The Blaze captain Kirstie Gordon has poured praise on Trent Bridge after it was confirmed that The Blaze will play five home Metro Bank One Day Cup fixtures in West Bridgford during 2026.
Gordon’s charges will play more than half of their home 50-over fixtures at Trent Bridge next summer, and it is a schedule which the 28-year-old is delighted by.
“It’s absolutely a positive [for the women’s game], and it’s a credit to everyone at Trent Bridge for making that happen,” she said.
“I absolutely love playing at Trent Bridge, and I’m fortunate to lead the girls out, so I’m looking forward to that.”
By playing five 50-over outings in NG2 alongside all six of their home Vitality Blast matches, The Blaze are set to utilise Trent Bridge for three-quarters of their entire home programme across both formats in 2026.
“We also obviously have great links with Chesterfield, and we’re excited to have a few fixtures there as well,” continued Gordon.
“At first glance, the fixtures look great, and I’m really pleased with the amount of backing that we’ve got from Trent Bridge.
“The girls are super pleased about it, and every time we’ve played at Trent Bridge, we’ve loved it. We were a bit unlucky last year with rain, but we’re hoping the sun shines this time round!”
There has been a concerted effort to condense the number of The Blaze’s home venues, with 2025 seeing Gordon’s side host matches at six different grounds.
That has been reduced to just two in 2026, with Queen’s Park set to cover the remainder of The Blaze’s home fixtures.
Gordon sees that as another positive by Gordon, who says such streamlining makes her side easier to follow as the women’s game continues to gather momentum.
“Building up a fanbase is definitely the aim,” she affirmed. “We’ve obviously had good matches here at Trent Bridge, and we want to keep building on that.
“Every time we’ve gone to Chesterfield, we’ve been really well supported, not just by the staff that look after us, but also by the spectators.
“We want to continue to grow that fanbase, and I think having two venues, more than maybe three, four, five, six, can definitely help us do that.”
*******
