed Bears respectively,
As the second half of the campaign gets underway, we highlight some of the major storylines to keep an eye out for.
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Lancashire welcome back England stars and pace duo make injury return
Lancashire Lightning will be boosted by the availability of Jos Buttler and Phil Salt for the remaining seven North Group games, beginning with a top-of-the-table clash at Northamptonshire Steelbacks on Friday.
Appearances for the Red Rose are a rarity for the pair who both featured in the IPL, with Buttler recently also in action during the white ball series against the West Indies, whilst Salt was granted paternity leave upon his return.
Lancashire have not been short of runs in the competition so far, amassing 243 in their most recent win over Derbyshire, thanks largely to the form of openers Keaton Jennings and Luke Wells but the inclusion of more international quality makes their already stacked lineup look an even more formidable one.
Elsewhere, Notts Outlaws have named England quick bowler Olly Stone in a matchday squad for the first time in 2025 after the 31-year-old was sidelined with a knee injury on the eve of the season.
Meanwhile, giant left-arm seamer Josh Hull is also set to play his first T20 of the summer for Leicestershire Foxes after suffering an injury setback on his return to red ball action in May, with the England Test prospect claiming an impressive 18 wickets at 24.11 during the 2024 competition.
Can Northants and Somerset stay ahead of the chasing pack?
Somerset look the team to beat in the T20 Blast this year, as often is the case in recent years, aiming to make a fifth successive Finals Day appearance.
With seven wins from eight games and only Surrey for company in the table, the Taunton outfit already have one foot firmly in the quarter-finals and the strength of their side suggests no sign of letting up, with batting firepower throughout and a pace attack spearheaded by international class in Matt Henry and Riley Meredith.
As for the North Group leaders, Northants Steelbacks raced out of the gate with six consecutive wins to start the campaign, owing to fine performances by their key experienced trio of captain David Willey, Ravi Bopara and the competition’s leading wicket-taker Ben Sanderson.
However, the surprise package of 2025 did falter before the break with back-to-back home defeats failing to chase rather modest targets and now are looking over their shoulders at a group of teams within striking distance, two of whom they face in their next two games.
Will Glamorgan finally crack the top four?
The last time Glamorgan made it out of the group stages was in 2017, the current longest wait of any county in the competition.
The Welsh side are well placed in fifth position heading into the second half of the campaign with 16 points and just two behind third place Sussex Sharks.
With a nice blend of experience and young talent, if Glamorgan are to break into the top four, they will need to improve their record against the better sides having lost all four matches against those above them so far, with leaders Somerset and fourth-placed Kent Spitfires to come next.
Middlesex have also had a miserable record in recent years, with their last quarter-final coming in 2019 but there has been reason for slightly more optimism this time around.
A spirited tie in a rain-reduced contest at Hampshire Hawks and a double over Essex, including a narrow one-run win which ended a three-year long wait for a T20 home win at Lord’s, means they still remain in the hunt but face a decisive period with three upcoming matches against the two teams either side of them in the bottom half.
Essex hoping to save pride in torrid season
The 2023 runners-up remain the only side yet to register a win in this year’s competition in what has been a hugely difficult campaign which also saw them slip into the relegation places in the County Championship with defeat at Yorkshire earlier this week.
They have been comfortably beaten in all but one of their seven defeats, rather cruelly denied by the weather when on top at Hove.
No bowler has taken more than seven wickets, Michael Pepper has been unable to replicate his 2024 form with the bat and injuries have also been a defining factor, with Jordan Cox’s return after missing the first four games a much needed one.
A basement battle with Gloucestershire awaits on Friday, before tricky visits to the top two as Essex look to give their fans something to shout about.
Gloucestershire’s defence of the title could not have got off to a worse start with five straight defeats and whilst chances of making the top four are extremely slim, two wins before the break has at least provided them with some momentum to be a competitive force in the second half of the campaign.
As for the North Group, Derbyshire Falcons and Yorkshire are both all but out of contention with just two wins each from their eight games.
Derbyshire have failed to find any real consistency with bat and ball, despite opener Aneurin Donald having the best strike rate in the competition but nevertheless Mickey Arthur will demand a strong end in their remaining six games.
After ending their Trent Bridge hoodoo last month, the next challenge will be for the Falcons to extend their extraordinary seven-match winning record against Yorkshire at Chesterfield this Sunday.
As for Yorkshire, an inexperienced middle order has been unable to provide the necessary support to captain Dawid Malan – one of only two players to pass 300 runs in the competition – but they do have two Roses clashes on the horizon for motivation, even if qualification is out of reach.
Hundred wildcard watch
There remains 16 places up for grabs in this year’s edition of the Hundred as all eight teams will shortly select two players each as their Vitality wildcard picks – so who has stood out and put their name in contention?
If it is experience that sides are looking for, no need to look any further than Jason Roy and James Anderson.
Roy was added to the Northern Superchargers side in 2024 as an injury replacement but did not feature after a lean spell of form, though has been impressive for Surrey so far as their top run-scorer with 267 and three half-centuries.
42-year-old Anderson is hoping to play franchise cricket for the first time but was overlooked in the March draft, though ten wickets in four games at an economy of just 6.86 has perhaps convinced teams he can still make an impact in the shortest format.
For options at the top of the order, Hampshire Hawks’ Toby Albert has impressed with 212 runs at 42.40, whilst Ben Geddes has been striking at 177.66 for Middlesex.
Seventeen-year-old Isaac Mohammed has made just two starts for Worcestershire Rapids but the left-hander has displayed a fearless approach with rapid cameos in both and could be a surprise pick for the long-term in mind.
Northamptonshire Steelbacks’ Justin Broad has enjoyed a productive campaign with the bat, scoring 195 runs at a strike rate of 150 and playing a standout knock in front of the Sky cameras against the Bears last month.
All-rounders will always be in high demand, and perhaps none more so than Glamorgan’s Ben Kellaway, whose six-hitting and ambidextrous bowling capability will surely make him a front-runner for a spot.
Twenty-year-old Luk Benkenstein has been an ever-present for Essex, scoring 154 runs in the middle order at a healthy strike rate of 143.92, whilst also claiming six wickets with his leg-spin at 17.33.
The two leading domestic seam bowlers in the Blast are both currently unselected, with Northants’ 36-year-old Ben Sanderson leading the way on 21 ahead of the consistent Ben Raine for Durham on 16, both displaying superb ability to bowl the death overs.
George Scrimshaw has also impressed for Northants on his return to fitness with 13 wickets, offering extra pace and bounce, whilst in the spin department 17-year-old Farhan Ahmed at Notts Outlaws took a wicket in his first over on debut and bowled a economical spell of 2-23 against the leaders in his last outing.
By Dom Harris
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