2025 Annual-report

NOTTINGHAMSHIRE COUNTY CRICKET CLUB 2025 ANNUAL REPORT & ACCOUNTS 28 Trent Bridge, we’re excited at the prospect of seeing our international players shine on the global stage in front of home crowds. In the domestic T20 competition, entering 2025,The Blaze were the dominant T20 team in the country, having lost only twice across the 2023 and 2024 seasons.This excellence continued: we suffered just two defeats in 14 group matches. The competition had seen a revamp, and was renamed to the Vitality BlastWomen’s competition to have more alignment with the men’s game. Surrey emerged as our major challengers, boasting a breadth of England talent and the explosive Grace Harris. Our clash at The Oval became one of the performances of the summer.We set 169 thanks to a fast start from Marie Kelly and Georgia Elwiss, before early strikes from Kirstie Gordon and Cassidy McCarthy dismantled Surrey’s top order and secured their only group- stage defeat. Surrey ultimately claimed the title on home soil at Finals Day, while our own eliminator loss to Birming- ham Bears was a reminder of how fine the margins can be. Nevertheless, ourT20 record over three seasons – 35 matches, only five defeats – remains a remarkable achievement in any professional sport, and is something we’re keen to build on next summer. Talismanic performances once again came from Kathryn Bryce and Georgia Elwiss, two of the country’s premier all-rounders.Tammy Beaumont delivered multiple match- winning knocks when released by England, though England duty restricted appearances for Nat Sciver- Brunt and Amy Jones. This season also marked the break- through of Cassidy McCarthy, who has become one of the quickest bowlers in the domestic game and now features on the England Performance Programme. Cassidy featured in this summer’s The Hundred, where she continued to make her mark.We also saw the majority of our players feature in the tournament, with a special mention going to Grace Ballinger, Ella Claridge and Lucy Higham who won the competition with Northern Superchargers. At the close of the season, Sarah Glenn departed forYorkshire in pursuit of greater batting opportunities, and Scarlett Hughes was released.We wish them every success.We were delighted to welcome Emma Jones from Surrey, a talented seam-bowling all-rounder with England A experience, who also played regularly at Trent Bridge for the Rockets this summer. Encouragingly, five Academy players have been selected for England U19's winter plans, highlighting the strength of our pathway and the continued investment in developing homegrown talent. Next year, we’re looking forward to “THE [T20] COMPETITION HAD SEEN A REVAMP, AND WAS RENAMED TO THE VITALITY BLAST WOMEN’S COMPETITION TO HAVE MORE ALIGNMENT WITH THE MEN’S GAME.” James Cutt