The Blaze’s left-arm seamer Grace Ballinger watches the Women’s T20 Blast Finals day taking place at The Oval on Friday. The summer of 2026 has already been colossal for English cricket. Fans across the country have been engulfed, often divided, by mid-match international withdrawals, women’s T20 World Cup and Test defeats, and currently, a competitive
The Blaze’s left-arm seamer Grace Ballinger watches the Women’s T20 Blast Finals day taking place at The Oval on Friday.
The summer of 2026 has already been colossal for English cricket.
Fans across the country have been engulfed, often divided, by mid-match international withdrawals, women’s T20 World Cup and Test defeats, and currently, a competitive white-ball series for the men’s team against India.
Meanwhile, domestic cricket has continued, sometimes out of the spotlight, but this weekend comes to the fore with the finals of the men’s and women’s T20 Blast competitions.
On Friday, the top four women’s teams from the 2026 campaign will battle it out for silver at The Oval, with Edgbaston hosting the men’s finals day 24 hours later.
This is the second day of the women’s final since national women’s football became fully professional, and two of last year’s three qualified teams (Surrey and The Blaze) will return to The Oval once again.
Finals Day 2025 featured only three teams, with the top teams automatically qualifying for the finals. This year there are four teams and the calendar reflects that of the men’s competition.
In a previous article, I wrote that I think four teams reaching finals day in a nine-team league (compared to 18 counties in the Men’s Blast) is at least one too many.
Therefore, I am relieved that The Blaze, my team, finished third and not fourth.
We’ll play last summer’s champions Surrey in the opening semi-final, while 2026 table-toppers Hampshire take on Durham (leaving the group stage for the first time in any competition) in the afternoon.
The final is scheduled for that evening at 18:45 BST.
In the men’s competition, finals day was moved from September to mid-summer, immediately after the group stage and quarter-finals, a welcome change.
This now means that both the women’s and men’s T20 champions will conclude before the domestic cricket landscape changes for the Hundred.
During the Hundred, women’s (professional) county play stops, while for the men the one-day cup competition begins.
Check back often for more exciting news!
