A positive Georgie Boyce believes The Blaze have the requisite skills and attitude to secure a home semi-final in the Metro Bank One Day Cup this weekend.

The Blaze go into tomorrow’s away clash with Essex knowing that victory will see them host the last-four fixture, for which they have already qualified, on Tuesday.

Boyce has been named in a 13-strong group for the trip to Chelmsford, with Prisha Thanawala and Marie Kelly coming in for the rested duo of Georgia Elwiss and Cassidy McCarthy.

“We know that we want to win and we want that home semi-final, and we know that if we win against Essex that guarantees it, so it’s all to play for,” affirmed Boyce.

“We chased 250 against Durham on Tuesday, which is always a big ask, but the batters we have in our line-up made sure that we did it quite comfortably in the end.

“It was a great win though, and it will give us a lot of confidence going into the game against Essex on Saturday.”

The Eagles currently sit bottom of the eight-team One Day Cup table, with just two wins in the tournament so far, but Boyce is acutely aware of the need to avoid underestimating them.

However, she is keen to state that if The Blaze are on form, it is an ideal opportunity to boost confidence ahead of the crunch semi-final clash.

“We know that a team that don’t have much to play for are always dangerous,” said Boyce. “Chelmsford is normally a good batting wicket as well, so we’ll need to be on form.

“It’s always a nice place to play women’s cricket at, though, and hopefully people can get some big contributions.

“If they can do that, and we get another win on the board, it will give us a lot of confidence going into the semi-finals next week.

“We just want to go down there and play some good cricket, and the result will take care of itself.”

Individually, Boyce is also keen to ensure she is as prepared as she can be for the last four as The Blaze’s season draws to a close.

Having spent time on loan at Yorkshire earlier this summer, she is proud to have returned to her hometown club and even prouder to be contributing to what she hopes will be success.

“It’s been nice to be back playing for The Blaze,” she said. “It was interesting going on loan; it’s something I’ve not really done before, but I loved my time at Yorkshire.

“To be able to do that, and keep playing cricket, when things aren’t necessarily going your way selection-wise, was great.

“It’s nice because it’s my home club playing at my home ground, and what we can potentially achieve now is what we want to do and where we want to be.”

While individual preparation is naturally high on the list, Boyce was also keen to point out that it has been a team effort that has carried The Blaze this far.

She reserved special praise for the bowling attack, pointing out their repeated excellence that was again on show on Tuesday.

“To keep Durham to 250 on a good wicket with a short boundary was a great effort and we said at the time it was probably just under par," she said.

“The bowling attack have been superb all season, and on Tuesday it was nice as a batting unit to be able to knock off the target.

“Hopefully, now, we can go to Essex, secure the home semi-final, and we then just see where we can go from there.”

*******