Who has stood out in the opening week of the One-Day Cup?

The Metro Bank One-Day Cup is in full swing around the country, and whilst no longer the prominent competition it once was or still deserves to be, it continues to be a fine advert for county cricket with plenty of fascinating storylines to follow.

The stars of England’s domestic game may not be present, a certain in-form Ben Stokes aside, though there has been no shortage of high quality and drama-fuelled action with the chance for some slightly less household names to step up for their counties.

Here are a selection of players who have made positive starts to the campaign.

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Hamza Shaikh (Leicestershire)

What an impression batter Hamza Shaikh has made in his first few innings as a Leicestershire player, having initially signed on loan from Warwickshire ahead of making the move permanent over the winter.

The 20-year-old, who has previously featured for the England Lions and Under-19 sides, registered his maiden career hundred with an unbeaten 104 off 116 balls at No.4 as the Foxes successfully chased down a target of 271 to beat Surrey at Guildford on Friday.

From a 122-run partnership to another worth 179 just two days later as Shaikh and South African Ruan de Swardt launched a stunning fightback from 22-4 in pursuit of 384 against Lancashire Lightning at Grace Road.

Shaikh narrowly missed out on consecutive tons as he was caught for 91 off 88 balls, whilst the lower order went on to get the hosts within a commendable 21 runs of the target, but 228 runs in three innings for his new club has certainly set the bar high and has only been bettered by Somerset’s Tom Lammonby after the opening week of the competition.

Shaikh had recently made his T20 debut for Warwickshire Bears in their final group but has not played Championship cricket for the Edgbaston side since early 2025 and will be looking to make the most of more regular opportunities to impress at Leicester.

Adam Thomas (Surrey)

Batter Adam Thomas already made a name for himself earlier in the season when he struck a sublime century on his County Championship debut against Sussex at the Kia Oval.

But now the 20-year-old is churning out runs for fun at the start of the One-Day Cup as Surrey’s No.3 in what is a heavily depleted side due to the Hundred – albeit with former England duo Dom Sibley and Rory Burns around him.

Thomas has made half-centuries in each of the first three games, two of which were unbeaten to lead the way in successful chases.

A fluent 76-ball 82 not out at Sedbergh School against Lancashire was followed by a more measured 57 in a defeat to Leicestershire, before a near run-a-ball 83 guided his side over the line in their most recent game against Northamptonshire Steelbacks.

Thomas previously made a career-best 162 in this competition last season against Derbyshire.

Tom Prest (Hampshire)

Hampshire’s Tom Prest has been a familiar name on the county circuit for a few years now since his debut in 2021, though has had an indifferent season and runs in the One-Day Cup have been much needed for the 23-year-old.

Prest began the campaign with a match-defining century at Scarborough against Yorkshire, making 109 off just 94 balls in the visitors’ total of 320-8.

After a failure against Middlesex, Prest then top-scored again for his side with a 55-ball 70 in the middle order at New Road against Worcestershire, though it would not be enough as Hampshire fell just short in a repeat of last year’s final despite the best efforts of Andrew Neal in the final few overs.

The former England Under-19 captain has previous in this competition, having scored 400+ runs across the campaign in both 2022 and 2023.

Josh de Caires (Middlesex)

Like Prest, Josh de Caires has been a regular feature in the county game for a number of years, though his career numbers for Middlesex do not exactly leap off the page as a player yet to fulfill their potential.

This One-Day Cup could prove an important period for the 24-year-old – son of former England captain Michael Atherton – who has made a productive start to the campaign with both bat and ball.

His opening partner Nathan Fernandes stole the headlines with a century in the first game against Essex but de Caires proved to be the main man in Southampton with a remarkable all-round performance.

A List A best of 75 laid the foundations for a score of 284-8, before another List A best soon followed, claiming 6-35 from 10 overs as de Caires’ off-spin did the damage and accounted for Hampshire’s entire top four.

His bowling was not required in the recent demolition job on Glamorgan, though a swift 45 not out to reach the target of 67 within the powerplay was a sign of a player with growing confidence.

Naavya Sharma (Middlesex)

Another Middlesex player in the spotlight and why not after three wins from three for a side that has not had a great deal to shout about in recent times.

A shining light emerging from Lord’s, and their other temporary homes, is their exciting crop of young fast bowlers who have all made prominent contributions across formats this season.

Left-armer Noah Cornwell has been on the scene since 2024, whilst 18-year-old Seb Morgan has already earned himself a wildcard deal with MI London in the Hundred.

20-year-old Naavya Sharma has had a strong Championship season with 21 wickets in six matches at 24.95 and his List A career has made an equally impressive start, snaring eight wickets in three matches at 14.25.

Having finished off the tail with the final two wickets in each of the first two games, Sharma then wrecked havoc at the top of the order with four Glamorgan wickets in his opening spell as the Welsh county slumped to 66 all out at Radlett.

Next up for Middlesex include games against holders Worcestershire, Yorkshire and Durham – with that comes the challenge of slightly more experienced batting lineups for Sharma to test himself against.

Who else has caught the eye?

Charlie Tear (Sussex) – young Scottish wicket-keeper made just his second List A century with 118 off 112 balls against Durham.

Joe Moores (Lancashire) – following a breakthrough T20 Blast campaign, the England Under-19 talent returned to the Lancashire side with an astonishing 15-ball 41 cameo against Leicestershire.

Alex Horton and Jake Hope-Bell (Glamorgan) – two more Welsh talents coming through at Glamorgan in an incredibly inexperienced lineup, 22-year-old keeper Horton and teenager Hope-Bell both notched maiden career centuries in a stunning recovery partnership against Sussex.

Josh Thomas and James Langridge (Somerset) – another side with plenty of changes but always producing a pipeline of talent, 21-year-old Thomas who has established himself across all formats this season has made scores of 97 not out against Gloucestershire and 50 against Warwickshire, whilst 20-year-old left-arm seamer Langridge – yet to debut in red-ball or T20 – has taken five wickets in two matches which included the scalps of Gloucestershire’s James Bracey and Cameron Bancroft.

Joe Pocklington (Nottinghamshire) – left-arm spinner has claimed three wickets in each of his two appearances so far and also contributed with crucial lower order runs in the win over Warwickshire.

Fateh Singh (Worcestershire) – another left-arm spinner with limited chances in T20 due to Worcestershire’s overseas duo but gave a reminder of his ability with a match-turning spell of 6-32 against Derbyshire and also took crucial wickets to complete the win over Hampshire, despite a fairly expensive economy rate.

Ekansh Singh (Essex) – England Lions all-rounder took 3-50 against Northamptonshire with crucial middle order wickets and also struck a counter-attacking 42 against Gloucestershire.

Ben Cliff (Yorkshire) – operating alongside the more experienced Ben Coad and George Hill, 23-year-old seamer Cliff has made an impressive start to the campaign with seven wickets in three matches, including 4-29 in the victory over Glamorgan.

Who to watch out for?

Savin Perera (Somerset) – the Sri Lankan-born left-handed opener has had to bide his time for a county stint, but after Somerset offered him a deal on the eve of the competition, he scored a stylish half-century on debut against Notts and followed it up with 39 against Warwickshire as he looks to convert starts into a big score.

Luke Robinson (Durham) – the 22-year-old seamer has taken the new ball ahead of Ben Stokes and was the standout performer with 3-44 in their opening win at Derbyshire.

Mitchell Killeen (Essex) – you never need to look too far from Essex for young talent and there are a number of young quicks in their lineup with Charlie Bennett and Mackenzie Jones both claiming three wickets to complete an impressive comeback win over Derbyshire, however 21-year-old Mitchell Killeen also made his long-awaited debut in that game with a very economical spell and could be ready to kickstart his career after a winter move from Durham.

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